GF: Sweet Potato & Ginger Muffins

Oh, how I love sweet potatoes. Apparently, I love them so much that when I made sweet potatoes (cut up with brown sugar and butter) for dinner last night, I made enough for a family of six. There are only two of us. Yeap. We have leftovers, that’s for sure!

But that just brings me to the FoodieBlogroll that is sponsored by “The Leftover Queen” and the fact that I saw it on Ginger’s blog, brought ginger to mind. Not just “Ginger” but ginger – the food. OH! I LOVE ginger too! So, what better way to kick off my weekend blog entry by making some leftovers with some ginger? Perfect! I thought so too.

I love hot muffins and breakfast muffins to boot. So I made these last night and gobbled one up as it was still warm from the oven and fluffy/chewy. This morning, I heated up a couple and filled them with eggs and ham from breakfast with my love. OH! These are good. I think I’m going to have to buy extra sweet potatoes more often (not that I really have to remind myself to do this… LOL.. it’s just a natural habit!).

Another great part of this? It’s a World Bread Day celebration! Sheltie Girl at Gluten-A-Go-Go is sponsoring the GF version of the World Bread Day (October 16th) bread event as well. Bread! Right up there for why we GF people blog and alter away with recipes to find the bread/crust/scone/etc of our dreams. What great way to celebrate being GF but to show the world that GF bread can be great too! =)

I have a family recipe for potato muffins that I altered a bit to make these. Next time, I will use more flour (1 and 1/2 cups) and less potato starch (only 1/2 cup next time) because while I like the chewy quality that the starch adds to the muffin, I don’t prefer that consistency in general. Below is the recipe as I made these last night for your own kitchen-antics and alterations.

Sweet Potato and Ginger Muffins
Ingredients:
1 cup GF flour mix (with xanthan gum)
1 cup potato starch or sweet potato starch
1 Tablespoon sugar (omit if using candied sweet potatoes)
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons finely grated ginger (I actually used my microplaner with a 1 inch piece of ginger over the bowl to get the juice)
1/2 cup mashed sweet potato (if you are using candied sweet potatoes, omit the sugar)1 cup milk
1 egg
1/4 cup melted butterDirections:

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Blend together in a small bowl: GF flour, potato starch, sugar, baking powder and salt.
3. In a small mixing bowl, blend together mashed sweet potatoes, milk, egg, and melted butter until well incorporated.
4. Grate (or use a microplaner) the ginger over the mixing bowl of mixed potatoes, milk, etc.
5. Blend together quickly again to distribute ginger throughout as evenly as possible.
6. Turn off mixer. Pour in all dry ingredients. Turn on mixer and blend until just combined.
7. Shape into 12 even balls or drop by the spoonful into muffin tins about 2/3 full.
8. Bake at 400F for 12 -15 minutes or until slightly browned on top and a toothpick comes out clean.

Happy Eating =)
-Kate