The idea for Panera’s Gluten-Free Dream Day came to Marly after she was dining at Panera Bread and was quite shocked to discover that their menu did not offer a single gluten-free option. Marly thought it would be fun to get a group of bloggers together to create gluten-free recipes (and vegan if desired) that would be knock-offs of Panera’s current menu items. Hence, ‘Dream Day’ was born!
I admit, I was pretty scared at the thought of participating. I’ve never combined gluten-free and vegan baking intentionally before and I wasn’t sure I could have success.
But, there’s no fun in negative thinking, so I told myself I would rock out the best GF and vegan muffin I could! For my knock-off recipe, I selected Panera’s Apple Crunch Muffin, filled with apple chunks, cinnamon, and topped with cinnamon/sugar topping. My goal was to create a gluten-free and vegan Apple Crunch Muffin that would please just about anyone!
Come on, how difficult could it be?
Apparently, very…;)
I made the World’s Gummiest Muffin (above) in one trial using Bob’s Red Mill GF Flour and almond flour. I made three different trials using Bob’s GF flour and I never once had success with it. Now I know why many of you warned me about this flour! I’m sure it’s possible to have baking success with it, but I sure didn’t have any luck with muffins. Maybe it works better when not adding vegan into the mix!
Above right, you can see the World’s Most Crumbly muffin. I picked it up from the pan and it literally crumbled like a sand castle in my hand.
Hilarious.
Not.
All joking aside, a vegan and gluten-free muffin was one of the most difficult baking challenges I think I’ve ever had and it left me with a huge respect for this type of baking.
With each failed trial, I grew more and more pissed hopeless PMS-y confused desperate eager and determined to create a successful muffin. I’m a Taurus and I don’t give up very easily (aka stubborn as a bull).
I read up on gluten-free baking and tried to learn the secrets of GF + vegan muffin success. Well, the secret is that there aren’t many. At least not what I came across. And I soon learned that gluten-free baking rules don’t always cross over to gluten-free and vegan baking. It was a whole other ball game and I was way out in left field.
Six trials later, I finally created a muffin that I deemed not only worthy to eat, but delicious too! It’s a good thing because I was running out of ingredients, time,…and sanity! Wait, that’s actually everyday around here…
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Cinnamon Streusel Apple Crunch Muffin (GF + Vegan)
Adapted from Gluten-Free Goddess’s Blueberry Muffins.
Dry:
- 1 cup brown teff flour
- 1 & 1/3 cups almond flour (I used Bob’s red mill)
- 1/2 cup Tapioca Starch (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp xanthan gum
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground ginger
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 cup organic cane sugar
Wet:
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil (or coconut oil)
- 1 tbsp egg replacer powder whisked with 1/4 cup warm water
- 3/4 cup warm water
- 1 small Granny Smith apple, peeled and diced (1 cup)
Streusel topping:
- 1/4 cup sugar (I used Turbinado)
- 2 tbsp almond flour
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tbsp non-dairy buttery spread like Earth Balance
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375F and line a muffin tin with liners.
2. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg replacer and water and set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients.
4. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients (except for apple). Add the wet to dry and with an electric mixer, beat until combined. It will be like a very thick cake batter. Fold in the peeled and diced apple.
5. Using a spoon, distribute the batter evenly among the liners to make a dozen.
6. Sprinkle the streusel and bake in the oven at 375F for 27-28 minutes or until muffin slowly springs back when touched. Cool in the pan for only 5 minutes (longer and it will get soggy!) before transferring to a wire rack until completely cool. The muffins will break apart if you unwrap them before they are cooled, so be sure to cool them for at least 30 minutes. Store in an air-tight container for up to 3 days.
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I adapted Gluten-Free Goddess’s Blueberry Muffins (<–a great blog by the way!) and I was very happy with the outcome. [Note that subbing 1 cup of Bob’s red mill GF flour for the teff flour produces the World’s Gummiest Muffin <—you were warned! ]
I would proudly serve these to anyone with a gluten sensitivity! They taste just like an apple muffin should and they weren’t beany tasting or gummy like some of my previous trials.
If my husband inhales half a batch in the matter of hours, I deem them a success. ;)
The density and flavour remind me a lot of a bran muffin with a cinnamon twist. Almond flour and Teff flour pair together wonderfully adding a nutty, wholesome quality. Not to mention both flours pack in a lot of protein, iron, calcium, and fibre.
Want to check out more gluten-free recipes?
Check out what the other Dream Day bloggers baked up for you! (Note that their posts will be going up throughout today and I will update the links accordingly!)
Bagels
Allyson Kramer — Jalapeno Cheddar Bagel
Muffins
Family Fresh Cooking — Wild Blueberry Muffins
Veggie Num Num — Pumpkin Muffin
Multiply Delicious — Chocolate Chip Muffins
Scones
Heather Strang — Orange Scones
Breakfast Sweets
Namely Marly — Caramel Pecan Rolls
Diet Dessert Dogs — Cinnamon Crumb Cake
Souffles
Clean Green Simple — Spinach & Artichoke Souffle
Marly says, ‘Right now the only way to try all these gluten-free goodies is to make them yourself. But who knows, maybe someday you’ll be able to pop into a place like Panera and enjoy one right from their menu.’
I couldn’t agree more! Thanks again to Marly for this fun challenge. :)
Congrats Ange! GF baking looks and sounds really challenging! But if anyone could make something hard into a delicious treat….that’d be you! You rock girl!
They look fantastic! And I couldn’t agree more–Bob’s Red Mill AP-GF flour always produced gummy results for me, too (I ended up creating my own all-purpose glutenfree flour mix, which works just fine). And I think you’re right, vegan GF baking does seem to change depending on what it is you’re making. But I’m so glad you figured out the trick to these–I can’t wait to try them!
Gorgeous- delicious! Oh I want some now!
Angela these look amazing! I’m always looking for new g-f recipes as my partner is a coeliac. I know he’ll love these :)
Great job!
Yum!
I recently went GF so I appreciate these recipes!
I often try out GF baking and get many fails, it’s the nature of the beast!
What do you do with all your “gummy” experiments? :)
if they taste ok we eat them, but if they dont taste good they get thrown out.
Where do I find Bobs Red products, teff flour, and xanthun gum? looking for some things for gluten free bridesmaids. Love it. Ginny P.
Glad to know I’m not the only one who isn’t successful with every baking adventure… your end result looks incredible!
Your final product looks amazing! Such a great idea to come up with g-f recipes for Panera baked goods.
They look fabulous! I don’t know how you manage six trials before finding the recipe that works. Did you cry at some point? I think I would. hehe
I’ve had great success with Bob’s Red Mill GF Flour, but only as a shortbread base for some lemon bars (and it wasn’t vegan because it contained butter) but I’m willing to bet that the lemon bars would turn out just as tasty with Earth Balance instead of butter.
thats cool, I never would have thought to use itfor shortbread!
I’m glad to see your perseverance paid off. The muffins look fantastic and it seems like you learned a lot along the way.
xo
Congrats on your GF success! I’ve been looking forward to seeing these for a while. :)
Can’t wait to try these and the other GF recipes you linked too. Good for Panera for beginning to branch out. :)
I have been baking gluten-free/vegan for a while now, and I could not agree more. It makes baking more temperamental, but when you get a good result it is super satisfying.
My theory on BRM gf mix is that it is designed to be subbed for white flour in a recipe that has butter and eggs etc and just does not play well with vegan baking. I love teff though – and I love how you balanced out the starch with lots of teff and almond meal :)
I agree!
Wow Ange, this does sound like quite the challenge!! I think these look amazing, and anything with apple and cinnamon usually ranks very highly in my books! I think that if restaurants want to continue to do well, they have to be more accommodating to people with special diets. I think it would be great if some of these GF and vegan recipes made the menu at Panera!
Congrats on perfecting it!
What do you do with all the “not so good” attempts?
These look just delicious! And as always I appreciate you showing the not-so-perfect attempts along the way to the perfect recipe. Makes me feel better about that plate of failed tempeh burgers last night…. ;)
Congrats! I hope you put up more gluten free recipes…Can’t wait to try these :)
That does sound like a huge challenge actually. I’ve made some ridiculously gummy vegan/GF dessert breads and always wondered how to remedy it – kudos on figuring it out!
These look delicious! Thank you for putting all that effort into creating them! I may have to whip up a batch myself.
ahh first I saw blueberry lemon and I was excited & now apple I cant wait to try all of these out!!
Mmmmmm, panera muffins are so good– but these look even better!!
Love the idea of this challenge! Looks fantastic!