Gluten Free Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

I have decided to dive into the world of gluten free baking. I have some friends who cannot eat gluten products, and I would love to be able to cook for them, or just learn more about gluten free products. Really, it's very interesting! I am finding out that people have been able to make flours out of so many things! Tapioca? Almond? Coconut? Sure, no problem! It's fascinating. 

I am already craving some fall foods, since I really really want it to be fall already. Hence, I recently made some pumpkin cranberry gluten free muffins with some gal friends of mine (25th and Skillern and Lisse Livs Life). I was really skeptical of these muffins, first because I had never made any gluten free product, and I was slightly changing a recipe that I found online, and I know the dangers of changing recipes (especially gluten free ones!). However, these turned out FANTASTIC. I cannot stop eating them! My husband loved them as well, and my friends each took a bundle home with them, too.

You can easily substitute or add in your favorite muffin ingredients! I did not add in any nuts into this recipe, but walnuts or almonds would be fantastic! Any type of berries or dried fruit would also be an amazing addition.

Enjoy!

Dry Ingredients:

• 2 1/3 cup a mixture of your favorite gluten free flours.
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon xanthan gum (if your all purpose mix has it included, you do not need to add any more).
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon all spice

Wet Ingredients:

• 1 and 1/3 cups packed light brown sugar
• 15 oz (or one can) canned pumpkin puree
• 1/3 cup coconut oil
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon juice
• 1 lemon worth of lemon peel (about 1/2 tablespoon)
• 1/2 cup vanilla almond milk or coconut milk
• 3/4 cup dried cranberries

Directions:

1. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees.
2. Mix dry ingredients together in large mixing bowl.
3. Mix wet ingredients together in smaller mixing bowl.
4. Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients bowl. Only mix until evenly distributed, do not over mix. 
5. If your batter is too dry, add some more almond or coconut milk. If it is too wet, add some more flour in.
6. Put batter into muffin pan, filling them close to the top. 
7. Bake in oven for 22-25 minutes, or until springy and light. You can insert a pick or fork into them, and they should come out clean.
8. Cool on wire rack.
9. Eat! 

These muffins are great for breakfast or a dessert! They also freeze really well. This recipe yields 18-20 muffins.