Mystery Lovers' Kitchen: Hulk muffins gluten-free

Wednesday, April 1, 2020

No April Fooling...Hulk Muffins gluten-free #recipe + book #giveaway from author @DarylWoodGerber

From Daryl:

No fooling. I really am offering a book giveaway. See below.

As we say goodbye to Ellie Alexander as a regular, please welcome the fabulous Leslie Karst. Leslie will be joining us starting in May. Leslie writes the popular Sally Solari Culinary Mysteries. We'll make a proper introduction when Leslie posts her first blog for you.

And, now, back to it being April 1.

No fooling. There is really something called a Hulk Muffin. How do I know? I searched for a recipe and found dozens of these, all made with spinach. The comic character The Hulk was green, after all. What is a Hulk muffin? Something your kids will say "ew" to because they're green inside, but then gobble them down.

Why? Because the banana and chocolate make them yummy. Really. Trust me. Or at least trust the Hulk. LOL

What would I do differently with the recipe I made? I used whole leaf spinach. It did not break down as I'd hoped and I often got an entire strand of spinach in a bite. Ew, indeed! In the future, I would use chopped frozen spinach or mince the whole leaf kind before using in the future. And yes, I will make these again.

BUT . . . before I share the recipe, I'm very excited to say I have a new Cookbook Nook Mystery coming out in a few weeks. SHREDDING THE EVIDENCE. Why not share that now since I'm talking about chopped veggies, right?

The denizens of Crystal Cove are salivating over the upcoming Food Bowl Week, when local chefs offer some of their best and most imaginative creations in bite-size portions all over town. Bookstore proprietor Jenna Hart is hungry to sample as many of the delicacies as she can, but when she stumbles onto the dead body of a local food reporter and learns that her best friend’s husband is the primary suspect, she’ll have to summon the appetite for a side dish of sleuthing to prove his innocence.

I'M GIVING AWAY AN ADVANCED READERS COPY

TO ONE COMMENTER. SEE BELOW.

Hulk Muffins – GLUTEN-FREE
Yield: 12-16 muffins or 3 mini loafs

I know I found this recipe using regular flour online, but I can’t figure out where. There are many variations. This version is gluten-free. If you want to make it using regular flour, simply swap out the GF flour and remove the xanthan gum and whey powder.

1/2 cup butter, softened

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 ½ cups gluten-free flour

1 teaspoon xanthan gum

1 tablespoon whey powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup sour cream

1 cup mashed bananas (about 2 bananas)

1 teaspoon vanilla

2 cups chopped fresh or frozen spinach, cooked and drained well!!

1/2 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips, plus a few more

Line muffin pan with 12 cupcake liners. Spray with non-stick cooking spray.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl cream together butter and sugar on medium speed. Add in eggs and beat well.

In a separate medium bowl sift together gluten-free flour, xanthan gum, whey powder, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.

Add the gluten-fee flour mixture and sour cream alternately to the butter mixture, mixing well on low.

Add in the mashed bananas and vanilla. Stir until combined.

If you didn’t use chopped spinach, then chop it now in a food processor, and then add to the batter.

Stir in chocolate chips.

For gluten-free muffins, it’s important to grease the liners. Spray with non-stick cooking spray. Pour batter into liners or mini loaf pans. Top with the extra chocolate chips.

Bake muffins 18-22 minutes or mini loaves 28-30 minutes. *If you use a large loaf pan, cook 45-50 minutes…or until an inserted toothpick into the center comes out clean.

Cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then turn out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.