Gluten Free Fig Muffins (with Real Ingredients)

I still had a lot of figs leftover from my yard and needed to find more delicious ways to use them up.  I told you I had them coming out of my ears!  There are worse things then having too many ripe figs on hand, this I know.  After falling in love with my Cashew Flour Fig Pinwheel Cookies, I wanted to come up with something a little different but just as healthy and nutritious for a new recipe.  I haven’t made any muffins in awhile and I was imagining a moist muffin with homemade fig jam marbled throughout, similar to my cookies.  My mouth waters all over again just thinking about it.

I love to bake but gluten free baking with real food can sometimes be a bit of a challenge.  I don’t like using ingredients like xanthum gum in my gluten free baking.  People with digestive problems generally should avoid xanthan gum because its structural properties may produce unpleasant gut symptoms.  Xanthan gum is produced by bacterial fermentation of a sugar-containing medium.  Some manufactures use corn, soy, dairy, or wheat as a medium which may be a problem in you have severe allergies.  That whole process doesn’t really sound like real food to me anyway…so I avoid it if I can.

If you are avoiding gluten because you have to or just because you want to it is important to do it in the healthiest way possible.  A lot of gluten free foods, recipes, and products can still be highly processed and contain a lot of questionable ingredients.  Gluten free doesn’t automatically equal healthy.  Here is an example of some chocolate creme cookies:

Tapioca Flour, Rice Flour, Vegetable Shortening (Palm Oil, Soybean Oil, Canola Oil, Alpha-Tocopherol As An Antioxidant), Confectioner’s Sugar, Cassava Flour, Sugar, Tapioca Syrup, Water, Corn Starch, Milled Flax Seed, Egg Whites, Dextrose, Natural Vanilla Flavor, Soy Lecithin, Salt, Ammonium Bicarbonate, Sodium Bicarbonate, Colored With Beta-Carotene, Xanthan Gum.  

These cookies are filled with refined oils and four (yes 4) different kinds of refined sugar.  Yikes!  Let’s not fight a gluten intolerant battle with gluten free junk food.  The good news is that it is very possible to still live gluten free in a healthy way that still satisfies your taste buds.  These gluten free fig muffins are my solution.  You can’t even tell they are gluten free and everyone can enjoy them.

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Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 30 minutes

Total Time 50 minutes

Servings 2 1/2 dozen

Ingredients

• 1 cup buckwheat flour
• 1 cup brown rice flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar
• 2 chia eggs 2 tablespoons chia seeds + 6 tablespoons water- or 2 regular eggs
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1 cup fig jam boil fresh figs in a little water until soft and puree- see here or any flavor jam will work
• 2 fresh figs sliced thin optional

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Add flours, baking powder, salt, and sugar to a bowl and mix to combined.
3. Add in chia eggs, vanilla, coconut oil, almond milk and 1/2 cup of the fig jam.
4. Mix to combined well.
5. Fold in the other 1/2 cup of fig jam until the batter is moist but thick and the jam is still marbled throughout the batter.
6. Add the batter to lined or greased muffin pans.
7. Add thinly sliced fresh figs on top of the batter if desired.
8. Bake until golden brown and a knife comes out clean 20-30 minutes.
9. Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
10. Freeze for up to one month.

Recipe Notes

*choose organic ingredients when possible.