Mrs Duff's Jam Doughnut Muffins

Another Gluten-free cooking for kids recipe

I overheard some parents talking about these muffins earlier in the week and I was intrigued.  Mrs Duff runs the after school cookery club and by some strange coincidence I  bumped into her on Friday afternoon as she was gathering her charges.  I plucked up the courage to ask for the recipe and in true Mrs Duff fashion, Ruthie, Lucia and I were swept up with the rest of the gang en route to the cookery room.  Within minutes I was holding that precious recipe in my hand.  These little muffins are winners.  They really do look and taste like doughnuts and best of all, this is a kid's recipe, so those little munchkins can mix up a batch in no time. 

Yield

12

Preparation time

15 minuutes to prepare 20 minutes in the oven

Ingredients

140g gluten free flour (Doves Farm)
140g ground almonds
1 tablespoon gluten free baking powder
1 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tspsalt
115g caster sugar
2 medium eggs
85g unsalted butter, melted and cooled
200ml milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
4 tbs raspberry or strawberry jam,slightly warmed
For the topping
50g unsalted butter, melted
100g caster sugar

Directions

Preheat oven to 200 C.  Line a 12 hole muffin tin with paper cases.  Combine the flour, ground almonds, baking powder, xanthan gum and sugar in a medium sized bowl.  In a separate bowl combine the milk, melted butter, eggs and vanilla extract.  Gently stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined.  Do not over mix.  Spoon a tablespoon of mixture into each muffin case.  Add a dollop of jam into the centre of each and then cover with another spoonful of mixture.  Bake for about 20 minutes until well risen, golden brown and firm to the touch.  Meanwhile prepare the topping.  Melt the butter.  Place the sugar in a wide shallow bowl.  When the muffins are baked leave them to sit for about 5 minutes.  Brush the tops with a little melted butter and then dip in the sugar.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool.  Serve warm.

Notes

My mind is buzzing with the number of variations you could try as fillings for these.  I would try substituting the jam with a home made lemon curd or with a dollop of creme patisserie for the ultimate jam doughnut muffin.

evelyngittoes's picture
evelyngittoes wrote 14 years 13 weeks ago

Flours

I wonder if you could tell me something. When it says Gluten Free Flour - do you mean plain or self raising flour? I am not a baker (even when I wasnt coeliac) and am gently feeling my way into this malarky but dont have enough experience to know all the answers. Will have a bash at these muffins though. Many thanks

adriana's picture
adriana wrote 14 years 13 weeks ago

Flours

Hi Evelyn,

I usually state in a recipe if it requires self raising flour- but for the most part my recipes generally use plain gluten free flour.  I use Doves Plain Flour for all of my baking including bread making.  I tend to steer away from self raising flour  because I like to be in control of how much raising agent I use in a recipe and sometimes a cake/biscuit or bread recipe may need a litle more or a little less raising agent-

For breadmaking I  also use plain gluten free flour (Doves Farm)  for the same reason.  Doves Breadmaking Flour  has raising agents and xanthan gum built in. Once again the amount "built in" may not be what's required for a particular recipe- so being able to adjust this is important.  

I often get asked why I don't  reccomend using any of the perscription mixes/flours in  my recipes. Many of these flours contain codex wheat starch, which I  won't use. They also contain other additives including a fair amount of salt.  These flours will behave very differently from ordinary gf flour so it is not advisable to substitute one for the other. 

Doves Farm Plain Gluten Free  Flour is available from most supermarkets and is usually in the free from section.  You can also purchase Doves Farm Xanthan Gum from most large supermarkets. Xanthan Gum is also available on prescription.

kandymouse's picture
kandymouse wrote 13 years 41 weeks ago

most fantastic doughnuts..

Dear Adriana

Our family is trying gluten free diet and this is such a treat!!! And so easy to make.. My husband was missing dougnuts (his favorite treat) and this is 100 times better than the normal ones you buy in a shop to say the least. I have doubled the recipe and cook them in a bigger silicone muffin pan and they come out like proper jam doughnut size and shape. I just wanted to thank you so much for sharing this. And somehow I feel as if this is healthier as it has almond in it!! BIG HUGE DOUGHNUT HUG your way.

adriana's picture
adriana wrote 13 years 41 weeks ago

Fantastic Doughnuts

I am so glad you are enjoying this recipe.  It's one of my favourites and I think we can say it's healthier then a traditional doughnut as it has far less fat- and they are baked and not fried- and of course as you say, the almonds boost the nutritional content too.  I like your idea of baking them in a bigger muffin pan, so will definately try that next time....in fact maybe there is no better time then right now!  Regards, Adriana

lisah's picture
lisah wrote 11 years 33 weeks ago

almonds

Am loving your recipes but we have to have nut-free as well as gluten-free in our house. Can I just substitute more flour instead of the ground almonds in your recipes do you think ?

adriana's picture
adriana wrote 11 years 33 weeks ago

Almonds

Hi Lisah,  thanks for your comments and I appreciate that there are many out there who need to be nut free.  Unfortunately it's not as simple as adding more flour as this will give you a much denser muffin or cake.  The almonds add moisture to baked goods and help cakes and muffins to be lighter in texture.  You could add a little more flour  say a couple of tablespoons and possibly an extra egg or part of an egg to help improve the texture.  The proten in eggs give cakes a more tender crumb and also help in the rising giving a lighter texture.  It will have to be a case of experimenting a bit to see if these changes in the recipe give you a good result. Please let me know what discoveries you make along the way.