Last night, the Baker suggested I wrote a cookbook about all my muffins I have been baking up. He suggested the title “Muffin Top”. I laughed, though it might be appropriate since these muffins are so good it is hard to keep your hands off them. Makes you want to eat muffins post-run, for snack, for dessert (and maybe every meal in between). They are healthy, but if you started a 3 muffin a day habit, might not go so well. Which is why I love being able to share my experiments with my early morning Thursday trail run crew.

I have started a list of all the possible combinations I want to try. It makes me really excited.

At this point, I feel like I am working on two projects. One is to create a whole host of creative combinations of muffins. And two is to perfect the muffin mixture itself. That means, I am really looking for the perfect base. Things I could universally change about them all to make them each individually better. One of the things that I discovered with this batch was that the addition of a teaspoon of baking powder makes a huge difference. I am eager to go back and work on the other flavors I have already done to see what a difference it makes. It’s amazing how something so small and subtle can make such a huge difference.

Each week, I build on the previous week and each week am rewarded by the evolution of the muffin. This combination of ingredients absolutely shined. Not only in terms of the flavor profile, but texturally. They were incredibly light with splashes of texture from the mixed in shredded coconut, bits of pineapple and walnut. The strongest, yet not overpowering flavor was pineapple, the coconut was very subtle. They reminded me of pineapple upside down cake.

One of my friends thanked me for the cupcakes. Naturally, I got indignant and thought, “these are not cupcakes! No, these are muffins!” But as soon as I thought about it, I wondered. What really is the difference between a muffin and a cupcake. Does it really just come down to frosting? Yes, no and maybe. If you were to throw frosting on these babies and present them to someone as a cupcake, they would not bat an eye. There are differences in the amount of flour used in a normal muffin vs. normal cupcake (normal meaning Gluten) and that is about it, with cupcakes having less. Bake time and temperature is also different.

I tend to think that the type of muffins I desire are very different than the type of cupcakes. While a banana ginger muffin sounds great, a banana ginger cupcake sounds odd. If I am going to include chocolate in the game, I would never lie to myself and say there is ANY difference between a chocolate muffin vs. chocolate cupcake except the frosting. You don’t get back much in the way of health benefits on that just by calling it something different.

I basically feel that muffins and cupcakes are on a related spectrum and they can be more closely related or not depending on what is included in each. And frosting, frosting I think is the biggest delineation between the two. Whatever their differences, these muffins were delicious and brought up the idea of a pineapple upside down cake, without having to sacrifice its healthiness and heartiness that you want out of a good muffin at breakfast.

Gluten Free Coconut Pineapple Walnut Muffins

Ingredients

1 can pineapple chunks or crushed
½ cup almond milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ cup butter
½ cup light brown sugar
½ cup dark brown sugar
1 ⅓ cups brown rice flour
⅔ cups garbanzo bean flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp lime zest
¼ cup shredded coconut, plus more for sprinkling
¼ cup walnuts, finely chopped

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 and line with parchment cups/grease 2 muffin pans (12 muffins). In a food processor, mix together the pineapple, almond milk and butter. Mix in the two types of brown sugar and vanilla and mix until incorporated.

In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients including the 1/4 cup shredded coconut and 1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts until incorporated. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir to combine.

Scoop about 1/4 cup of muffin mix into the muffin pans, making 9-12 muffins. Sprinkle the muffins with shredded coconut and bake until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted, about 25-27 minutes.

* I was thinking an interesting substitute would be coconut oil instead of butter. Not tested, but probably would work excellent.

I try to do my restaurant reviewing in an organic way.  I mean, I experience the restaurant and food and experience as a regular customer (which I am) and don’t go in with a hyper-analytical, hair-splitting eye. I let the experience come to me. I have eaten enough good food around the world and have developed my palate enough to be able to have a good gauge of quality. I don’t have to ruin my meal by only examining the quality of every better by everyone at the table. I take the feedback that naturally arises in conversation, couple it with my opinion and if there is enough information gathered, review!

Such was the case last Thursday when I met up with my friend M & S for dinner. Whenever I get the opportunity or make the opportunity to go out to dinner, I try to go someplace I have never been. I snag a lot of items off the 7X7 list of 100 places you need to eat before you die or off our own list of places we want to go or have heard buzz about. For dinner with M&S I suggested a few spots, but could get reservations for none of them, so I suggested Anchor & Hope. Their “Angels on Horseback” were on the 7×7 list and since I haven’t eaten a lot of oysters in my life, I figured it would be a fun try!

I made the reservations more than a week in advance and so I felt I had a reasonable expectation of a decent table. Assumption wrong. We were in the worst possible location. A four top at the corner where the walkway from the front door turns to go to the restroom. The same path goes along the bar, so we had bar traffic. And the same path goes to the kitchen, to which we were the most closely seated. There was no safe seat at the table except mine which I procured only because I was the first to arrive. My seat was securely tucked back amongst the other tables. M’s seat was on the main walkway, S’s seat on the restroom side walkway. The other chair was not safe to inhabit. Both of them got bumped into numerous times. About halfway through the dinner, the hostess came and asked us if she could take the fourth chair from our table to be used elsewhere. M was not impressed by this since there were several empty tables around. Those tables would be occupied by the time we left, but initially, it seemed like an odd move. The restaurant space is beautiful, old warehouse, rustic styling.

But we didn’t come to admire architecture (and it was not that admirable anyways), we came to drink wine and eat. The wine list is very extensive and written in the smallest most painful to read type ever. I finally understood how my mom feels when she reads things. It was downright impossible. So I made M decide. He got a crisp, clean, light white. Of a variety I cannot really recall. It was good, but our waiter was never present enough to keep our glasses full. M ended up having to do the majority of the pouring. Which inherently is not bad, but it just furthered the sense of us being in the worst seat in the house. We got paid attention to like second class citizens (until the bill that is).

I insisted we get the “Angels on Horseback”, even though none of us was particularly an oyster person. When they came, none of us were impressed. I thought maybe because I can’t eat the remoulade sauce that I somehow missed an element, but M insisted the sauce added nothing, having tasted a bit with and without. The bacon was only luke warm, but crisp, and not exactly flavorful. The oysters were fine but not profound either. They were so average that it made me really skeptical about how it ended up on the 7×7 list in the first place.

M ordered the Asparagus salad which were arranged like Lincoln Logs with a Soft-Boiled Egg pearched on the top. Since I am allergic to eggs, we played a game of pick up sticks to see if I could get an asparagus out without breaking the egg. Success. It was a good asparagus. The full salad combination went over with the others and was dubbed successful.

Our main dishes were as varied as we are. M go the spice seared ahi tuna, S got the fish and chips and I got the local sole with nettle puree, parsnips and spring garlic (I think, I can’t actually remember anything but the nettle puree and sole). M said his meal was good. S liked her fish and very thick cut chips, which I tasted and agreed were quite delicious. My sole was excellent. It reminded me why I like sole so much. The nettle puree was complex, spicy, a rollercoaster of good flavor. Not nearly enough for for me though. It was a very small portion, which of course I expect at fine-dining restaurants. But usually I don’t have to go home after I eat at a restaurant and eat again. And it wasn’t even a hard training day and so my appetite was considerably light.

For dessert M&S each got a glass of wine and we tried to enjoy the evening but it just continued to feel like a place we didn’t want to linger. Our table, the ambiance, our service did not lend itself to feeling welcome or relaxed. We asked the server for the bill and M and I tried to do math to work out the bill. He put his card on the table and the server swooped in to get it, but we weren’t ready as we were still calculating how much cash I was putting down. The only time our server was attentive was with the bill. The bill was not a welcome sight either, $198 for 3 people for what we got seemed a bit steep for what we got. It definitely was not worth that price.

The food was average in general and well below average for that price point. The service was uninspired and the whole experience ended up feeling like, “why did we even bother?” I didn’t hate it, no the food was fine. But it was appallingly average.

I use to have one thing that I craved day in and day out. I am not big on sweets. I am no cookie or cake monster.  I know I said last week that I do like the occasional muffin, but that’s not true. I love muffins. If there was one thing I use to be able to eat everyday, it was muffins. Banana ginger, carrot-walnut, blueberry, bran, coconut. Big ones, small one. Sweet, but mostly savory ones.

Muffins are not really known for their incredible healthfulness. Before I went Gluten Free, it was easy to find a muffin on my way to work and I definitely had a good habit going. I usually ate a breakfast of a healthy homemade fruit smoothie and a low-fat/whole grain healthy (as can be) muffin from my local shop or whole foods. Most store bought muffins still leave something to be desired in the nutrition department and now, both gluten-free and egg-free, muffins are basically non-existent.

My muffin habit went to the wayside when I went gluten-free and vegan. I trained myself away from them. I developed mixed feelings over grains in general and didn’t spend much time baking. But last week, I opened the flood gates with my Gluten Free Banana Ginger Muffins. Now, all I can think about is the next muffin recipe I want to make. What is ironic, its more of a desire to bake them, than to eat them. Yes, even though I love muffins, I love creating them gluten free and egg free even more. It really gets my creative juices going. And yields delicious results. My head is spinning over the next combination I want to create. I love to eat muffins yes, but the last thing I need is dozens of muffins sitting around at arms reach. Thank goodness, I have an early morning running group that happily gobbles up my creations and provides feedback. I can have my muffin and eat it to, as the cliche goes.

The success of the banana in last weeks version made me very enthusiastic. I figured if mashed up bananas worked then soft baked apples made into apple sauce would not only work in the same manner but would be outstanding in the flavor department. The result was a moist muffin that held together and still was light and not dense. I think in gluten free baking we are all just trying to avoid things turning out like small bricks. These muffins succeeded. I really liked the homemade quick granola on the top, it was brown-sugary and a great counter-point of texture. I might experiment with incorporating the granola additionally into the muffin itself, but think that the scant tbsp-ish of granola per muffin helps maintain some of the healthfulness but keeps the flavor.

I am dreaming up the next batch and the next batch and the next batch. Try these for now, until next week that is. Stay tuned, there will be coconut and pineapple involved next time.

Gluten Free Apple Cinnamon Granola Muffins

Ingredients:

1 pound apples, cored and chopped
½ cup agave nectar
2 tbsp. cinnamon, divided
½ cup almond milk
1 tbsp. lemon
½ cup gluten free oats
¼ cup dark brown sugar
¼ cup butter , room temperature
2 tbsp. vanilla extract
½ cup light brown sugar
½ cup dark brown sugar
1 ⅓ cups brown rice flour
⅔ cup garbanzo bean flour
1 tsp salt
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp fresh nutmeg
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp pumpkin pie spice

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 325. Toss apples, agave nectar and 1 tablespoon cinnamon together and spread on a baking sheet with parchment paper in a single layer. Bake for 35 minutes or until apples are tender. Remove apples from baking sheet with a slotted spoon. Carefully toss oats and 1/4 cup dark brown sugar in the apple liquid to coat. Bake oats for 10 minutes or until it begins to toast, be careful not to burn. Remove from oven and remove from baking sheet. Let apples and granola cool. (Home-prepared or store-bought granola can be substituted if you have it on hand).

Preheat oven to 350 and line with parchment cups/grease 2 muffin pans (12 muffins).

In a food processor, mix together the apples, almond milk, lemon, butter. Mix in the two types of brown sugar and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine the dry ingredients including remaining cinnamon. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and stir to combine.

Scoop about 1/4 cup of muffin mix into the muffin pans, making 9-12 muffins. Sprinkle the muffins with the granola and bake until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted, about 20-25 minutes.