Success Report! Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins (Eggless, Wheatless, Dairyless!)

By stef On 9 May 2006 · 16 Comments · In Foodie

Yes! Success! These are muffins my kids actually LOVED — hubby too. ratings all around, for an allergy-free muffin. Please please try it if you have allergies, and let me know how you like it!

To make these, you need

1 cup sweet brown rice flour (see note below)
1/2 cup quinoa flour
1/2 cup amaranth flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1/2 cup regular rice flour
3 tablespoons poppy seeds
3/4 cup sugar (your choice; I used muscovado)
zest of 1 lemon
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

2 tablespoons flaxseed meal mixed well with 3 tablespoons water
1 cup rice milk
1 tablespoon lemon juice
4 tablespoons oil

Preheat oven to 375Â°F. Combine all dry ingredients, including lemon zest in a large bowl. Mix well. Combine rice milk, lemon juice and oil in another bowl. Pour liquid ingredients into dry ingredients, folding briskly until well-incorporated. Bake in lined muffin tins (We made 12 regular sized muffins, about 6 mini ones and an almost-cookie — the one that appears on top of the first muffin), until skewer/cake tester comes out clean, about 30 minutes. They will not crown or dome the way regular lemon poppy seed muffins do, so the recipe may need tweaking; it does develop a nice crunchy crust!

You can see the lovely crumb here.

Note on the sweet brown rice flour:
I ran sweet brown rice in my grain mill — if you don’t have one or can’t find this particular flour where you are, substitute Mochiko a.k.a. “sweet rice flour” or “glutinous rice flour”, available in most Asian stores. This gives the muffin the special stickiness, gluten-like consistency, though it is gluten-free. Lundberg Farms has the rice but the type I used is from Japan I believe. There’s also a glutinous black rice I’d love to experiment on sometime — it actually cooks purplish, so that should be fun, perhaps with some blueberries.

Update: BIG MISTAKE!!! I forgot to include the 2 tablespoons of flaxseed meal mixed with 3 tablespoons of water that I added to the liquid mixture before folding. Editing now. Sorry!!!

16 Responses to Success Report! Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins (Eggless, Wheatless, Dairyless!)

Amy says:

9 May 2006 at 13:12

I love Lemon Poppyseed muffins! I’m glad these were a winner!
Jenn Miller says:

9 May 2006 at 13:40

They look yummy!

I just left TJ’s and was toying with the idea of buying that “Sweet Rice Flour” but couldn’t for the life of me justify since I had no recipes for it!

I have also not used Quinoa or amaranth yet, either. Does these have more gluten than some other flours?
stef says:

9 May 2006 at 14:33

Hi Amy and Jenn. Let me know if you do try them Amy. Jenn, quinoa and amaranth are both gluten free — more info: Acceptability of other grains from Canadian Celiac Association
Jenn Miller says:

9 May 2006 at 15:08

Another question, then. I’m not looking for gluten free, just wheat free. Ds can tolerate oats and barley and such. The variety of flours for the balance, how would you classify that you used — some light, some heavy? Tapioca FLOUR instead of starch?
stef says:

9 May 2006 at 15:31

Hi again Jenn, whoops! It’s supposed to be “tapioca starch”, not flour. I used it in my Pao de Queijo post – it comes under several names. I know there are manufacturers in the US that make it but I used the Brazilian one. Hmmm…. I forgot — I meant to include links to the products when I posted! I’ll edit now. Thanks for calling my attention to that.
stef says:

9 May 2006 at 16:04

Oops again, Jenn, I realized I didn’t exactly answer your question. The first four flours I would classify as heavier, like wheat flour. The rice flour and tapioca starch are more a cornstarch-light type. Hope that helps!
Angie says:

10 May 2006 at 01:06

Hi, Stef!

These muffins look yummy! Just a question: are poppyseeds bad to consume during pregnancy? I did a search on ask jeeves, google, yahoo, etc., with no straightforward answer to my question. I’m hoping you’d know.

Thanks. God bless always.
relly says:

11 May 2006 at 09:35

Very interesting recipes stef, i am trying to changed our eating habits, and will try your recipes once i got time. Lovely muffins… i love anything with poppy seeds too.
stef says:

11 May 2006 at 09:59

Hi Angie!!!! Kumusta ka na? There must be something in the air! (Pollution?) In the past month I’ve found old friends again or old friends have found me.

I miss you, bruha! Sorry I haven’t called. We moved again! Andito na kami ulit sa Ohio.

Anyway, in answer to your question, poppy seeds are fine for pregnant women. Are you??? If so, how exciting!!!

O s’ya, balitaan mo ‘ko ha.

More info here:
Scroll down to Brown Rice, Poppy Seeds, Noni juice
Jean says:

23 May 2006 at 07:27

What kind of rice milk did you use?
Elo says:

11 July 2006 at 19:50

Hi
I was in the middle of mixing the dry ingredients when I discovered there is no sweetener in your lemon poppyseed muffin. Is this how you intended the recipe to be? My child was going to taste test the batter when I realized this.

Thanks
stef says:

11 July 2006 at 20:25

Whoops! I’m sorry, Elo! How could I have missed that? Editing the recipe right now.

Jean, I used Imagine Rice Dream Enriched Vanilla. Editing the recipe to include this link. Sorry for the late response.
Vickie says:

30 July 2006 at 18:30

I tried to make these muffins. They were pretty good, but could you please tell me what is the Zest of a lemon? I really wasn’t sure. thanks, Vickie
Jean says:

12 August 2006 at 17:13

I checked the site and Imagine Rice Dream Enriched Vanilla is not a gluten free product.
Jean says:

12 August 2006 at 17:14

Can you use regular 1 percent milk instead of the rice milk?
stasia says:

26 November 2007 at 00:20

those muffins look really fabulous…i cannot use wheat products, amaranth or quinoa…are the latter two vital to this recipe or can i just add more rice flour to equal the amount needed?