Gluten Free Carrot Cake Muffins

1. 1

   Adjust the oven rack to the middle position, pre-heat the oven to 375ºF (190ºC) and line a 12-hole muffin pan with paper liners. Depending on the size of your muffin pan holes and your paper liners, the recipe makes 10-11 muffins.

Streusel topping:

1. 1

   In a bowl, whisk together the gluten free flour blend, light brown sugar and xanthan gum.

2. 2

   Add the cubed cold butter and rub it into the dry ingredients with your fingertips until you get a crumbly mixture that forms clumps when you press it together. You want a mixture of small “crumbs” and larger pea-sized pieces.

3. 3

   Add the chopped pecans or walnuts and mix until evenly distributed. Set aside until needed.

Cream cheese filling:

1. 1

   In a bowl, mix together the cream cheese, sugar and vanilla until well combined and smooth.

2. 2

   Transfer the mixture to a piping bag fitted with a round nozzle (or just cut off the end of the piping bag without a nozzle). Set aside until needed.

Carrot cake muffins:

1. 1

   In a large bowl, whisk together the light brown sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla until well combined.

2. 2

   In a separate bowl, whisk together the gluten free flour blend, baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg.

3. 3

   Add the dry ingredients to the wet and use a rubber spatula or a wooden spoon to mix everything together into a smooth, fairly thick batter with no flour clumps.

4. 4

   Add the coarsely grated carrots and mix them into the batter until they're evenly distributed throughout.

5. 5

   Use an ice cream scoop or a spoon to divide the batter evenly between the paper liners, filling each about ¾ full. Depending on the size of your muffin pan holes and your paper liners, the recipe makes 10-11 muffins.

6. 6

   Pipe a generous amount of the cream cheese filling into the centre of each muffin – you shouldn't have any filling left over.When piping the cream cheese filling, don’t just pipe it on top of the muffins – stick the end of the piping bag into the centre of the muffin and then, as you’re squeezing the piping bag, move it upwards and finish it off with a small dollop of the cream cheese filling on top of the muffin. (See blog post for photos.)

7. 7

   Top each muffin with a generous amount of the streusel topping, you shouldn't have any left over.

8. 8

   Bake at 375ºF (190ºC) for about 24-26 minutes or until the muffins are well risen, golden brown on top and an inserted toothpick or cake tester comes out clean.

9. 9

   Allow the muffins to cool in the muffin pan for about 5–10 minutes, then transfer them out of the pan and onto a wire rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Storage:

1. 1

   The gluten free carrot cake muffins keep well in a closed container in the fridge for 3-4 days. (Note that the crumble topping will soften with time as it absorbs the ambient moisture and also the moisture from the muffins.)