Millet, Oat, Peach & Apple Gluten Free Muffins, and thoughts on Snow

Winter is here. Waist high snow fall and towering eight foot piles of it have zapped much of my energy and enthusiasm for life.  At good moments I like to marvel at the surreal landscape around us, wind carved drifts and epic icicles.  I am most grateful for my new snow boots keeping me warm and dry. Seriously, if you are looking for the best boot ever, look no further. 

And I think it may be wise to invest in some Westeros Wildling fashions. 

Because, see, winter is here. These are my windows after the last storm. And we live on a raised first floor, I usually have to stand on my tiptoes to reach the windows from the outside in the summer. 

I have not been outside today, since this scary guy seems to be out there right now... 

Winter and I are not friends. Mostly I have been making meals out of melted cheese and various corn products; tortillas, chips, corn bread. Cooking out of the freezer and the pantry a lot. And filling the rest of my calories with chocolate in the form of vegan brownies, and obviously hot cocoa. This is me with winter the winter snow sadness, nachos in one hand and rum laced hot cocoa in the other. Actually the two do not taste so well together, don't try it.

I did make an effort of cheerfulness with some peach muffins for breakfast. Inspired by the Millet and Oat muffin recipe in Le Tartine Gourmonde, I of course changed some things by adding peaches and removing some sugar.

This is how I keep my oatmeal; with the ratio on the front for making oatmeal so I don't have to wonder if my brain is remembering correctly first thing in the morning!

Mixing up the muffin batter up is easy.

for a double batch of muffins which makes 24. I used one bag of frozen peaches. Defrost them to make slicing easy.



Fill your muffin cups 3/4 of the way with batter. Divide the peach chunks evenly around them, poking them into the batter a bit. Sprinkle the tops with dry oats. My peaches did not sink much, you can see them here on the baked muffins. I find the frozen peaches have a good flavor, but are less tender and juicy than fresh ones. In muffins this might be a bonus, as prevention against soggy muffins.



Millet, Oat, Peach & Apple Gluten Free Muffins
makes 12 muffins

2 eggs
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons tahini paste (well mixed)
3 1/2 tablespoons sunflower oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup apple sauce
1/2 cup millet flour
1/4 cup sorghum flour
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup oats (plus more for topping)
5 ounces cut peaches (frozen is OK!)

Preheat oven to 350°

Mix eggs and sugar in a bowl until combined and sort of creamy. Add oil, tahnini paste, apple sauce and vanilla. Mix well.

Combine the millet flour, sorghum flour, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl, ensure there are no lumps. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Add the oats. Stir until it is well mixed, with no dry spots.

Line a muffin pan with papers, or grease it. Or if you have a super easy silicone mold like mine, it needs no grease! Scoop 3/4 full of batter. Add peaches. Poke into the batter. Sprinkled with oats for garnish.

Bake for 25 minutes. Check that a toothpick comes out clean, indicated they are done.

Enjoy :)