Cranberry Sauce Muffins (vegan + grain-free)

January 3, 2013 By Leanne Vogel December 11, 2018

Like you, I’m not a fan of the gummy muffin. You know the kind; especially if you’re gluten-free, egg-free or vegan. The uncooked center, hard exterior – it’s anything but a muffin.

I want that pull apart gluten-filled consistency, the crisp, slightly crystallized sugar exterior and a fluffy inside… now that’s a muffin my friends.

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Sadly, I haven’t had one of those muffins in a long, long time. The gluten-free muffins I’ve created on the blog are great, but they don’t feel like exactly like the real thing. That, and they each have at least 1 common allergen. Before this week I would have told you that creating the perfect gluten-free, grain-free, nut-free, dairy-free, egg-free, vegan, refined sugar-free muffin was impossible but boy did I prove myself wrong (after 8 attempts at the recipe but that’s beside the point).

To start things off, I went with a base of almond flour but after 5 attempts and countless gooey muffins I decided to switch to chickpea flour. Now before you start saying, “but chickpea flour makes everything taste bitter and gross” bear with me. You’ll notice that there’s a crap load of vanilla extract in this recipe, that and cinnamon. Those two combined alongside the cranberry sauce and you’ll be hard-pressed to notice the chickpea flour in these tiny mounds of deliciousness. Just don’t go and taste the raw batter. If you do, don’t tell me I didn’t warn you.

Okay, lets feast on these muffins, shall we?

Just LOOK at that consistency.

You’re excited. I know it.

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3.7 from 6 reviews

Vegan and Grain-free Cranberry Sauce Muffins

Author: Leanne Vogel

Recipe type: Vegan, Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Refined sugar-free, Yeast-free, Corn-free, Grain-free, Nut-free, Egg-free

Prep time: 10 mins

Cook time: 30 mins

Total time: 40 mins

Serves: 12

Grain-free, vegan muffins made with all that leftover cranberry sauce you stuffed in the freezer after Christmas dinner.

Ingredients

Dry Ingredients:

1½ cup chickpea flour
¾ cup arrowroot starch/flour/powder
½ cup + 1 tablespoons freshly ground flax seed
4½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
1½ teaspoon gluten-free baking powder
1½ teaspoon gluten-free baking soda

Wet Ingredients:

1½ cup leftover homemade whole berry cranberry sauce
¾ cup coconut sugar
½ cup + 1 tablespoons non-dairy milk
¼ cup + 2 tablespoons avocado oil
4 tablespoons pure gluten-free vanilla extract

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350F and line a 12 cup muffin pan with standard-sized muffin liners. Set aside.
Combine dry ingredients in a small bowl. Set aside.
Whisk wet ingredients together in a large bowl.
Add dry ingredients to wet and mix until incorporated.
Divide muffin batter into prepared muffin cups.
Bake in preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until tops are lightly cracked and golden and toothpick inserted comes out clean. I found that the toothpick held a bit of gumminess due to the cranberry but left to cool, they firmed up perfectly to the consistency of a real, gluten-packed muffin.
Remove muffins from the pan and place on a cooling rack to cool.
Muffins can be stored for a few days at room temperature. Keep in the fridge to prolong time, or freeze in an air-tight container for up to 3 months.

Notes

I used the cranberry sauce from this recipe
If you are allergic to coconut, feel free to replace the coconut sugar with cane sugar.

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