Blue Corn Muffins with Green Chiles

Harvest time in New Mexico is just an excuse to declare a fiesta and eat roasted green chiles and corn until the cows come home. Or you turn blue. I'm not kidding. I can't keep up. I love me my Green Chile ^[1] as much as the next Gringa, but. Breakfast, lunch and dinner? Hola. Maybe I lack the gene. I'm starting to crave lettuce. Celery sticks. I'm dreaming of multi-colored cherry tomatoes. Something crisp and raw and fresh.

You know, bunny food.

And speaking of blue, higher-in-protein blue corn ^[2] just happens to be a New Mexican specialty. (There's even a Blue Corn Cafe ^[3] in Santa Fe, and rumor has it- if you call ahead they'll accomodate a gluten-free request). When you bake with blue cornmeal it it isn't exactly blue, I find. More like dark green. But maybe it's just me. We all see colors differently you know.

No two people see the exact same shade of blue. Kinda like politics. And life.

Steve made these muffins using two large free-range organic eggs. Egg replacer should also work (I've had no trouble substituting one to two eggs with Ener-G Egg Replacer border=0

in my muffin and cornbread recipes; it works like a charm).

Dry ingredients:

1 cup blue cornmeal (check your source for gluten-free status)
3/4 cup sorghum flour border=0
1/2 cup tapioca starch ^[6] (or sweet rice flour)
1 teaspoon xanthan gum
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon mild chili powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup organic light brown sugar* see notes on using agave instead^[5]

Wet Ingredients:

Two organic free-range eggs or Ener-G Egg Replacer ^[7] border=0 for 2 eggs
1/2 cup plus two tablespoons light olive oil
1 cup water or watered down plain hemp, rice or almond milk with 1/2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar added

Add:

1/2 cup chopped roasted mild green chiles

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin pan with paper liners.

Measure out the dry ingredients (blue cornmeal through brown sugar) into a bowl and whisk to combine.

In a separate large mixing bowl, combine the Egg Replacer with the olive oil and liquid and beat for one minute.

Add in the dry ingredients a little at a time and beat by hand just until a smooth batter is formed, about one minute. It should be thicker than a cake batter.

If your batter seems a little dry, add a tablespoon more liquid at a time until you achieve a smooth batter.

Add in the chopped roasted green chiles and stir to combine.

Spoon the batter into the muffin cups.

Bake the muffins in the center of a pre-heated oven for 20 to 25 minutes (depending upon your altitude and individual oven temperature, etc). The muffins should feel firm to the touch; and a wooden pick inserted into the center should emerge dry.

Place the muffins on a wire rack to cool a bit. These are lovely served warm.

You can reheat these muffins in a skillet with a touch of olive oil (or briefly zap them in a microwave- but don't over-heat them this way- they will fall apart).

Makes one dozen muffins.

Printer-friendly recipe ^[8]

Karina's Notes:

If you use agave as a sweetener in this recipe start with less liquid- add a little liquid at a time until you achieve the batter consistency you want.
Not vegan? Use two happy organic free-range eggs and buttermilk.
Pamela's Ultimate Baking Mix (or your favorite GF flour mix) would work in place of the sorghum and tapioca.
If you have a plain yogurt you like, use a half a cup of yogurt in place of half the water or rice milk as a richer alternative.
If you prefer yellow corn meal just substitute the blue cornmeal for yellow.
Arrowhead Mills makes a blue cornmeal- but the label states Wheat Free- no gluten ingredients. Use at your own discretion (I would call the company to ask about cross contamination issues).

^[4]