Strawberry Muffins (gluten free, vegan)

I love grains. There is something just fascinating to me about the fact that you can turn all of them into flour - wheat, rice, tapioca, barley, rye, and then bake up something amazing. I love them all. A few weeks ago, I came upon one that I'd never heard of. A grain that I'd never heard of! Although I found it online here, I knew that my local Whole Foods would not disappoint me. And here it is...Teff Flour.

Turns out that Ethiopians have known about Teff forever. Glad they decided to share the good news, because Teff is Gluten Free! From what I'd read and understood, the texture of Teff is almost identical to wheat flour. No one in our family is gluten intolerant, but my love of grains and search for better health had me wanting to test out this new discovery. So I give you...

Gluten Free Strawberry Muffins

(And vegan, too unless you have an issue with honey. I don't.)

The texture was perfect. I mean it. Perfect. The taste was no different. You could serve these and no one would know they were GF or Vegan. Sneaky healthy.

As a matter of fact, in a true test, I made whole grain wheat muffins and these Teff muffins side by side. After my four kids ate their batch of wheat, they came over and tore into the Teff. I had to save the seven pictured above out of the dozen before they were gone! They loved them. So here's the recipe.

Gluten-Free Strawberry Muffins

(adapted from Bob's Red Mill)

3/4 cup Teff Flour

3/4 Brown Rice Flour (I just ran brown rice through my grain mill)

1/2 cup Arrowroot Starch

1 1/2 tsp. aluminum free Baking Powder

1/4 tsp. sea salt

2 Faux Flax Eggs

1/3 cup olive oil

2/3 cup water

1/2 cup honey

3/4 cup chopped strawberries (I used frozen, unsweetened - thawed)

1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Grease muffin pan. Combine flours, arrowroot, baking powder, & salt in a large bowl. Mix Faux Flax Eggs, oil, & water and add to the flour mixture. Add in honey. Mix quickly and gently stir in strawberries and nuts with a rubber spatula.

Place in oven and reduce baking temperature to 350 degrees. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan.

Stand back. Your kids will attack. Enjoy!