Grocery shopping on a budget can be hard, especially when you’re first starting out. Add in a food allergy or intolerance and you have a whole other level of difficulty. In those instances, like a gluten free diet, it’s best to just keep it simple and go with what you know.
My two daughters are gluten intolerant. When we discovered this, I understood the basics. We can still eat meats and fruits and vegetables. But what about birthday cake? Brownies? What about muffins? (I love muffins. They’re my jam.)
I started searching for gluten free muffin recipes and I immediately got stuck. This family on a budget can’t afford to go buy seven new and strange ingredients to try to make something resembling the breakfast we used to eat.
I knew there had to be a simpler way. How could I make muffins using the ingredients from my favorite grocery store?
So I started experimenting with what I had in my kitchen. Oats. Butter. Chocolate chips (because mama’s gotta have her chocolate). The results were delicious. And just as important, they were simple to make and didn’t require buying extra ingredients.
Gluten Free Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins
Makes 18-20 muffins
Ingredients:
• 3 cups old-fashioned oats, ground into oat flour*
• ¾ cups additional old-fashioned oats
• 3 tsp. baking powder
• ¾ tsp. salt
• 3 Tbsp. butter, softened
• 1 cup peanut butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 3 large eggs
• 1 ½ cups milk
• 1 cup chocolate chips
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375°F.
In large bowl, mix all ingredients, except chocolate chips, until combined. Fold in chocolate chips.
Scoop muffin batter into greased muffin pan, filling almost to the top of the pan. Bake for 23-25 minutes. Cool completely before removing muffins from pans.
*Making your own oat flour is really easy! Just dump oats into a good old blender and use the grind setting. If you have a cheap-y blender like I do, you might need to do 1 cup at a time. A higher-powered blender can handle more. Grind for about 20 seconds and you’re good to go!
These muffins are so yummy my oldest requests them for his birthday breakfast. He could pick any food and he chooses this. He’s happy, I’m happy, and my wallet is happy. Win win.
Author Bio:
Katy DeDeyne is the wife of a pastor, whose ministry recently moved the family from northern Iowa to northern Oregon. She writes about food, homeschooling, parenting, and home management at Finding Home. Her cookbook, Oat Flour Muffins: Gluten Free Baking The Simple Way, is available on Amazon.
