gluten free pumpkin spice muffins & simple mom hacks for picky eaters

So this morning I got up an hour before everyone else (this never happens!).  I was going to take advantage of precious quiet time and start this miracle of a day right.  So…

I reheated old coffee from yesterday so I wouldn’t wake my kids up with the coffee grinder starting up….

I dressed in my leggings sweater and cozy socks so I’d feel snug…

I meditated on a reading for about 30 seconds (while reading it!)…

Then I left the clean dishes in our dishwasher (contrary to my norm) and started mixing a batter for pumpkin spice muffins.

 

I’ll give the recipe in a second but first a couple of hacks that I’ve learned as a mom of more than one, with some picky eaters:

*with this batch I have one that likes chocolate chips and one that doesn’t like chocolate at all…so I add the chips to the batter in a lump and dole out the plain muffins first.  Then I mix in the chips to the rest of the batter and pour those into muffin cups.

 

*if I have one that doesn’t like “muffins” I’ll add some extra batter to my Wilson’s donut mold and bake them in a shape of a donut in the oven at the same time!

 

*If you have a child that is more sensitive to refined sugars, like I do, it’s helpful to modify recipes and reduce/replace with natural sugars like honey/maple syrup.

 

TADA!

Here it is:

Pumpkin Spice Muffins  (GF)

• 1 Cup roasted pumpkin
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1 cup 1:1 gluten free replacement flour
• 1 teaspoon xanthum gum
• 2 teaspoons gf baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon cloves
• optional 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (I like Enjoy Life – allergen free)

Bake at 350′ for about 20 minutes or until springy and browned on top!

Here are the companies I like to use (for Celiac-friendly, gluten free baking!)

• Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 Gluten Free Flour replacement mix
• Bob’s Red Mill Xanthum Gum
• Enjoy Life Allergen Free Chocolate chips
• McCormick Spices
• Simply Natural Organic Spices
• Davis Baking Powder