The Comfort of Cooking Blueberry Oat Muffins

Comfort food is such a personal, complex issue.
Why do we crave comfort foods? Do we cook comfort food for others to support them? Or is there a greater comfort for us in our attempt to make someone's life better by providing a warm, nurturing food for them?

This is a delicious, light-as-a-feather muffin with the chewy goodness of oats. It's Karina's recipe from her Gluten-Free Goddess website: http://glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com/2008/05/blueberry-oat-muffins.html visit her website often. You'll be glad you did.


Blueberry Oat Muffins
I have been using either Laura Scudder's GF Oats or Bob's Red Mill certified gluten-free oats in my baking- both the rolled style and the steel cut. When I make muffins, I like to use rolled oats- the topping looks so pretty.

What you'll need:
1 cup Bob's Red Mill gluten-free rolled oats
Soaked in:
1 cup warm vanilla rice or hemp milk, for 20 minutes

Beat together:
1/4 cup Spectrum Organic Shortening
3/4 cup organic golden brown sugar
2 teaspoons bourbon vanilla extract
2 tablespoons raw agave nectar or honey

Whisk the dry ingredients in a large separate bowl:
1 cup sorghum flour or rice flour- or a blend of your favorite flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/4 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

To assemble you'll need:
Egg Replacer (or two eggs, beaten):
   1 tablespoon Energ-G Egg Replacer
   4 tablespoons water

Whisk till frothy.

Add at the end:
1 cup blueberries- fresh or frozen* see note

For crumble topping:
Rub together 2 tablespoons each:
Certified gluten-free rolled oats
Organic brown sugar
Spectrum Organic Shortening
Add cinnamon, to taste


Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a 12-muffin tin with paper liners. Or a 6-muffin jumbo pan.

Add the soaked oats to the shortening mixture; combine briefly and scoop into the dry mixture. Mix by hand to combine.

Add the Egg Replacer or beaten eggs. If the batter appears too stiff or dry, add 1 to 4 tablespoons of vanilla rice or hemp milk- one spoon at a time- till soft and moist. Add the blueberries right at the end of mixing. Divide and plop the batter into the twelve muffin cups. Sprinkle with brown sugar oat topping. Bake in the center of a preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes; if you are making large jumbo muffins, bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

Note* If you use frozen berries, your muffins may need five extra minutes to bake. Keep an eye them. Check doneness with a wooden pick.

Remove the muffins from the tin and cool on a wire rack (this keeps the bottoms from getting soggy- no one likes a soggy bottom!).

Serve however you like- warm, or at room temperature. Wrap and freeze for future treats.