I occasionally dabble with gluten-free baking. Achieving a similar texture and flavor can be difficult when baking with gluten-free flour  substitutes. Alice Medrich, a renowned pastry chef and cookbook author, just published a book called “Flavor Flours”. She explains how to use alternative flours in a recipe for the purpose of adding texture and flavor. This could be a game changer for gluten-free baking! I spotted one of Alice’s recipes recently and I decided to give it a try.

These gluten-free muffins are made with buckwheat flour and white rice flour, which are both available at Whole Foods. A friend asked, what do I do with all the extra flour? I replied that you’ll make many more muffins, because they’re  delectable!

• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 eggs
• 3/4 cup white rice flour
• 1/3 cup buckwheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon allspice
• pinch of salt
• 3/4 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/3 cup chopped pitted prunes
• 1/3 cup dark chocolate chips

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Place butter, sugar and eggs in a large bowl. Use an electric mixer set on medium speed and beat together until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Add remaining ingredients and gently stir until just combined.

Spoon the batter into muffin pans lined with muffin liners, filling until 3/4 full. Place muffin tin in the oven and bake until a wooden toothpick (or skewer) inserted into the center of the muffin, comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let the muffins cool for about 15 minutes, then remove from the pan.

Source: Wall Street Journal