We have all heard of carrot muffins and don’t think twice about including the carrot vegetable into baked goods. What is less commonly heard of is the use of beets for the same purpose. Today, I am sharing my newly-created and tested recipe for Deli-style Gluten-free Beet Muffins which are moist and packed full of wonderful flavor. This is definitely in the category of “don’t knock it till you’ve tried it“!
Our garden did extremely well this year and our beets, in particular, grew very well….to the point that we had way more than what we could eat fresh or pickled. I am always looking to add new gluten-free muffins to my recipe repertoire so, with an abundance of beets available, I figured this was a good time to experiment with them and I am very pleased with the results. These deli-style gluten-free beet muffins have undergone several testings, in different ovens, and have produced consistently good results to the point that I am ready to publish my recipe here on my website.
For those of you who follow a gluten-free diet, you are likely aware that it is often difficult to get good quality baked goods that reasonably replicate gluten baked goods and that are appetizing and tasty. I have been doing a lot of experimenting with gluten-free recipe creation over the past while and am having very good results, particularly with muffins. I love a muffin for coffeebreak at work every day and I absolutely detest any muffin with a flat top! I expect my muffins to resemble deli-style muffins – those that are beautifully raised, with the dome top, and are a reasonably good sized muffin.
In order to get that deli-style muffin, I have learned that gluten-free muffins take more leavening. This is probably due to the properties in the gluten-free flours and they obviously must take more leavening. I find some gluten-free flours produce baked goods that have a “gritty” texture to them while others will result in a “gummy” textured product, and still others can have an offputting taste that is just not very appetizing. I have come up with a flour mixture blend that alleviates these issues and I attribute a lot of that to my use of small amounts of almond and coconut flours in my baked products. These flours cannot be used cup-for-cup substitutions for all-purpose flours because they react to liquid differently and, hence, the use of them in any quantity requires modifications to the liquid content in a recipe. However, small amounts of them can be used and I find they do enhance both the texture and certainly the flavor of baked goods like cookies and muffins.
The other thing I have learned about gluten-free baking is that the addition of several flavor enhancers greatly improves the flavor of the baked product. This is where the use of yogurt, vegetables (such as beets), maple syrup, cocoa, and so forth come in. For this beet muffin recipe, I use a thick Mediterranean-style/Greek yogurt. Many recipes will call for the use of plain yogurt and that certainly works in this muffin recipe. However, I have also tested it with coconut and lavender (yes, lavender!) flavored yogurts and both are very good in these muffins. Don’t substitute regular yogurt for the thick Mediterranean-style yogurt in this recipe as the regular yogurt will be too watery and will change the ratio of wet-to-dry ingredients in the muffins.
For this recipe, I incorporate beets in two ways – as a purée and in shredded form. The purée should be of the consistency of applesauce or baby food and should look like this.
A small food processor or blender works well for the purée but I often use my immersion blender. If the beets are soft enough, the immersion blender will work. I use my tall 2-cup measuring cup when using the immersion blender to purée these beets as it contains any splatters – you really do see how red beets can be if you find splatters on the wall!
To shred the remaining beet(s) required for the recipe, I use a simple shredder like the one shown in the photo below. As you can see, the beets are shredded rather coarsely.
Some recipes call for shredded uncooked beets to be used in muffins; however, these muffins only take about 20 minutes to bake and, since beets are firm and take a while to cook I find, to ensure the beets are cooked in the muffins, I have better success using cooked beets in this recipe. Both the beet purée and shredded beets give these muffins flavor and moisture.
I love chocolate so have incorporated some cocoa and chocolate chips into the muffins as both add lovely flavor to the baked product.
While I cook the beets especially for these muffins, if you happen to have cooked too many beets for another purpose, these muffins would be a good way to use the left-over beets. Three-quarters of a pound of beets (weighed after leaves removed) are required for this recipe. The ones in the photo below are from our garden so, as you can see, they are of varying sizes! Just know that the bigger beet is going to take longer to cook to fork-tender state. Don’t split the beets before they are cooked as they will bleed and their goodness will be poured down the drain.
As always, make sure that all the ingredients called for in the recipe are gluten free.
These are great muffins to make in the summer and fall when you have fresh beets in the garden or can access them at local farmers markets or roadside farm market stands. These muffins freeze well.
[Printable recipe follows at end of posting]
Gluten-Free Beet Muffins
Ingredients:
¾ lb beets
1 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour (or gluten-free one-to-one flour)
1/3 cup gluten-free oat flour
¼ cup almond flour
¼ cup coconut flour
2 tbsp arrowroot starch
1¼ tsp xanthan gum
¼ cup gluten-free small flake rolled oats
5½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
½ tsp salt
2 tbsp ground chia seeds
1/3 cup cocoa
Scant 2/3 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
¾ tsp cinnamon
2 extra-large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
½ cup almond milk or whole milk
¼ cup coconut oil, melted and cooled
1/3 cup Mediterranean-style/Greek yogurt (plain, coconut, or lavender flavor)
4 oz beet purée (see method below)
2 tbsp maple syrup
1½ tsp vanilla
½ cup shredded cooked beets
½ cup chocolate chips (optional)
Method:
Remove leaves, leaving about 1½“ stems along with the roots on the beets. Wash beets. Cook beets in boiling salted water until fork tender. Let beets cool enough to handle, then peel. Loosely chop 4 oz beets into a small food processor or a blender and purée until smooth (an immersion blender may also be used). Consistency of puréed beets should be similar to apple sauce or baby food. Shred remaining beets to fill ½ cup measuring cup.
Preheat oven to 450°F.
Use muffin tins with cups that have ½-cup holding capacity. Prepare muffin tins by greasing or spraying each muffin cup with cooking oil, ensuring the top of the muffin tin is also well greased. Alternatively, line with parchment paper cups.
In large bowl, combine the dry ingredients by whisking very well. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and set aside.
In separate bowl, or large measuring cup, whisk together the lightly beaten eggs, almond or whole milk, coconut oil, yogurt, beet purée, maple syrup, vanilla, and shredded beet.
Pour wet ingredients into well in the dry ingredients. Combine just until dry ingredients are barely incorporated. Do not overmix. Gently stir in the chocolate chips, if using.
Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins, filling almost to the muffin cup rim. Let batter sit for 5 minutes before baking.
Transfer muffins to oven and immediately reduce heat to 400°F. Bake 20-22 minutes or until muffins are just firm to the touch and a cake tester inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
Let muffins rest in muffin cups for 5-7 minutes then gently remove from pan and transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
Yield: 15 muffins
A deli-style gluten free muffin that combines beets with chocolate to create a moist, tasty muffin
Ingredients
- ¾ lb beets
- 1 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour (or gluten-free one-to-one flour)
- 1/3 cup gluten-free oat flour
- ¼ cup almond flour
- ¼ cup coconut flour
- 2 tbsp arrowroot starch
- 1¼ tsp xanthan gum
- ¼ cup gluten-free small flake rolled oats
- 5½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tbsp ground chia seeds
- 1/3 cup cocoa
- Scant 2/3 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
- ¾ tsp cinnamon
- 2 extra-large eggs, room temperature, lightly beaten
- ½ cup almond milk or whole milk
- ¼ cup coconut oil, melted and cooled
- 1/3 cup Mediterranean-style/Greek yogurt (plain, coconut, or lavender flavor)
- 4 oz beet purée (see method below)
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1½ tsp vanilla
- ½ cup shredded cooked beets
- ½ cup chocolate chips (optional)
Instructions
- Remove leaves, leaving about 1½“ stems along with the roots on the beets. Wash beets. Cook beets in boiling salted water until fork tender. Let beets cool enough to handle, then peel. Loosely chop 4 oz beets into a small food processor or a blender and purée until smooth (an immersion blender may also be used). Consistency of puréed beets should be similar to apple sauce or baby food. Shred remaining beets to fill ½ cup measuring cup.
- Preheat oven to 450°F.
- Use muffin tins with cups that have ½-cup holding capacity. Prepare muffin tins by greasing or spraying each muffin cup with cooking oil, ensuring the top of the muffin tin is also well greased. Alternatively, line with parchment paper cups.
- In large bowl, combine the dry ingredients by whisking very well. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and set aside.
- In separate bowl, or large measuring cup, whisk together the lightly beaten eggs, almond or whole milk, coconut oil, yogurt, beet purée, maple syrup, vanilla, and shredded beet.
- Pour wet ingredients into well in the dry ingredients. Combine just until dry ingredients are barely incorporated. Do not overmix. Gently stir in the chocolate chips, if using.
- Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins, filling almost to the muffin cup rim. Let batter sit for 5 minutes before baking.
- Transfer muffins to oven and immediately reduce heat to 400°F. Bake 20-22 minutes or until muffins are just firm to the touch and a cake tester inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
- Let muffins rest in muffin cups for 5-7 minutes then gently remove from pan and transfer to wire rack to cool completely.
- [Copyright My Island Bistro Kitchen]
For other great gluten-free muffin recipes from My Island Bistro Kitchen, click on the links below:
Deli-style Gluten-free Rhubarb Granola Muffins
Blueberry Muffin recipe
Deli-style Gluten-fre Rhubarb Granola Muffins
Gluten-Free Pumpkin-Mincemeat Muffins
Gluten-free Blueberry Zucchini Muffins
Gluten-free Carrot Zucchini Muffins
Gluten-free Banana Date Muffins
If you have made this recipe and enjoyed it and/or wish to share it with your friends and family, please do so on social media but be sure to share the direct link to this posting from my website.
Connect with My Island Bistro Kitchen on Social Media
Join the Facebook page for My Island Bistro Kitchen: https://www.facebook.com/MyIslandBistroKitchen/
Follow “the Bistro” on “X” (formerly Twitter): https://twitter.com/PEIBistro/
See the drool-worthy gallery of mouth-watering food photos from My Island Bistro Kitchen on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/peibistro/
Follow “the Bistro” on Pinterest at https://www.pinterest.ca/peibistro/ and pin the Pinterest-ready photo at the end of this posting to your favorite Pinterest boards!
Pin Me To Pinterest!
