Perfect nibbles for a party or a great addition to a lunch box , these gluten free pumpkin & parmesan muffins are infinitely adaptable. Softened onion and pumpkin give a lovely sweet flavour and unlike lots of gluten free muffins the vegetables give them a moist, not dry and crumbly texture. Totally moreish, I guarantee you won’t be able to eat just one!
I don’t know about you, but I’m not very good at filing away recipes. Yes I know there’s Pinterest, and all manner of new fandangled ways of storing all your favourites in one place but I’m just not that organised.
I have recipes stored on the mac in word docs, screenshots of recipes I’ve come across on Facebook or Instagram on the iPhone & iPad {they’re not synched so you can only imagine the chaos there}, sticky notes sticking out of every single cook book and magazine and last but not least, the old fashioned way – yellowing, torn pieces of newspapers going back over ten years strewn randomly in books and drawers.
And then there’s a folder of printed recipes in the kitchen too.
It’s easy to forget about the reliable old recipes isn’t it when confronted with ten new ways to cook cauliflower or twenty uses for coconut oil you didn’t realise you just couldn’t survive the day without knowing.
Or maybe that’s just my newsfeed!
The other day I was looking through The Cook’s Companion and a printed recipe dated June 2006 fell out for these gluten free pumpkin & parmesan muffins and I remembered how for a few months back then it seemed like I was making them all the time.
I would make a batch of regular size muffins and freeze them – they were so handy to have with soup, or for a savoury snack attack.
I also remembered making them in mini form for a party and what a hit they had been so I decided it was time to bring the recipe up to date and put a batch in the freezer once more.
I’m doing a lot more running these days and around 11am I find I need a snack and these are just perfect.
I may have eaten all the ones in the photos……
The recipe is infinitely adaptable:
- replace the pumpkin with carrots or parsnips
- leave out the thyme and use rosemary or dill
- add a pinch of chilli or paprika
- throw in small cubes of feta instead or parmesan
- crumbled bacon, proscuitto or leftover ham would work beautifully with the sweet vegetables
- add a few chopped black olives
They are perfect party food – make ahead and freeze them if you want to and serve just as they are or with labne and smoked salmon as I did here. I didn’t want to scare you too much last time by adding cream cheese to the list of things I don’t like, so go ahead and use that if you must! I just strain a small pot of full fat yoghurt for an hour and use that instead.
Pumpkin & parmesan muffins {gluten free}
Sweet & savoury gluten free muffins perfect for lunch boxes, a quick savoury breakfast or party food. Makes approx 36 mini muffins or 12 normal size muffins.
Prep Time 20 minutes
Cook Time 15 minutes
Total Time 35 minutes
Ingredients
-
1/2
red onion
finely chopped {Note 1} -
250
g
pumpkin flesh
coarsely grated or finely chopped {Note 2} -
2
tbsp
olive oil/ghee -
2
tbsp
fresh thyme leaves -
2
cups
almond meal -
2
tsp
baking powder -
60
g
finely grated parmesan cheese -
4
eggs
lightly beaten -
4
tbsps
olive oil - salt & pepper
-
20
g
pumpkin seeds
Instructions
-
Preheat oven to 180C. Grease 2 x mini muffin tins very well {Note 3}
-
Heat olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and add the finely chopped red onion, stirring until soft – approx 3 minutes. Add pumpkin and cook for 5 minutes or until soft. Stir through thyme leaves, remove from heat and cool.
-
In a bowl combine almond meal, baking powder and parmesan cheese. Add a few grinds each of salt & pepper.
-
In another bowl lightly beat the eggs and whisk in olive oil.
-
Combine wet and dry ingredients and stir through pumpkin mixture.
-
If making mini muffins, use a melon baller to almost fill the muffin tins, otherwise use an ice cream scoop for regular size muffins. Scatter a few pumpkin seeds over the top of the muffins.
-
Bake the full tin first for 12-15 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean. Leave to cool in the pan for 10-15 minutes then turn onto a wire rack. If there isn’t enough batter left to fill the second tin then fill the holes in the middle of the tin so they cook evenly without burning on the sides.
Recipe Notes
{Note 1} Everything gets chopped up finely in the food processor in my kitchen – onions and then pumpkin
{Note 2} This is 250g of pumpkin flesh AFTER you have removed the peel and seeds
{Note 3} The mixture will stick to paper cases and muffin tins so don’t use paper cases! Grease the tins well or you will be scrubbing clean for ever and cursing me.
Unlike most gluten free recipes, you’ll find these muffins incredibly moist thanks to the eggs and softened vegetables. In fact, I bet most people wouldn’t even know the muffins were gluten free if you didn’t tell them.
So how do you store and file your recipes? And any old favourites that you just remembered and are going to bring back?
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Thanks for reading!
