My good friend Ariel had me over for dinner this week and she sent me home with a version of these muffins for my husband. Sadly I wasn’t able to try them because they contained gluten.
The good news is, my envy got the better of me and I decided to adapt the recipe to accommodate both gluten-free and sugar-free diets!
As you know if you are a regular reader of my blog, I’ve been off of gluten for almost 4 years now – and I decided to take a 30-day break from refined sugar on September 1st. I’ve felt so great off of it, that I’m still going strong!
For auto-immune inflammatory reasons – I’ve tried to limit my dairy intake as much as possible. But on special occasions (like new muffin recipes!) I will cave… because, cheese. ?
Verdict: These taste like soft gooey-cheesy buns, are are a beautiful pairing with a warm soup or a cup of tea. We had friends over the next day and these got devoured. Absolutely a crowd pleaser!
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 cup canned solid-pack pumpkin purée (Note: Pure pumpkin not pumpkin pie filling – we made that mistake at first!)
- 3 tablespoons sour cream
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, melted and cooled (Note: I used salted butter and omitted the salt listed below. If you use unsalted, include the salt.)
- 2 cups gluten-free or regular all-purpose flour (For gluten free I used Bob’s Baking 1-to-1)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (Omit if you have little ones enjoying, or make two batches because it’s add a beautiful kick!)
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons freshly ground black pepper
- 1tbsp of stevia or monk fruit sweetener for sugar free or 1/2 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar for non sugar-free. (I used 1 tbsp. of this.)
- 1 1/4 cups (about 4 ounces) grated high quality old cheddar.
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Lightly coat each cup of a standard 12-cup muffin pan using coconut oil or whatever you prefer.
(note: I used muffin liners and with the cheese and g-free flour they were very hard to peel, especially when warm. When I make them again, I will just use a greased muffin pan.)
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the pumpkin and sour cream. Add the eggs and butter. Whisk until combined.
4. In another large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, cayenne pepper, salt, black pepper, and preferred sugar or sweetener.
5. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients into the well, and fold until combined.
6. Fold in three-quarters of the cheese.
7. Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Sprinkle the remaining cheddar on top.
8. Bake them for 20 minutes, or until golden brown. (Note: Mine took closer to 25 mins, but check them at 20.)
9. Let the muffin pan cool on a rack for 10 minutes before turning out the muffins. Serve them warm.
Note: Muffins taste best when eaten fresh, but they can be made ahead of time and reheated in a 200-degree oven or in the microwave for 10-20 seconds.
