Fall in a Muffin Tin

Saturday and Sunday were rainy, cold, and dismal here in DC.  When faced with such conditions, my nesting instinct goes into uber-overdrive, and I morph into a modern-day June Cleaver with all my cleaning and cooking.  I think the bad weather makes me want to create a super-cozy, happy environment indoors.

So after I got back from my run yesterday, I decided to go to my happy place: the kitchen.

I made hummus.  I made kale chips.  I made almond butter with molasses and sea salt.  And I made apple spice muffins.

The apple-spice muffins were my biggest win.  I've been trying my hand at gluten-free and vegan baking lately, and it's a challenge.  I'm gluten-free because I have Celiac disease and have no choice but to be GF, and I'm trying to bake vegan for reasons that are totally, shamelessly related to instant gratification: I want to be able to eat batter when I bake.

You see, I love batter.  Half the time, I love the batter just as much as the end result.  You know how little kids usually get batter all over their faces from licking the bowl when they help their moms cook?  That's me.

However, I also have a mortal fear of salmonella, so raw eggs and I don't jive.  I subbed out the eggs in this recipe for flax eggs, which I've seen in various places around the food blogging world, including such awesome venues as Oh She Glows.

And I ate batter with wild abandon.

These cookies are basically fall in a muffin tin, what with the apples and spices galore.  If you find yourself with a rainy afternoon, bake up a batch and enjoy.

Apple Spice Muffins (gluten-free, vegan):

Dry:
1 cup almond flour
1/2 cup Mama's brand almond-brown rice flour mix
1/2 cup quinoa flakes
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/3 cup sugar (preferably organic cane sugar)
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground cloves (optional)


Wet:
1 tbs vanilla extract
1/3 cup applesauce
1 apple, cored and diced small
3/4 to 1 cup vanilla almond milk
3 flax eggs

Mix dry ingredients together and blend until combined.  Then add wet ingredients, stir, and divide into muffin tins.  Cook at 350 for 25 minutes.

I'm planning to eventually upload some pictures and recipes to Pinterest - does anyone have experience doing that?  I've been on Pinterest for a while now, but I've just been re-pinning stuff and not adding anything of my own.  It'll be a new experience for me!