Mabon - Gluten/Sugar/Soy-Free Vegan Pumpkin Muffins

Another recipe for the Mabon blog hop!  I just can't get enough pumpkin at this time of year.  I found this recipe when I was on a 6-week elimination diet to determine whether food sensitivities were contributing to my RA.  It was the most restrictive and horrible diet ever, but thankfully I discovered this gluten-free recipe and was able to modify it so that it was also sugar-free, soy-free, dairy-free, and egg-free, which meant that they were one of the few things I could actually have.

In other words, I mostly ate muffins for six weeks.

So after reading what isn't in these muffins, you're probably wondering what is in them.  Answer: an assortment of interesting ingredients, most of which I'd never heard of before.


Gluten/Sugar/Soy/Dairy/Egg-free (and therefore Vegan) Pumpkin Muffins

1/2 cup garbanzo bean flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup brown rice flour
3 tbsp flaxseed meal
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp nutmeg
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp natural sea salt
1 cup pumpkin
(just under)* 1/2 cup light-flavoured olive oil
2/3 cup applesauce
2/3 cup agave syrup
Raisins (optional)

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* When substituting agave syrup for sugar, you need to take into account the total amount of liquid going into the recipe and adjust accordingly.  For each 2/3 cup of agave, you need to reduce the total liquid by 1/4 - 1/3 cup.  The original recipe calls for 1/2 cup oil, so if you put in 1-2 tbsp less oil, you should be okay.  You also need to reduce the heat by about 25 degrees, but I've already done that for you in this recipe. 

Clear as mud, right?
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Preheat over to 325 F.

Mix the dry ingredients and wet ingredients thoroughly in separate bowls. 

Combine the two, stirring until just mixed.  Add enough raisins to make you happy (1/2 cup, maybe more?  You be the judge).  Now if you're a bit of a batter connoisseur like I am, I will give you this little bit of advice: this batter does not taste good.  Not even a little bit.

Pour batter into greased or papered muffin tin (reminder: don't use butter to grease, because that would mean it's not dairy-free and therefore not vegan.  Use olive oil).  Bake for 24-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean. 

Allow to cool for five minutes or so in the tin, then remove muffins and place on a wire rack.

Yes, there is a weird number of muffins here. 
I don't know why this happens.

That's it, you're done.  Time to pig out without feeling guilty!