Applesauce Muffins – Gluten and Dairy-Free Baking on the Homestead

Before we get to this amazing Gluten-Free Applesauce Muffins recipe, I want to share what lead us to become a gluten-free and dairy-free family and how we’ve incorporated this method of cooking onto the homestead.

It truly is not as difficult as you would think and the foods we prepare are full of flavor.  These Applesauce Muffins will prove that!

Gluten-Free and Dairy-Free Baking on the Homestead

My journey to becoming gluten and dairy-free began 7 years ago.  I was feeling hormonal, fatigued, anxious, sick, and old before my time. I was 33 years old and felt like I was trapped in someone else’s body. Every day was a slog and a push. I couldn’t shed the baby weight, and life was overwhelming – even minute by minute.

I was laid out on the couch, unable to care for my kids and knew something had to change or I wouldn’t be around to see them graduate. Something rose up inside of me; I was determined to be present to watch my kids grow up, get married and succeed!

Through a fantastic doctor and some blood tests, I found out that I have a gluten sensitivity (as well as many cross-reactive foods too). The crazy thing about gluten reactions is that it can cause your body to turn on itself creating autoimmunity.

My symptoms didn’t seem food related

Instead of causing stomach aches or break-outs, my body was digesting my thyroid. My gut was inflamed and full of lesions from foods that my body couldn’t tolerate. All of this was happening internally while externally it looked like I was doing everything right.

I would eat lots of salads, homemade meals, and whole grain bread. It just made me feel worse. Who knew that the whole grains, nuts, and seeds were tearing holes in my gut walls?

When I removed gluten, grains, dairy, nuts, and beans my world started to right itself. The sleepless, anxious nights went away. The weight fell off, and my energy began to return. Over the last 7 years, I have continued to heal, and I feel like myself more every year.

Giving up the foods I grew up with was scary

It was scary giving up so many foods that I was used to. I had to learn to cook all over again. Pot roast, mixed vegetables, salads and baked winter squash were my safe haven. These healing foods allowed my body the rest it needed to repair and regenerate.

I have since added some grains, nuts, and seeds back into my diet which has opened a whole new world of food. Not only have I learned to cook a fall-off-the-bone, melt-in-your-mouth pot roast, but I can bake gluten and dairy-free muffins, cookies, pies, sweet bread and yeast bread like a boss.

I learned to cook all over again

Rice agrees with my body, so my recipes start with a brown rice flour blend that I have created just for baking. The flavor is delicate and mingles well. When I share my baked goodies with friends and neighbors, they have no idea they are eating gluten-free.

While I have figured out how to make my treats taste and feel the same as conventional baked goodies, the methods can be drastically different. Gluten is the binder that causes baked goods to hold together and bread to be chewy. When you remove it you are left with a pile of crumbs.

Rice flour is the base of my flour blend. On its own, it is slow to absorb moisture and creates a crumbly texture. I have learned how to mix it with a few other flours to help it stick together and develop some stretch. Crazy, right?

Gluten-free flours benefit from being mixed well; they absorb moisture slowly and are not quick to bind together. With conventional muffins, you want to tease the batter to keep from stirring up the gluten very much, but with these muffins, you will want to mix until the batter is very smooth.

Taste and texture are important but so is nutrition

Health is what pushed me into my gluten-free lifestyle, so it is important to me to continue to nurture that, even when baking. My flour blend has all whole-food ingredients in it. There is no xanthan, or any other, gum to make things stick together.  It is simply rice, potatoes, and coconut!

You can learn more about the flours I use and get my flour blend recipe here.

Gluten-free and homesteading are the perfect pair. I love knowing how my food is produced and what ingredients are in the jar. I have recipes for every season and for all of the foods that we preserve.

A gift for you!

Thank you taking a few minutes to get know me and hear some of my story. I have an exclusive discount code just for you!

Use the code HOA20 for 20% off my Gluten Free Muffins Digital Package which includes:

• Full color Gluten Free Muffins e-book (digital book) with over 20 recipes
• Printable Gluten Free Muffins
• How to Measure Flour for Soft and Moist Muffins
• How to Wrap and Gift Quick Breads video and PDF
• Links for the flours used in these recipes and other helpful kitchen tools

Time to get in the kitchen and bake!

Gluten-Free Applesauce Muffins Recipe (Dairy Free)

The recipe for Applesauce Muffins I want to share with you today is one of our favorite ways to use home-canned applesauce (aside from eating it straight out of the jar).

Whether you are gluten-free or not, I urge you to try this recipe. It will work with your preferred flour (including wheat flour), or you can snag the recipe for my flour blend.