Pomegranate and Pistachio Muffins with Pomegranate Glaze #MuffinMonday #Gluten-free

My first foray into gluten-free baking is this pomegranate and pistachio muffin, both ingredients that are common in the Middle East and look pretty together besides. Pomegranate juice and sugar cooked down to a syrup make a beautiful sticky glaze that will hold your extra pistachios and pomegranate arils on after baking. 

Baking gluten-free is a new challenge for me but one I handled with my usual three-pronged approach to cooking and baking things unfamiliar. 1. Lots of research 2. A bit of daydreaming, then 3. Just jump off the cliff. Turns out that baking gluten-free has a couple of caveats, like add more liquid than usual and stir until completely and thoroughly blended, even when it comes to muffin batter. But otherwise, it’s not that tricky. I took these pretty babies along to my weekly ladies Bible study this morning because one of our members is gluten-intolerant and it was my turn to bring snacks. The muffins were completely and utterly demolished. But, best of all, no one would have even guessed that they were made with a gluten-free flour mix. I figure that is the greatest endorsement of all.

Ingredients
For 18 muffins:
1 1/2 cups or 240g gluten-free flour blend (I used Dove Farms.)
3/4 cup or 150g sugar
1/2 teaspoon xanthun gum
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup or 120ml canola or other light oil
2 large eggs
1 cup buttermilk *
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup or 125g slivered or chopped pistachio kernels, divided
2 cups or 250g pomegranate arils, divided

* A good substitute for buttermilk is one tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar added to a measuring vessel and topped up with milk to one cup or 240ml. Stir and allow to rest for five minutes before using.

For the optional glaze:
1/2 cup or 120ml unsweetened pomegranate juice
1/4 cup or 50g sugar

Method
Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C.  Generously grease a 12-cup and a six-cup muffin pan or line both with paper muffin liners.

Combine the flour mix, sugar, xanthum gum, baking soda, baking powder and salt together in a large mixing bowl.

In another bowl, whisk together oil, eggs, buttermilk and vanilla.

Add all the milk mixture to flour mixture.

Stir vigorously with a wooden spoon until the flour is completely mixed in. This is going to be thinner than your average muffin batter. Trust.

Set a good handful of the pomegranate arils and the slivered pistachios aside and then fold the rest of both into the batter.

Divide your batter relatively evenly between the 18 muffin cups.

Bake 20-25 minutes or until muffins are golden and toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

While the muffins bake, put your pomegranate juice and the sugar into a small pot on the stove. Bring to the boil and stir until the sugar has dissolved.

Turn the fire down so the juice is just bubbling slowly and cook until the liquid has reduced by half. Turn off the fire and allow to cool a little.

When the muffins are done, remove the pan from the oven and let cool for a few minutes before removing muffins and cooling them further on a wire rack.

When the muffins are cool, drizzle on the pomegranate syrup and decorate by sprinkling with the reserved pomegranate arils and pistachio slivers. If the syrup has hardened up, loosen it by gently warming over a low fire and stirring until it is able to drip off a spoon again.

Enjoy!

One of my ladies, the lovely Cheryl-lynn, thought you all might need proof that the muffins were devoured with relish.

Told ya! 

Caipiracujá Cocktail

A delightful change from my favorite lime-based cocktail, the caipirinha, this deliciously refreshing libation is made with tart fresh passion fruit and cachaça. 

Ever since I made the passion fruit muffins a few weeks back, I’ve been wanting to try passion fruit in a cocktail. As I mentioned then, I came to love that funny fruit when we lived in Brazil so it seemed appropriate to switch out sour limes for tart passion fruit, but still use cachaça for the alcohol component. For the name, I mashed together caipira, the Portuguese word from whence the diminutive caipirinha comes, and maracujá, what the Brazilians call passion fruit. A most successfully mash up, if I do say so myself. By which I mean the drink although I am hoping the name will catch on as well.

Ingredients
2-3 tablespoons passion fruit pulp (I used two small passion fruit per glass.)
1/2-1 tablespoon sugar (depending on how tart your passion fruit are and how sweet you like your cocktails)
Crushed ice
Cachaça

Note: Cachaça is cane alcohol so if you can't get your hands on a bottle, substitute rum. It won't be the same but I'm betting it'll still be delicious.

Method
Cut your passion fruit in half and scoop the pulp into a short cocktail glass.

Add the sugar.

Muddle the sugar and the pulp to loosen the seeds.

This shot is really just to show off my parrot muddler. He is Brazilian.

Fill the glass with crushed ice.

Top up with cachaça.

As you can see, this is a powerful drink.

Stir vigorously and serve with a straw.

Enjoy! And saúde!


If you found your way here looking for traditional caipirinha instructions, you are in luck. I have those for you too.

BroCoconut Energy Muffins #MuffinMonday

BroCoconut Energy Muffins are high protein, filled with nuts, seeds, steel cut oats, coconut, yogurt and dried apricots. Good for you and also delicious!

These muffins are made with extra energy in mind, for the jocks among you or indeed anyone who needs to up their protein intake and be a better bro. 

As I was writing my friend, Marilyn, who kindly shares my muffin link on her wonderful blog, Communicating Across Boundaries, most Mondays, there is nothing that makes me happier than when my daughters share links to articles or websites that they find touching or inspirational or amusing. Early last week, my younger daughter sent me the link to this comic strip. And suggested that I might use it for inspiration for an upcoming Muffin Monday.

I replied that coconut would be a fabulous idea.  To which she added: “but also, if it's possible to capture the spirit of the comic in the muffin, that would be superb.”

What else could I reply but, “Obviously.” Challenge accepted!

So, I started researching Bro recipes and turned up lots of energy bars and smoothies and things baked with protein powder for weightlifters. Which, yuck. Not the weightlifters, because I'm sure they are lovely people, but the protein powders. I figured there had to be a way to add more protein to muffins naturally with tasty ingredients rather than powders.

So, I changed out my normal white flour for spelt, added a nut/fruit combination called Energy Mix from my local supermarket along with some extra dried apricots, switched coconut oil for canola, included some steel-cut oats, sweetened the batter with unrefined brown sugar and, of course, there had to be coconut. Freshly grated.

And, you know what? You won’t care that these are healthy and bro-friendly. They are delicious. (Anybody know where I can go for the bro stamp of approval though? That would be cool.)

Ingredients
1/4 cup or 45g steel cut oats
1/2 cup or 120ml milk, divided
1 cup or 150g energy mix (Mine had pecans, walnuts, pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds and golden raisins.)
5 dried apricots (about 40g)
1 cup or 145g spelt flour
1/2 cup or 100g brown sugar
1 cup or 70g freshly grated coconut, unsweetened
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 eggs
1/2 cup or 125g plain yogurt
1/4 cup or 60ml coconut oil

Method
Heat 1/4 cup or 60ml of the milk up to almost boiling and pour it over the steel cut oats in a heatproof bowl. Set aside to soak until cool.

Preheat your oven to 350°F or 180°C and prepare your muffin tin by greasing it or lining it with paper muffin cups.

Chop your energy mix and dried apricots roughly and separate out a handful or two for topping the batter before baking.

In a large bowl, mix together the spelt flour, brown sugar, grated coconut, baking powder and salt.  Mash the brown sugar lumps out with a fork.

In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, the balance of the milk, coconut oil, yogurt and the soaked oats, along with their milk.

Pour your wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and fold them together until just mixed.

Fold in the bigger pile of chopped energy mix/apricots.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups.

Top with the reserved energy mix/apricots.

Bake in the preheated oven about 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for a few minutes and then remove the muffins to a rack to cool completely.

Enjoy!

Now call and invite your mom to bro down with you today. She might bring these muffins.