Thursday, May 22, 2014

Banana Muffins with Cup 4 Cup Wholesome Flour

Last week, I purchased a bag of Cup4Cup Wholesome Flour from Williams-Sonoma.  I ordered it online because I had a coupon for 15% off + free shipping.  Locally, you can purchase Cup4Cup products at the Williams-Sonoma locations in Winter Park or the Mall at Millenia.  I have been using Cup4Cup's original flour blend since it was first released, and it has become my favorite gluten free all-purpose flour.  It contains cornstarch, white rice flour, brown rice flour, milk powder, tapioca flour, potato starch, and xanthan gum.  


The wholesome flour blend contains brown rice flour, white rice flour, ground golden flaxseed, rice bran, and xanthan gum.  It is gluten free, dairy free, and non-GMO.  

Important information from the back of the bag -- Wholesome Cup4Cup flour's performance, taste and texture is similar to whole wheat flour, resulting in hearty and nutritious baked items.  Due to the high fiber content, recipes may need to be adjusted slightly like you would with whole wheat flour by adding a bit more liquid or fat.  


As soon as I received my flour, I started thinking about what I wanted to make.  Cup4Cup doesn't have any recipes on their Facebook page or website for the wholesome flour blend yet, and I have had no experience baking with whole wheat flour or a blend that would work like it.  In the end, I decided a whole wheat banana muffin recipe would work well for my first experiment with Cup4Cup Wholesome Flour.


I always try and weigh as many ingredients as I can on my kitchen scale, so I weighed out 280 grams (2 cups) of flour.  If you like to bake and don't have a kitchen scale, what are you waiting for?  My kitchen scale is one of my favorite kitchen gadgets.  


The Two Peas and Their Pod recipe I adapted to make gluten free makes 15 muffins, so I had to use both my USA Pans muffin pan and one of my Polish Pottery muffin pans.  


I sampled a banana muffin about 30 seconds after it came out of the oven.  I just couldn't help myself!  


I sampled a second banana muffin after they cooled down and I took this picture.  They were great warm and at room temperature.  The muffins were so moist and delicious, they really didn't even need butter, which is something I seldom say.  

Wholesome Banana Muffins - makes 15 muffins

Ingredients

280 grams (2 cups) Cup4Cup Wholesome Flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 3/4 C mashed ripe bananas (about 4 large bananas)
1 C (218 grams) light brown sugar - packed
1/2 C plain Greek yogurt - room temp
1/4 C unsalted butter or coconut oil - melted and cooled
1 large egg - room temp
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
Optional - turbinado sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease muffin pans.  

In a medium size bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.  

In a large bowl, combine the bananas, brown sugar, yogurt, butter, egg, and vanilla extract.  Stir well, then slowly add in the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined. 

Fill 15 muffin cups about 3/4 full.  Optional -- sprinkle the muffins with a little bit of turbinado sugar.  Bake for 23 minutes, or until a knife or toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean.  Allow the muffins to cool in the pans, then store them at room temperature.

Recipe Notes

This recipe was adapted from a Two Peas and Their Pod recipe for Whole Wheat Banana Muffins.  You can view the recipe here.  I switched the flour, decreased the baking soda, increased the cinnamon, used butter instead of coconut oil, and didn't use paper muffin liners.  They sprinkled their muffins with turbinado sugar, but I didn't have any in the house, so I used a little bit of organic cane sugar instead.  

Next time, I might make 12 regular muffins and 9 mini muffins, cooking the minis for about 10 minutes less.  I will keep you posted.  

I froze a good number of the muffins for future breakfasts.  In my experience, banana muffins freeze very well.  The rest, I stored covered, at room temperature.  

To make these muffins dairy free, use coconut oil and dairy free So Delicious Greek style yogurt.  


Cooking tip -- when you need room temperature eggs, put them in a bowl of hot tap water for a couple of minutes.

Update  - The muffins are great leftover.  I stored them in an airtight container overnight, and served them at room temperature the next morning.  My kids liked them, but were sad they didn't contain chocolate, because they are used to my Mexican Chocolate Banana Muffins.  Next time I make these muffins, I will definitely be adding some Taza Mexican chocolate.  It is gluten, dairy, and soy free. I purchase it at Whole Foods.  


These muffins did freeze really well.  I defrost them for a minute in the microwave for an easy snack or breakfast.

Update - I did make my girls Mexican chocolate banana muffins with Cup4Cup Wholesome Flour.  You can view the recipe here.



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