I originally posted this date sweetened, gluten free muffin recipe the year before last in my Great Agave Debate post.  Because it was part of something so much bigger, it kinda got lost in the mix.  I'm re-posting it because I think it's an easy, super tasty, healthy recipe that will please both agave lovers and haters alike.

For more information on agave, please check out my Great Agave Debate post and all of the amazing reader comments and debate that follow it.  Meantime, everyone, enjoy these purely fruit sweetened coconut flour based muffins!

I loved Joy the Baker's awesome post on coconut flour; her accompanying recipe for Coconut Waffles looks obscenely good (I can't wait to make it myself).  If you haven't been to her site, be sure to check it out.  Joy is an amazing writer with true wit and an outrageously good sense of humor.  Her recipes are pretty darn great too!

I have been a huge fan of Michael Ruhlman's book Ratio for quite some time.  His work really came to life for me when I saw him speak at Blogher Food last year.  He conveys his love of good food in a passionate manner, which I find compelling.

So, when my friend Silvana invited me to participate in this month's Ratio Rally, I said yes, even though I have not really baked using ratios and scales.  I am definitely a numbers person though, so the concept is not a daunting one.  If you don't like numbers and scales, do not read any further.  This post is not for you!  If you're into making recipe templates that can serve as the basis for numerous other recipes, then proceed.  And get out that scale!

According to Ruhlman, "a quick bread is composed of cake batter ingredients that are stirred together."  He goes on to say that "muffins are quick breads baked into cups."  Hence, my decision to make muffins. Ruhlman's ratio for making a quick bread using wheat flour is 2 parts flour: 2 parts liquid: 1 part egg: 1 part fat.

The ratio I came up with for muffins uses almond flour, and is 4 parts flour: 4 parts egg: 1 part sweetener.  After much experimentation, I can say that  I doubt these proportions will work with other flours as almond flour is a very unique ingredient.

So why create this recipe at all?  Well, it is still versatile in two ways.  First, it is a wonderful template for a muffin recipe.  You can experiment by adding different flavor combinations including: date walnut, lemon poppyseed, dried cranberries with white chocolate chips, cinnamon raisin, and orange dark chocolate chip.  Second, you can scale up the recipe and make as many muffins as you like.  Double it for 8 muffins.  Cut it in half for 2.  It's that flexible.

The ratio for making a basic, lightly sweetened almond flour muffin is (4:4:1), and here is the complete recipe:

To make a loaf of quick bread, simply double the above batter and bake it for 35-40 minutes on the lower rack of your oven in an 6-½ x 4-inch baby loaf pan (Luminarc).

My findings? Because almond flour is more wet than wheat flour, I ended up eliminating the 2 parts of liquid that Ruhlman used in his ratios.  And because almond flour is more fatty than wheat flour I have eliminated the fat that was part of his formula.  Finally, I used equal parts almond flour and egg in my recipe because almond flour is heavy and requires extra leavening, and eggs are a wonderfully simple form of leavening that is high in protein.

I did not have a hypothesis when I began this experiment.  I based my ratio on Ruhlman's and started out with liquids, fat and all sorts of unnecessary other ingredients (that I found are not relevant when baking with almond flour).  In order to come up with the recipe above, I baked the muffins 4 times before the result was remotely edible, and 5 more times to perfect them.  As you can see, when it comes to baking, hands on is the only way to go; guessing does not work.

The winner of last weeks giveaway for a brand new 12-Cup Food Processor from the Cuisinart Elite Collection™ is M. Sieu! I want to thank everyone for participating and sharing your favorite food processor recipes.

One of my favorite readers Courtney recently suggested that I create a gluten free cinnamon roll recipe. She said it would be perfect for Christmas morning. Being smack in the middle of Hanukkah that wasn't something I had thought about. Thanks Courtney!

So, here's my little ol' gluten free Cinnamon Bun Muffin recipe. I hope you all enjoy it during the holidays.

For a real cinnamon roll recipe, you can head on over to Gluten-Free Girl, she has been working on a cinnamon roll recipe of late and I imagine will post one soon.

I am totally blown away by Stephanie's blog, Totally Together Reviews; Stephanie recently blogged about the The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook and is doing a giveaway as well. Her post about my book has received well over 400 comments.  Thanks Stephanie.

One of my favorite periodicals, The Christian Science Monitor just ran a Best Cookbooks of 2009 article mentioning The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook, what a delight to find my book in there.

And in television news, I was on two shows today (demoing recipes from my gluten free cookbook) the first show was Good Day Colorado and the second, Daybreak on the Deuce. You can watch both appearances below.

Finally, to top these muffins off, stay tuned for my next post with my yummy gluten free Creamy Cream Cheese Frosting recipe.

When I saw this recipe for a purely fruit sweetened carrot cake from Heidi over at 101cookbooks.com I just knew I would want to make it into some sort of gluten free version.  So I did.

Last weekend our friends Chris and Larry came over to sit out on our porch and read the Sunday New York Times with us while soaking in some good Colorado sunshine and we enjoyed these descendants of Heidi's carrot, banana, date yumminess.  Here it is for all of you.

Yesterday, I was happy to find that The Philadelphia Inquirer included my own little gluten free cookbook,  The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook in an article called "Gluten-free but still tasty."  Way cool.

In Friday Freebie news, this week I am giving away a copy of a fabulous book written by the founder of Tropical Traditions, Brian Shilhavy.  It is called Virgin Coconut Oil and was provided by the wonderful folks over at Tropical Traditions for this giveaway.  Thanks Brian! Go ahead and leave a comment for your chance to win.

UPDATE: this giveaway has ended, the winner was Lauren

The winner of last week's Friday Freebie, a Luminarc Baby Loaf Pan (Update: This loaf pan may have been discontinued since this giveaway. Stay tuned...) from the amazing Courtney at Benefit Your Life, is Lydia.

Finally, don't forget to submit your grain free cake post to the "Go Ahead Honey, It's Gluten-Free" Blog Carnival I'm hosting this month. For more details view my grain free cupcakes post.

I've been slightly obsessed with rosemary lately.  I put it in everything and just can't seem to get enough of this delicious herb.   My latest rosemary victim?  Gluten free Lemon Rosemary Mini Muffins made with coconut flour.

I find that rosemary almost has a buttery flavor.  It's also power packed with nutrients including iron and calcium.  These gluten free muffins are more of an adult treat than something for children.  I've been in the mood lately for tasty snacking and dessert items that aren't too sweet and are filled with interesting flavor.  These hit the spot!

Lemon Rosemary Mini-MuffinsNote: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.
¼ cup coconut flour
½ teaspoon celtic sea salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
2 eggs
¼ cup agave nectar
¼ cup grapeseed oil
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped
1 tablespoon lemon zest, packed and heaping

1. In a large bowl, combine coconut flour, salt and baking soda
2. In a smaller bowl, blend together eggs, agave and oil
3. Blend wet ingredients into dry, then blend in rosemary and lemon zest
4. Scoop batter 1 tablespoon at a time into greased mini muffin pans
5. Bake at 350° for 7-8 minutes
6. Cool then remove from muffin tins and serve

I hope you like these Lemon Rosemary Muffins, I think they're equally good for a gluten free breakfast or dessert.  Very sophisticated, yet homey and comforting.

This week was packed with action both on the internet and in the real world as well.

I was fortunate enough to meet the lovely Linda from Kitchen Therapy at the ADA Conference earlier in the week where I appeared to do signings for my gluten free cookbook.  Linda blogged about her experience encountering all kinds of gluten free people of interest at the ADA Conference and her post is a delight to read.

In other blogging news, Erika from The Stewardship Diaries honored me with a Best Blog Award.  Thank you so much Erika, your blog is fabulous and I appreciate someone like you who is dedicated to organics and the environment taking note of my blog!  While those themes are a sub-text on my blog, to food, they are important guiding lights in my life.

Finally, the amazing Paige of The Sister Project wrote an article called Don’t Blame the Blogs regarding the dismantling of Gourmet Magazine and how food blogs are definitely not to blame.  Thanks Paige, I love your writing and perspective.

The winner of last weeks Friday Freebie is Michelle. Congratulations and enjoy your Kroeger herbs and tea!

This weeks Friday Freebie is a Magic Line loaf pan from Courtney at benefityourlife.com.  Her website also sells a very high quality almond flour, that I have tested and can highly recommend, in case you are looking for another great place to order your almond flour. So, go ahead and leave a comment for your chance to win this awesome loaf pan.

UPDATE: this giveaway has ended, the winner was Lenee

And in local almond flour news, something very exciting.  Helios Health Center at Broadway and Darley Avenue in Boulder is now selling a fabulous quality almond flour retail that I have tested.  Call them at (303) 499-9224, for more information, or stop by.  They are selling it out of their apothecary which also happens to have a great selection of herbs, vitamins and books.

Have a lovely weekend all and thanks so much for all of the wonderful responses, care, connections and advice to Nicole in this post.

For those of you that have leftover zucchini from your gardens, here is a delicious gluten free zucchini chocolate chip mini muffin recipe.  Our garden is just petering out with the severe frost we had last weekend and I need to get going on pulling up all the wilted plants from the yard.

Meanwhile, with this colder weather I've been a baking fiend and my family is fully taking advantage of this, loading themselves up with gluten free goodies.

Zucchini Chocolate Chip Mini-MuffinsNote: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.
¼ cup coconut flour
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 eggs
¼ cup grapeseed oil
¼ cup agave nectar
1 ½ cups grated zucchini (do not pack down when measuring)
½ cup dark chocolate chips

1. In a medium bowl, combine coconut flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon
2. In a large bowl, combine eggs, oil, agave and zucchini
3. Mix dry ingredients into wet thoroughly
4. Stir in chocolate chips
5. Grease a mini muffin tin with grapeseed oil and lightly dust with coconut flour
6. Spoon approximately 1 tablespoon of batter into each muffin tin
7. Bake at 350° for 18-22 minutes
8. Cool and serve

Last night I had a fabulous time teaching at the Culinary School of the Rockies.  My next class is on October 28th at Bauman College, right here in the heart of Boulder.

My busy week started off with a super fun interview Monday on 9 News' Colorado and Company television program, during which we discussed my high protein gluten free cookbook and ate lots of treats that I brought to the show.

The busy week continues this Sunday as I will be appearing at the ADA conference in Denver.  For more information please see my book tour page.

In Freebie news, the winner of last weeks Friday Freebie (book by Robyn O'Brien), The Unhealthy Truth is Danielle! Congratulations.

This weeks Friday Freebie is for a box of Kroeger Herb's Female Tea and a bottle of their Female Balance™ Herbal Supplement. Leave a comment below by Wednesday, October 21st for your chance to win.

UPDATE: this giveaway has ended and the winner was Michelle

I have been craving a good, healthy, tasty, gluten free bran muffin for quite some time.  Finally, thanks to flaxmania (I'm on a string of flax recipes this week) here it is.

My friend Chris was one of my guinea pigs for this baking endeavor.  She took a flax muffin home from my house one day and ate it the next for breakfast.  Later, I received a phone call from her requesting this recipe.  I take that as a good sign since she does not have food restrictions.

Well, at last, my book, The Gluten-Free Almond Flour Cookbook hits store shelves tomorrow!

As I mentioned in a previous post, I will be spending less time in the comments section of this site.  In choosing how to allot my hours, I realize that (in addition to working on books) my top priority is to bring you as many recipes as I possibly can.

Because of this, I encourage all of you to network with each other.  Feel free to answer as many questions as you like or if you have questions, do not hesitate to jump over to my FAQ page or post them in the forums in hopes that some other helpful reader will step in to guide you toward a satisfying answer.

Because of all of the requests I have had for more videos as well as for recipes using coconut flour...I have created a short video tutorial using coconut flour.

In this quick and easy tutorial I invite you into my kitchen to be taken step by step through a recipe for mini blueberry muffins. These muffins are mighty tasty.

My children and their friends (who can eat as much gluten as they want) fought over these muffins after I was done baking and shooting them for my video purposes.  They ended their little row in a civil fashion, by dividing the muffins evenly amongst themselves.

As you can probably tell, these muffins are a favorite in our house for breakfast (served with scrambled eggs), snack or dessert. 

I hope you like them as much as we do and that you find this video tutorial to be of much assistance in your baking endeavors.  Enjoy!

These gluten free carrot muffins make a great addition to any brunch menu, though especially one for Mother's Day.

These lightly sweetened muffins are made with high fiber coconut flour.  Don't let all that healthy stuff scare you off though, they're mighty tasty.  And with yacon sweetening them, they're not too sweet.  If you want to replace the yacon with agave your muffin will be just a bit sweeter.  I tried making them both ways and preferred the yacon version.

I would say that yacon compares to agave the way molasses compares to honey.  Yacon and molasses have a more subtle, round flavor, whereas agave and honey have a sharp, sweet flavor.

Either way, these muffins are a healthy treat great for breakfast, snack or dessert.

Gluten Free Carrot Mini MuffinsNote: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.
¼ cup coconut flour
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
3 eggs
¼ cup grapeseed oil
¼ cup yacon syrup
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 cup carrots, grated
¼ cup currants

1. In a medium bowl, combine coconut flour, salt, baking soda and cinnamon
2. In a large bowl, blend together eggs, oil, yacon and vanilla
3. Blend dry ingredients into wet, then fold in carrots and currants
4. Grease a mini muffin tin with grapeseed oil and then dust with coconut flour
5. Spoon approximately 1 teaspoon tablespoon of batter into each greased mini muffin cup
6. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes
7. Cool and serve

Makes about about 32 mini-muffins

Just before we ate dinner last night, my boys were packing their lunches.  Much to my surprise, my older one put 5 or 6 of these carrot mini-muffins in his lunch.  He's more of a brownie kind of guy and doesn't usually go for my fruity (or in this case vegetable) type treats.  When I told him I was so glad that he liked these new muffins, he responded that he did not.

He then explained that the boys in his class really like my baked goods and he trades them for fruit leather and candy at lunchtime.  Whoopee.  You can imagine how happy I was about this.  Not.  Overall, I would have to say that the children he trades with are getting the better end of the deal!  At least my son is a good label reader and is hopefully not getting glutenized.  Though that's not really the point in this case.

I want to take a moment and thank all of you for your comments.  While I love what I do and get satisfaction from it day in and day out, it is great to hear from all of you.  I so appreciate the contact and community.  Your comments really are the icing on the cake!

And to thank you all for your wonderful comments, for this week's Friday Freebie I will be giving away an Elana's Pantry tote bag made of 100% recycled cotton.  Leave a comment on this post and your name will go into the Yankees hat for the drawing (to be done by my boys) next Thursday evening.  We will announce the winner next Friday.

Happy Mother's Day everyone!

We will be making these gluten free lemon poppy seed muffins at my class on March 17th at the Culinary School of the Rockies.  I am sharing the recipe here for those of you that won't be able to make it.

This is my mother-in-law's favorite little muffin.  When she came out to visit, I baked a batch and sent them with her so she would have sustenance for the plane ride home.

I like these muffins because they are not only light and fluffy, they are also high in protein and fiber and lower in sugars than the average muffin.  Make that much lower in sugars.  They are quite a refreshing treat and I hope you like them as much as my mother-in-law does.

Lemon Poppy Seed MuffinsNote: There is a print link embedded within this post, please visit this post to print it.
¼ cup coconut flour
¼ teaspoon celtic sea salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
3 eggs
¼ cup agave nectar
¼ cup grapeseed oil
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 tablespoon poppy seeds

1. In a medium bowl, combine coconut flour, salt and baking soda
2. In a large bowl, blend together eggs, agave, oil and lemon zest
3. Blend dry ingredients into wet
4. Fold in poppy seeds
5. Spoon 1 tablespoon of batter into each greased mini muffin cup
6. Bake at 350° for 8 to 10 minutes
7. Cool and serve

Makes about about 24 mini-muffins

For the bible on baking with coconut flour, see Bruce Fife's Cooking with Coconut Flour. He is the master when it comes to baking with this very healthy, reasonably priced ingredient!

In other news, Heidi from 101Cookbooks.com has created a new search engine for recipes made primarily from minimally-processed, natural, sustainable, whole foods. It's called Super Natural Recipe Search and it looks mighty good.  I highly recommend checking it out!