Gluten Free Banana Pecan Muffins

We recently had a guest who was restricted to a gluten free diet and he asked me if I would share this recipe.  As I've mentioned in previous posts, since starting our guest house I have had to spend quite a bit of time sourcing out, then testing, gluten free muffin recipes. Some of them have turned out hard inedible products that only vaguely resembled muffins, but with patience, research and a lot of tweaking, this one has become one of my favorite recipes. These are proof that it's possible to bake delicious foods with alternative grains, whether or not you are on a gluten free diet. With weather conditions causing a shortage of wheat in Russia and other places this year, perhaps it's a good time for all of us to start questioning our dependency on wheat products and broaden our experience in baking with other grains. I must warn you, though, that it's expensive to get started baking with gluten free flour combinations. I spent something like $100 to buy a small supply of the basic ingredients used in this recipe. Here it is:

Banana Pecan Muffins (Gluten Free)

½ C. Brown Rice Flour

¼ C. Glutinous (sweet/sticky) Rice Flour

¼ C. Arrowroot Powder/Flour

¼ C. Amaranth Flour

½ C. Ground Walnuts (or I use Ground Almonds because they are readily available)

½ C. Potato Starch

¼ C. Tapioca Flour

2 tsp. Baking powder

1 tsp Xanthan Gum (very important as this is what replaces the gluten)

½ c. chopped pecans

1 tsp. Salt

2 large eggs + 2 egg whites (separated and the whites whipped until stiff but not dry)

½ C. Safflower Oil

½ C. Packed Brown Sugar

1 ½ C. Mashed Ripe Bananas

2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Line 12 c. muffin pan with baking cups (or 6 commercial size muffin cups). Whisk together the flours, xanthan gum and salt. In separate bowl mix together the yolks, oil, sugar, bananas and vanilla.  Fold flour mixture into the liquid mixture.  Fold in whipped egg whites. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full.  You can top these with a mixture of 3 T. oats, 1 T. maple syrup & 1 T. butter rubbed together. Place 1 pecan half on top for garnish.  Bake for 22 to 24 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in top comes out clean.