Gluten Free Pineapple and Cinnamon Muffins

For many years I have been trying to make the perfect gluten free muffin without a great deal of success. My daughter came home last week and said she needed to make a breakfast muffin for her food technology class. We put our heads together and came up with a delicious result reminiscent in taste and texture of a good cinnamon doughnut. Because it is designed to be a breakfast muffin the recipe is fairly low in sugar, contains whole grains and fruit and is also dairy free.

What you will need:

Dry Ingredients-

• 1 cup sweet sorghum flour
• 1 cup commercial gluten-free self-raising flour *(see note at the end of post)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/3 cup raw castor sugar

Wet Ingredients-

• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1/2 cup soy milk (or alternative non-dairy milk)
• 1/4 cup vegetable or rice bran oil
• 1/4 cup pineapple juice (drained from the tin of crushed pineapple)
• 1/2 cup of tinned crushed pineapple (juice drained)

Crumble Topping (optional) -

• 1/8 cup quinoa flakes
• 1/2 - 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp coconut sugar (or soft brown sugar)
• Olive oil spray

What you need to do:

1. Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Prepare a muffin tray by spraying with olive oil spray.

2. Prepare the topping mixture by combining quinoa flakes, cinnamon and coconut sugar and mix well. Set aside.

3. Sift the flours into a bowl with the baking powder and cinnamon. Add sugar and mix until combined.

4. In a jug or bowl, add all the wet ingredients and mix until combined.

5. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Mix gently until just combined. Don't overbeat or this will result in a tough muffin.

6. Spoon mixture in to the muffin tray. Sprinkle a teaspoon of the crumble topping mixture and then spray lightly with olive oil.

7. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes.

* Note - the commercial gluten-free self-raising flour mix can be substituted for a combination of other flours with at least 1/3 starch, such as tapioca or potato, as well as 1/3 white or brown rice flour, and 1/3 sorghum flour. In this case you will also need to add an additional 2 teaspoons of baking powder to the dry ingredients.