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Tender and sweet corn muffins infused with the scent of banana
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Gypsy Souls
Apartment hunting is more than a little fun, right? It's big fun. You get to tour unfamiliar lobbies and prowl rooms old and new. You get to peek into kitchen cupboards and step onto balconies, turning your face toward the sun to imagine greeting the day in that one particular spot on Earth (mug of fresh brewed coffee and a crisp LA Times in hand).
You wade eagerly into conversations about whether you'd prefer looking out at a roof top or a wall or a neighbor's patio ringed with bamboo. Hunting is fun. But finding the right apartment is not as simple as you might think.
While you think it would be beyond groovy to live opposite the Santa Monica Library with a ficus canopy crowning your street level view, your Honey Baby Sugarness states said library proximity holds absolutely no charm for him and he urges you to reconsider your enthusiasm, siting 1. street level noise and 2. the stop-and-go energy (and air-brakes) at the bus stop.
He favors a bright and airy but characterless spot on 6th Street opening to a quiet common courtyard. But you can't get past 1. the spongy beige wall-to-wall and 2. the cross-alley neighbor's clear view of your living room (hence, My Lovely, your sure-to-happen morning-brained half naked sprint to fetch the ringing cell phone forgotten in your purse the night before--- not a pretty sight).
So you brew a cup of coffee, open a bag of potato chips and hash out priorities- what is mutually essential and what might not be. What you can live with and what you cannot. And vice versa. This is a marriage, after all. Two gypsy souls.
You make lists (yes, I make lists). I'm visual. I need visual aids. Diagrams are good. Multiple colors (I'm a Sharpie lover). Arrows for emphasis. Stars. Circles. Big decisions require maps. Direction. Emphasis.
Le smack down-
Meh wall-to-wall carpet vs street noise
New kitchen! vs Ahhh, soaking tub!
Sky roof view vs neighbor dancing in his underwear (or vice versa- see above)
Walking to beach vs walking to library
Privacy vs proximity
Location, location, location (is that like, Practice, practice, practice?)
You hone and define your hopes and needs on a lined piece of yellow paper. You sip more wine. You tinker. Smile. Find agreement.
Hardwood floors win. Roof top view and new kitchen- win. Big windows- no brainer. Proximity to beach- double no-brainer.
Progress.
And here's a muffin to go with it.
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| Tender corn muffin goodness scented with banana. |
Banana Corn Muffin Recipe
I love using mashed banana in vegan baking. The mashed sweet fruit gives egg-free muffins a pull-apart tenderness. Not to mention- the combo of cornmeal and banana? Delicious.
Ingredients:
Whisk in a mixing bowl:
1 cup Bob's Red Mill Gluten-Free Cornmeal
3/4 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup potato starch or tapioca starch
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup packed organic light brown sugar
1/4 cup organic cane sugar
Pinch of nutmeg
Make a well in the center and add in:
1/2 cup light olive oil
1 cup banana puree
1/3 cup coconut milk or other non-dairy milk
1 tablespoon Ener-G Egg Replacer whisked with 1/4 cup warm water 
2 teaspoons bourbon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon lemon juice or light tasting vinegar
1 tablespoon honey or organic raw agave nectar 
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350ºF. Line twelve muffin cups with paper liners.
Beat to combine. The batter should be smooth and medium thick. If it feels too stiff add a spoonful of coconut milk to thin. If, by chance, the batter is very thin, add a sprinkle of potato starch to thicken it.
Spoon the batter into the twelve muffin cups. Use wet fingers to smooth tops, if necessary. Bake in the center of a preheated oven till domed and firm to the touch. This might be anywhere from 18 to 25 minutes (a wooden pick inserted into the center should emerge clean) depending upon your oven, and humidity.
Cool the pan on a wire rack for a few minutes; then turn out the muffins to continue cooling on the rack (this prevents the bottoms from steaming).
Serve warm. Wrap extra muffins individually in foil; bag and freeze for best taste. These beauties make an easy, not-too-sweet on-the-go treat.
Makes twelve muffins.
Recipe Source: glutenfreegoddess.blogspot.com
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Karina's Notes:
- For those of you who cannot bake with cornmeal, I'm wondering if a combo flour mix of almond meal and buckwheat wouldn't be to die for?
- For those of you using eggs, use two free-range organic eggs, beaten.
- Gluten-free vegan batter really is different from traditional wheat flour based batter. It's not just a rumor. Gluten-free egg-free muffins won't puff and rise as much as their wheat based cousins. So fill your muffin cups a bit higher than you used to.
- This is a gum-free recipe, but if you prefer, add a teaspoon of xanthan gum or guar gum. The honey or agave helps add stickiness.
Also Try:
More gluten-free corn muffins from food bloggers:
and invoke your inner Domestic Goddess. Because the groovy-spooky Fall Equinox is right around the corner, I am sorry to tell you. Summer fun is fading fast, Sweetpea. Your tan lines are disappearing.
are calling.
and pool party napkins. Get ready to retire the flamingo adorned lemonade pitcher (unless you happen to live in Boca Raton). Snake your way into the back dark corner of your kitchen closet.
you haven't used since Ground Hog Day.
or blender
and whip until creamy smooth.
(or whatever Popsicle style molds you have on hand). Insert sticks. Freeze overnight for best results.or nut milk would also work.
. My medicine has been a stew of Protonix, Culturelle
, baby food, and laughing
as much as possible.
. I miss the nutty terrain of a pecan cracker. The sexy chewy center of a chocolate chip cookie. 
for breakfast. And harbors an abiding crush on Keanu Reeves
.
hummed by Irish husbands who were tussled with like naughty children hiding in untied shoes behind the claw-footed sofa peeling the gold off chocolate gelt
as tedium plumed in kielbasa steam to the smell of eggs hard-boiled so long the yolk membranes turned green.
.
- because I wanted to experiment with a basic gluten-free flour mix (I bought the mix myself, and have no financial interest in the company). If you want to experiment using a different muffin and scone mix, you'll need to match the dry ingredients; the ounces on this package are 15 oz (425g). The leavened mix contains white rice flour, sugar, potato starch, baking powder, salt, baking soda and xanthan gum.
with an Exopat
or parchment paper
, and eight English muffin rings (I used these handy rings here
).
with a wire whisk attachment or pastry cutter
until the mixture looks sandy.
whisked with 2 tablespoons warm water till frothy (or 1 free-range organic egg and use 1/4 cup less banana)
, as needed 
, bag, and freeze.
because I'm allergic to dairy, and well. To be candid, a book brimming with rich and sexy recipes built around cream and butter and brown-eyed moo cow milk would just be, you know. Depressing as hell. I'd have to reinterpret and rebuild almost every recipe in the book to be dairy-free and huevo-free- except granita, and a sorbet or two. Yawn.
, honey or