Gluten Free Pumpkin Corn Bread Muffins

 Gluten Free Pumpkin Corn Bread Muffins 

When I lived in Charlottesville, Virginia, the other coolest town in the world, I had the privilege of teaching an occasional cooking class at the Lorna Sundberg International Center. 

The last class that I taught before moving to Oregon was called Cooking With Pumpkin.  If someone were to ask me, what is your all-time favorite ingredient, it would be a hard toss up between kale and this beautiful, orange globe of the Autumn Harvest Gods bursting with flavor, nutrition, and nostalgia. 

Here are some fun Pumpkin Facts that I used in my pre-cooking class slideshow:

• Pumpkins are a member of the gourd family, cucurbitaceae
•  Conneticut Field, sugar or pie, Long Island Cheese, Kabocha, French Red or Cinderella, Sonia, Calabaza, and Australian Queensland are just a few of the several varieties of pumpkin.
• Giant pumpkins can grow to be over 1000 pounds.  The world's largest was grown in the tiny state of Rhode Island in the year 2012, and weighed 2009 pounds
• They grow on every continent except Antarctica, but, they are native to North America. 
• The self-proclaimed "Pumpkin Capital of the World" is Half Moon Bay, California.  Check out their funky Art and Pumpkinfest    

And these are reasons why this may be my favorite food:

• You can store picked pumpkins in a cool dark place for WEEKS and they will stay fresh.
• They are extremely versatile: you can roast, steam, boil, microwave, grill, grate, puree....
• they can be used in savory and sweet dishes.  Sometimes I have to watch myself or I'll accidentally plan pumpkin as the main ingredient in the entree, a topping for a salad, and then a pumpkin souffle or pudding or ice cream for dessert....
• They truly are one of nature's miracle super foods
• My mom called me "pumpky face" when I was a baby.  Ok, so I may have a round-ish chubby face, but I thought it was sweet and endearing.... 
   
    
  Why is it sooooooooooo good for you?
   
  
   
   
   
  Complex Carbohydrates
  Vitamin C
  Potassium (564mg/cup, so great recovery food after a long run or sweat session)
  HUGE amounts of Vitamin A and Beta Carotene (the precursor the Vitamin A, helps you see in dim light, so it makes sense that it is a winter vegetable!)
  High in Fiber (3 grams/cup)
  
  Low in Calories (only 49 calories/cup)
  Pumpkin Seeds are high in Phytosterols which help reduce LDL or "bad" cholesterol
  Pumpkin Seeds are high in Tryptophan, a mood-boosting amino acid (due to its role in increasing serotonin production)
   
   
  Ok, on to the recipe for Gluten Free Pumpkin Corn Bread Muffins
   
  A great side dish at a Thanksgiving or Fall Harvest Meal.  Or, with a little sweet somethin somethin like the delicious Pumpkin Butter from Clearbrook Farms that my good friend Ketrin gave me, or a scoop of vanilla bean ice cream, they can make a simple, gourmet dessert.  Or, you can add chocolate chips and walnuts at the last minute to make them a great, on the go nutritious breakfast. 
   
  
   
  Ingredients:
  1 cup gluten free oat flour
  1/3 cup almond or hazelnut flour
  1 cup ground (fine to medium grind) yellow cornmeal
  2 tsp baking powder
  1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  1/4 tsp nutmeg
  1/8 tsp ginger
  1/2 tsp baking soda
  1/4 tsp salt
  2 eggs or 4 egg whites
  2 tablespoons of maple syrup or molasses
  1 1/2 cups of roasted, pureed pumpkin OR 1 15 oz can of unsweetened pumpkin
  4 tablespoons olive or melted coconut oil
  1/2 cup almond milk
   
  3/4 cup walnuts, coursely chopped (optional)
  3/4 cup of dark chocolate chips (optional)
   
  Directions:
   
  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Grease a muffin pan with canola, coconut, or olive oil.
  2. Combine the flours, cornmeal, sugar, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl, until mixed thoroughly.
  3. In your kitchen aid bowl, or a regular bowl, whisk together the eggs, pumpkin, butter, and milk in a smaller bowl.  Quickly pour the flour mixture into the wet mixture and combine with the paddle attachment of the kitchen aid or you and a big fork and your strong biceps and wrist.  Add walnuts and chocolate chips if desired.
  4. Pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan, filling each muffin mold about 3/4 way full. 
  5. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until tops of muffins are puffy and golden brown.
  6. Remove from oven and cook on a wire rack for about 10 minutes.
   
  Best if served warm with the steam still coming out of the center......mmmmm.....
   
   

  

  This recipe is dedicated to my very good friends Mary Gordon and Ketrin.  Mary Gordon gave me my most cherished and tattered and torn and stained cookbook, simply called Pumpkin, by DeeDee Stoval.  Ketrin, for whom I bought a mini pumpkin from a farm-stand in the Shenandoah Valley on the drive to see her in DC one crisp October weekend before running the Baltimore Marathon, always gets me little pumpkin treats like the pumpkin butter above.