Raspberry Lemonade Rice Flour Muffins

 

First, apologies for the typo in the flour list on Wednesday's post: "Almond flour – suitable for folks who need a gluten-free diet or Celiac disease."  Almond flour is NOT for those who need Celiac disease, but rather those who HAVE the disease and NEED a gluten-free diet.  Have got to cut back on late night posting.

Since we're talking gluten-free, my first new flour venture will be with stone ground White Rice Flour which is just that.  For the didyaknows about rice flour, check out the Notes section below, but for now, check this out.  Tasty delicious muffins.

Raspberry Lemonade Rice Flour Muffins

2 cups white rice flour
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup Simply Lemonade with Raspberry
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tbsp. baking powder
1-1/2 tsp. salt
1 tsp. lemon zest
2 tbsp. almonds, chopped (optional)
3/4 cup raspberries + 1 tsp. sugar, fork mashed

In a bowl, mix together rice flour, eggs, lemonade, sugar, oil, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest until smooth.  If you decide to go there, add in the almonds.

 

Pour mixture into a lightly greased muffin tin.

Place a dollop of the sugared raspberry mash on each one and with a fork or spoon, do a quick swirl to incorporate it into the muffin.

 

Bake at 425 degrees for 18 minutes or until muffin springs back to the touch.

Remove muffins from pan and cool on rack.  Then enjoy!

NOTES

Another variation, try using plain lemonade and adding in dried blueberries.

So I used paper baking cups, but I would recommend NOT doing that because the muffins stick to the paper and then you have to gnaw it off which is not pretty.  Just grease the tin and use a knife to loosen them from the pan, best way to ensure a whole muffin.

FLOUR

Rice flour is made from white or brown rice. The rice husk (or paddy) is removed then the raw rice is ground to a powder (flour). It's used a lot in Asian cuisine for making rice noodles or desserts (like Japanese mochi).

Because it's gluten-free, makes a good substitute for wheat flour.  Can be used, like cornstarch, as a thickening agent and is supposed to especially effective when used in recipes for foods that get refrigerated or frozen because it helps inhibit liquid separation.