Cinnamon Donut Muffins - Recipe Review

Cinnamon Donut Muffins - Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free, Soy Free, Nut Free

Photo from Cybele Pascal's blog

Back in my "gluten days" I used to make scrumptious mini cinnamon muffins on an occasional Sunday morning for brunch. They were great to take to family gatherings. Stuffed in a cute basket with a pretty napkin, guests would gobble them up. I made them in a mini muffin pan so they were easy to pop in the mouth and had a wonderful cinnamon toast flavor to them. After going gluten and dairy free (GFCF), I often thought about these muffins and missed having the option to make them. Well, you can imagine my excitement, when I saw Cybele Pascal's recipe for Cinnamon Donut Muffins. I was still a little leary that these GFCF muffins would measure up to my old favorite but with great hope and anticipation, I rolled up my sleeves and donned my Thriving GFCF apron and gave this recipe a try.

The recipe called for Authentic Foods Classic GF Mix which is one my my favorite "high end' flours to use when texture is key. It's often referred to as the "Cadillac" of GF flours along with Gifts of Nature. Although I had the Authentic brand on hand, I decided to use my new box of King Arthur Flour gluten free multi-purpose flour mix. It's a blend of rice flour, tapioca and potato starch and brown rice flour.

The recipe call for Spectrum butter flavored shortening which I found at Sprout's Farmer's Market in Dublin, California. Spectrum is made of organic palm oil which is trans-fat free.

I used my KitchenArt Adjust-a-Cup for the Spectrum shortening. It's such a breeze to get the shortening out of the measuring cup. Sammy had fun filling the cup up.

KitchenArt Adjust-a-Cups

Sammy loading the Adjust-a-Cup

Getting the shortening out of the measuring cup is as easy as pushing the bottom which then pushes the shortening out of the cup with no digging and sticky mess.

The Adjust-a-Cup makes pushing the shortening out simple and easy.

I've started freshly grating all my nutmeg using this Microplane grater which I love. It has a measuring cup built into the bottom.

Fresh grated nutmeg! Grater available at Williams Sonoma.

 
The recipe was fairly easy to follow. The only thing I don't like is alternating the liquid (rice milk) with the flour mixture while blending in the mixer. I'm lazy. I really just want to dump it all in there and turn it on high speed. I followed the directions though and the batter turned out beautiful. A nice looking batter always gives me hope that I'm going to have a successful product in the end.

Beautiful Batter!

I made the muffins in my mini muffin pan so it truly felt like the "old days." They're so cute!



Once the the muffins are out of the oven, they are ready to dip in the melted butter flavored shortening and then the cinnamon sugar mixture.

Dipping in the melted Spectrum shortening

Next step...dip in the cinnamon sugar.

You can either dip the whole muffin in the sugar mixture (similar to a cinnamon sugar donuts) or you can just dip the top which is what I did since I try to limit my sugar consumption.

The muffins turned out awesome.They were a little more dense than my old gluten filled version but they were yummy none the less. The outside of the muffin was crispy which did remind me of a cinnamon donut...hence its name, Cinnamon Donut Muffin. The donuts also froze well. After defrosting, I warmed one slightly in the toaster oven and it turned out perfect just like it was fresh out of the oven.

I'm excited to have cinnamon muffins on my brunch menu again. Gluten free eating just gets easier and easier!

OMGoodness!

Every once in a while I'll give a restaurant or product review that will earn an "OMGoodness" rating. Well this is one of them. This was such a yummy treat that I'm headed back this Saturday. I've got to have some more of that vegan cheesecake. Read on for all the yummy details...

The Plant Cafe Organic

I discovered this gem on Pier 3 right down the street from the Ferry Building. It's a cute little cafe on the water with outdoor seating. The modern decor was fresh and clean feeling. It was really delightful to sit by the water and enjoy the sun and lite breeze.

I love the menu here. It is not entirely gluten and dairy free but all wheat free and vegan items are marked. They offer an interesting array of seasonal soups, salads, pizzas, sandwiches, panini's, burgers and pasta (no gluten free bread or pasta though - although I did suggest it). I had the "special seasonal salad of the day," butter lettuce with cherries, almonds and goat cheese (I can tolerate goat's milk) with a side of sauteed "fish of the day." You can also order chicken as well. It was very lovely and I loved the fact that they didn't coat their nuts in sugar.

Other dishes I have planned for the near future are Roasted Red Beet Salad with shaved fennel and roast walnuts, Ginger Miso Quinoa (it's tough to find quinoa on most menus) and then Pistachio and Cornmeal Crusted Tempeh. They also offer a full menu of drinks (spirits included) and fresh juices. I was surprised to see Zevia soda on the menu. I don't think I've ever seen Zevia at a restaurant. It's a soda sweetened with Stevia sweetener (a natural, zero calorie sweetener) but I was most excited about the "green drinks." I've been curious about juicing for some time now. I ventured out on a limb and ordered the "green basic." It is kale, parsley, celery, apple and lemon. It was yummy! I was so inspired that I actually bought a juicer. I'm now juicing and loving it! They also offer a menu of smoothies with non-dairy milk options (almond and soy). I just love this place! Oh, BTW...for coffee drinkers, they offer Blue Bottle! I'm not a big coffee drinker but I think this is really huge for those who do.

The Green Basic

Now on to my favorite part of the feast....dessert! Now let's just face it...on a gluten and dairy free diet, you don't get dessert dining out very often. Well, this restaurant had two options on the menu so we ordered both. I'm so bad. :)

The first thing that caught my eyes was the Raw Raspberry Cashew Cheesecake - both wheat free and vegan! Can you believe? OMGoodness...it was delicious. You know what I'm eating on Saturday.

 

The other dessert was also yummy. Yellow Nectarine Sorbet with Creme Fraiche, Madeleine cookies and berries. All vegan and wheat free!

Here's my little guy, enjoying a dessert at a restaurant - a rare treat for this little GFCF eater! Yes, I did manage to share some of the cheesecake with him...reluctantly.

I've found my new favorite dining spot in SF. If you've been there, share your experience and you're favorite gluten and vegan dish. Happy GFCF eating!