For those of you who have specifically asked for gluten-free recipes… this recipe was created just for you!
And those of you who aren’t gluten-free? This recipe is for you, too. It doesn’t contain any specialty ingredients (because I realize that not everyone keeps xantham gum in their pantry), and no one will ever guess these soft, fragrant muffins don’t contain any wheat. My family can’t get enough of them!
But there’s more. With a few simple adaptations, this recipe can also be fat-free (well, almost) or dairy-free (see my notes below)… and still taste seriously amazing.
Food issues aside, though, these muffins stand on their own. We love to eat them at breakfast time, snack time, or as “dessert” at dinner time. Yum!
Gluten-Free Oatmeal Spice Muffins
Makes 16 muffins
INGREDIENTS:
- 3 ½ cups quick oats (use gluten-free if it matters to you)
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ cup pecans, chopped (optional)
- ¾ cup applesauce*
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 eggs
- 2 teaspoons finely shredded orange peel (you can substitute lemon)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 1 cup milk
- 2 ½ tablespoons butter, melted
- 1/3 cup sugar, mixed with ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
*I don’t always keep applesauce on hand – so I often throw a cored medium/large apple into my vita-mix along with the cup of milk and blend until pureed (and then pour it back into the mixing bowl to combine with the sugar, eggs, orange peel and vanilla).
DIRECTIONS:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.Put oats into a blender and blend until they reach a flour-like consistency (I have a Vita-Mix and this only takes 5-10 seconds. If you don’t have a high-powered blender, you may have to do this in a couple of batches).
Put the oat flour into a mixing bowl and add the baking powder, salt, nutmeg and pecans and mix well.
In another bowl, mix together the applesauce, sugar, eggs, orange peel, vanilla and milk. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix just until combined.
Pour batter into greased muffin tins, filling each ¾ full. Bake 14-18 minutes.
While muffins are still warm, dip the tops in the melted butter and then the cinnamon sugar mixture.
VARIATIONS:
Fat-free (almost!) version: Use low fat milk, leave out the nuts, and brush the tops of the muffins with a tiny bit of water instead of butter before dipping them in the cinnamon/sugar mixture.
Dairy-free version: Substitute dairy-free milk (we like almond milk) for the regular milk, and use melted coconut oil instead of the butter.
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