Gluten-Free Tuesday: Berry Muffins

"[Photograph: Elizabeth Barbone] Ina Garten inspired these muffins. My friend's copy of Barefoot Contessa at Home was plopped face-down on her kitchen counter. During a visit, I noticed the pile of muffins on the back of the book. And these weren't just any muffins— no, these were berry muffins. Let's be honest, looking at a picture of berry muffins during the height of berry season practically guaranteed I'd head into the kitchen to whip up a gluten-free version. The muffins easily converted to gluten-free. During testing, I found brown rice flour contributed a heavy texture to the muffins. To keep them light, I settled on a blend of white and sweet rice flour and potato starch. Interestingly, the original recipe calls for the granulated sugar to be added at the end of mixing instead of creaming it together with the butter at the beginning of mixing. This leaves the muffins with a "delicious crunchy outside," according to Ina. The gluten-free version didn't have the crunchy outside. Instead the sugar simply melted into the muffins during baking as always, but didn't crunch. The muffins were just what I wanted: light, sweet, and bursting with berries. Recipe adapted from Barefoot Contessa at Home by Ina Garten (Clarkson Potter) About the author: Elizabeth Barbone of GlutenFreeBaking.com joins us every Tuesday with a new gluten-free recipe. Elizabeth is an alumna of the Culinary Institute of America and Mount Mary College. With her solid professional baking background, Elizabeth is known for creating gluten-free recipes that taste just like their wheat counterparts. She is the author of Easy Gluten-Free Baking...."