Rhubarb Muffins

This has been a very exciting weekend for me. I just discovered something that opens up a whole new area of food: xanthan gum. I knew about it before -- it is listed in 95% of the recipes I read of muffins, cakes, cookies, and breads. The problem was that I couldn't find one that was made in a safe enough factory for our allergies. We have several brands available in my city, but they may be cross-contaminated with dairy, eggs, and of all things -- wheat! Who would even buy xanthan gum if they eat wheat? But I received an email from someone letting me know they had found Bob's Red Mill Xanthan Gum across town. It is made in a facility with tree nuts and soy, as are their gluten-free flours that we use. I feel safer with this for our allergies than with dairy, eggs, and wheat. I could hardly wait until Little Man awoke from his nap! We dashed to the store and there it was! And it was on sale for $5 off, too!

So this morning I set to work making one of the recipes that I had previously not been able to make: Rhubarb Muffins from the Whole Life Nutrition blog. They were divine! They puffed up beautifully, they had a wonderful texture, they didn't crumble to bits -- they were as good as they looked.

I also got to try my new silicone baking cups for this recipe. They worked way beyond my expectations. I made two muffins in traditional paper cups and 10 in the new silicone ones so I could compare. The silicone ones were superior! I had not expected much as I purchased 12 of them for less than $10.

This morning I also made some delicious waffles, but that is a story for another post. Needless to say, it was a great day!