Tiny Quinoa Nutbutter Cookies

 These are probably my favorite GF cookie of all time.  The original source was the Ancient Harvest Quinoa Flakes box.  In the last few years, those quinoa flakes have been harder to find and have gotten very expensive.  But, for these cookies, it's well worth the price. 

The last box I bought didn't seem to have the recipe on the box, so here is my variation on it. My modifications: mixed nut butters instead of peanut butter, different sweeteners, real butter, add xanthan gum, weights instead of measures, cookie size, and some changes to directions

Alas, no photo.  Just use your imagination.  They look like.... cookies. 

Ingredients

170 g total of maple syrup, honey, and/or agave (1/2 cup)

68 g organic cane sugar or raw sugar (1/3 cup) Optional: Substitute about 8-10 grams molasses

112 g organic butter (1 stick)

128 g total mix of cashew, almond, and sunflower butters (1/2 cup) 

1 tsp vanilla

140 g brown rice flour (1 cup)  Can substitute part sorghum or other grainy flour

83 g quinoa flakes (3/4 cup)

1 tsp baking soda

¼ tsp salt (more if butter is unsalted)

¼ to ½ tsp xanthan gum (optional)

55 g chopped nuts (1/2 cup) (Optional. See notes.)

 

Directions

 Oven: 350 (f)

Yield: About 90 tiny cookies

1.       Beat first 5 ingredients together until creamy.

2.       Combine remaining ingredients except nuts.

3.       Mix creamed and dry ingredients, then fold in nuts.

4.       Chill for about ½ hour or more to make dough easier to work with. 

5.       Line cookie sheets with parchment.

6.       Roll dough into 8 g balls, flatten slightly, and place on cookie sheet about 1” to 1.5” apart.

7.       Bake 350 for 7-10 minutes, until cookies are lightly brown on bottom.

8.       Let cookies sit on cookie sheet for 2 minutes, then move them to racks to cool.

 

Notes & Tips:

·         Pecans are the best nut to use, especially if you use more maple syrup and less honey/agave.

·         Use 1/3 cup each nuts and mini dairy-free chocolate chips.

·         Use 1/4 cup chopped coconut shreds, ¼ cup chopped pecans, and 1/3 cup mini chocolate chips.

·         If you must measure instead of weigh, oil the measuring cup before you put nut butter or honey/agave/maple in it.

·         Weighing the cookie dough makes the cookies a more even size, which helps them bake more evenly.

·         Consider dipping the bottom of the cookie balls in almond meal before putting them on the cookie sheet. Then use a sugared fork to flatten them, as you would peanut butter cookies.

German Chocolate Quinoa Cookies

I really call these "Oops Cookies".  I accidentally got the nut butter mixture too hot, and the chocolate chips mostly melted. 

Oops! 

Sometimes a thing that initially seems bad can turn out to be surprisingly good.  So maybe I should call them "Redemption Cookies".

But, rule one of putting your cookie recipes on your blog is, "Make the name make sense to others."  So, with flavors of coconut, pecan, and chocolate, maybe it's best to call them German Chocolate Cookies.

Ingredients:

138 grams total of maple syrup, honey, and agave syrup (1/2 cup)
68 grams organic cane sugar (1/2 cup)
1 4-ounce stick of Earth Balance margarine or organic butter
128 grams total of almond butter and cashew butter (1/2 cup)
1 tsp vanilla
140 grams brown rice flour (1 cup)
83 grams quinoa flakes  (3/4 cup)
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp sea salt
Scant 1/4 cup chopped pecans
Scant 1/4 cup shredded coconut, chopped
1/3 cup dairy-free miniature chocolate chips (e.g., Enjoy Life)

Directions:

1. Add first 4 ingredients into a medium steel mixing bowl, then place over a pan of simmering water to soften.
2. Mix brown rice flour, quinoa flakes, baking soda, salt, pecans, coconut, and chocolate chips in a small mixing bowl.
3. When nut butter mixture is very warm, add vanilla and stir until everything is smooth.
4. Remove nut butter mixture from heat and stir in the flour mixture.  Combine well.  The chocolate chips will mostly melt. 
5. Place in refrigerator until firm enough to handle (about 30-40 minutes).
6. Roll into small balls (about 12 grams each) and place on lightly greased cookie sheet about 2" apart. 
7. Bake at 350 until lightly browned but still soft in the middle (about 8 minutes)
8. Let rest on cookie sheet for 2 minutes, the place on wire racks to cool.

Makes about 60 cookies.

GF Ginger-Cashew Brownies

These brownies are largely based on Roben Ryberg's rice flour brownies, so they're bound to be delicious and easy.  If you don't have one of her cookbooks, you're missing out.

These brownies are fudgey, spicy, and just gooey enough.

Gluten-free Ginger-Cashew Brownies

 Ingredients
4 ounces organic butter, melted & cooled.
54 g sorghum flour
70 g brown rice flour
200 g organic cane sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp ground ginger
2 eggs, beaten
3-4 Tbsp candied ginger
1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (Enjoy Life brand), divided. (Or more.)
1/4 to 1/3 cup chopped cashews
Cinnamon-sugar mixture

Directions

1. Grease a 9" square pan with coconut oil and heat the toaster (or real) oven to 350.
2. Gently melt butter in a double boiler or a small pan.  Do not microwave.
3. Mix flours, sugar, salt, xanthan, and ginger in a medium mixing bow with a wire whisk.
4. Sprinkle the candied ginger with a little of the flour mixture, then mince finely. You should have about 2 Tbsp when done.  Set aside.
5. Mix the butter and egg into the flour mixture, then stir in the ginger and half the chocolate chips.  The mixture will thick.
6. Dump the brownie mixture into the pan. Dampen your fingers and use them to pat the brownie mixture into the pan. Re-dampen fingers as needed, but don't drown the brownies.
7. Sprinkle remaining chocolate chips and the cashews evenly over the top, then press down a little so they stay put.  Sprinkle with as much cinnamon-sugar as you like, but don't go crazy.
8. Bake about 30-35 minutes, til a toothpick comes out clean.  Cool on wire rack and cut into 12-16 squares. 

 Sorry, no picture.  They look like brownies with slightly toasted cashew pieces on top.

Applecado Bread (Gluten free, of course)

It's no secret that I'm a huge fan of Roben Ryberg's books, especially You Won't Believe It's Gluten-Free.  And, a sane person might wonder, "Well, if you love Ryberg's recipes so much, why do you keep changing them???"

Good question.  All I can say is, there's something in me that must explore. Experiment. Try new (aka, "weird") things.  I just must.

Ask my sister. She's the one who was traumatized by a chocolate mint birthday cake when she was a child.  She recalls it being very minty.  It might explain why neither of us is much of a fan of mint these days.  It was not a successful experiment.

But, some experiments are.  Take, for instance, applecado bread.  This one is based heavily on a Ryberg recipe, so you know I'm starting with something good. And, I'm including avocado.  Also something good. And goat milk, ginger, cloves, bourbon vanilla, and more cinnamon.  All very good things.  As my sister-in-law says, "When you put good things together, you get a good thing."

Applecado bread: It's a good thing.

Wet ingredients:

• 6 ounces organic, unsweetened applesauce
• 100 grams organic sugar
• 2.6 ounces avocado (a little less than one small one)
• 1 ounce goat milk
• 2 organic eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla

Dry ingredients:

• 150 grams brown rice flour
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp xanthan gum
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon plus an extra shake or two
• 1/8 tsp ginger, slightly rounded
• 1/8 tsp cloves
• 1/2 tsp sea salt

Topping:

• 1/3 to 1/2 cup chopped pecans

Directions:

1. Spray an 8" baking pan with coconut oil spray, then sprinkle a little almond meal on the bottom.  Or, line the pan with parchment paper.  Preheat oven to 350 (f)
2. Mix the wet ingredients in a medium mixing bowl until everything is nice and fluffy and uniformly green. I used my stick blender.
3. Whisk dry ingredients together thoroughly in a small mixing bowl.
4. Gently fold the dry into the wet until everything is nicely incorporated.  The batter will be fluffy and beautiful -- in a green sort of way.
5. Pour batter into the baking pan, smooth out a little, and top with pecans.  Gently press the pecans in so they'll stay put.  
6. Bake at 350 (f) for about 30 minutes, until the house smells lovely and a toothpick test tells you the bread done.

The Great Speckled Herb Biscuits

Mother's Day weekend I went on a baking frenzy. Friday's zucchini muffins brought back memories of Mom. Saturday's nut butter cookies and Sunday's cornmeal lemon cookies were in memory of two of my other mothers who have passed on.

And, it's only reasonable that the Mother's Day baking frenzy should segue to thoughts of my grandmothers for this weekend's baking project.

I remember (step) Grandma Harris as a devout Pentecostal lady. Like many fundamentalist women of her generation, she never, ever wore pants. She'd borne 11 children, lost one, and had been a widow many years. She was terribly proud of the fact that she could still span her waist with three hands. She loved the Roy Acuff song "The Great Speckled Bird", and she'd sing it as she went about her chores.  I don't remember her being much of a cook. 

My baby sister remembers Grandma Harris as a hottie who wore mini skirts and go-go boots. (My sister and I remember a lot of things differently.)

My maternal grandmother was also of a fundamentalist persuasion. She, too, did not wear pants. And there any resemblance to Grandma Harris ends. Granny was heavy and buxom, her waist unfindable beneath the sagging weight of glands that had fed her 7 babies. Granny never sang. But, she could make biscuits.  Granny's biscuits were a thing of joy and beauty. Tender small morsels, comprised of perfectly proportioned but unmeasured ingredients, baked in a hot iron skillet to golden perfection.

Those were some biscuits.

Great Speckled Herb Biscuits: Gluten Free

Today I made biscuits. Yet another variation off of Roben Ryberg's. This time heavily laced with herbs from my happy place, Grebar Farms. Sage, rosemary, thyme, parsley, and chives. Little patties of Thanksgiving in May.  I think both of my grandmothers would have liked them, in spite that new-fangled Gluten Free thing.

Great Speckled Herb Biscuits

Ingredients:

3.5 ounces grapeseed oil

Thyme, chives, rosemary, and sage

150 grams brown rice flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
5/8 tsp sea salt
1/4  tsp granulated garlic
1/2 tsp onion powder
Freshly ground pepper
1.5  Tbsp minced fresh sage
1.5 tsp fresh thyme
1.5 tsp fresh minced rosemary
1 Tbsp. minced fresh parsley
2 Tbsp chopped fresh chives
6.1 ounces whole goat milk
1 1/2 Tbsp organic sugar

I have no idea how much pepper I use.
About 8 to 12 grinds, maybe.

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 (f) and liberally grease a big iron skillet or a cookie sheet.
2. Mix dry ingredients together with a wire whisk.
3. Whisk in the herbs.
4. Mix wet ingredients together.
5. Mix liquid stuff into the dry stuff until well combined.
   When it's just about right, I usually hear little crackly sounds.
6. Drop the biscuits onto prepared skillet or cookie sheet, then gently shape a little with well-oiled fingers. 
7. Bake at 375 (f) for about 12-18 minutes. A toothpick will come out clean, and tops will spring back a little when pressed. 

I love weighing my ingredients.
So much less mess to clean up!

How mixed is mixed enough?
The dough will hold together and look like this.
Listen for little crackly sounds.
 



Granny always baked her biscuits in a big iron skillet.
It probably hearkened back to a time when people didn't have a variety of baking pans.
It's hard to get smooth iron nowadays. But if you can find it, it really is the best.

Pumpkin Herb Biscuits

I love Roben Ryberg's cookbooks.  I love her single flour philosophy.  I love the way she provides multiple variations on flours for her recipes, and I absolutely love that she does most things by weight. 

Every gluten-free home should own a couple of her cookbooks.

This recipe is heavily adapted from the rice flour biscuits recipe in her book "You Won't Believe It's Gluten-Free!"  Her original recipe is also available online on at RobenRyberg.com.

My variation was motivated by a desire to use up some slightly iffy herbs before heading out to Grebar Farms tomorrow to get fresh ones.

Pumpkin Herb Biscuits

3.9 ounces Spectrum organic shortening
155 grams brown rice flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp sea salt
About 1 Tbsp chopped mixed herbs: Sage, rosemary, thyme
1/3 to 1/2 cup canned organic pumpking, plus enough water to make 3/4 cup total
1 1/2 Tbsp maple syrup
1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1. Preheat oven to 375 (f) and liberally grease a big iron skillet or a cookie sheet.
2. Mix shortening and flour together with until crumbly and lovely.
3. Sprinkle baking powder, baking soda, xanthan gum, and sea salt more or less evenly over the crumbly flour mixture.  Stir & fold to distribute evenly.
4. Sprinkle herbs over flour mixture and stir again to distribute evenly.
5. Mix pumpkin and water in a liquid measuring cup.  Add maple syrup and vinegar, stirring to combine.
6. Sprinkle liquid stuff over the flour stuff, then stir gently to combine.
7. Drop biscuits onto prepared skillet or cookie sheet, then gently shape a little with your fingers.
8. Bake at 375 (f) for about 12-18 minutes.
9. Makes 10-12 biscuits.

The Eatin' of the Green - Quinoa and Pea Muffins

The leprechauns made breakfast for Spouse 1.0 today.  Green, of course.  And, now that I refuse to let them cook with green food coloring, the leprechauns really have to get creative. Or just plain weird.

They weren't entirely happy with the green-ness of the green lentil muffins, so they started thinking about green pea flour, lait du pois, and quinoa.

And, while I've generally resisted the cliche of "green eggs and ham", the leprechauns asked, "What if we used some lait du pois in some scrambled eggs?"

Those darned leprechauns.  They know that when it comes to cooking, baking, and software testing, I just can't resist the question, "What if...?"

There's a peculiar rush that comes over me after the grains and vegies are cooked and I start gathering the flours, leavenings, seasonings, and wet ingredients... Yeah, those leprechauns.  They really know how to tempt and conscript a girl.

So, here's what the leprechauns came up with today:

Quinoa and Pea Muffins

Vegetables and grains
4.5 to 5 oz frozen chopped spinach, cooked and squeezed very dry
1/4 cup finely minced onion, lightly sauteed in a dry nonstick pan
1 cup cooked quinoa
3 Tbsp chopped fresh Italian parsley

Dry ingredients
90 g. brown and/or white rice flour
30 g. green pea flour
1 TBSP baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/4 tsp granulated garlic, or to taste
1/4 tsp sea salt
Freshly ground pepper
Wet ingredients
3/4 cup lait du pois (pureed peas -- see post from 3/13/12)
42 grams sesame oil
1 egg
2 tsp lemon juice

Topping
Finely chopped pistachios or lightly toasted sesame seeds

Preheat oven to 400 (f) and line a muffin tin with 12 muffin liners.

1. Saute onion in olive oil until onion translucent. Set aside.
2. In same skillet, cook spinach. Cool and squeeze until very dry. Let cool.
3. Whisk dry ingredients together in a small bowl.
4. Whisk wet ingredients together in a medium bowl.
5. Add vegetables and grains to wet ingredients and mix well.
6. Stir in dry ingredients, and add more water or lait du pois if needed to get a nice batter consistency. The batter will look light and fluffy, and I think I hear a slight crackling sound as I stir it.   Don't over mix.
7. Spoon mixture into muffin liners, then top with chopped pistachios.
8. Bake 13-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
9. Cool in pan for 2 minutes, then transfer to cooling racks.

And, as you might guess, this really makes a baker's dozen.

Serve with naturally green scrambled eggs and green tea.

Naturally Green Scrambled Eggs

2 eggs
3-4 Tbsp lait du pois
Pinch freshly chopped parsley
3-4 Tbsp Pecorino Romano
Salt & pepper to taste

Mix everything and gently scramble. Watch to make sure the eggs don't overcook and lose their lovely green-ness.

Result: The muffins are good enough, and will probably taste better after they set a few hours. Most cooked grain muffins do.  The eggs taste just plain weird to me, but Spouse 1.0 is so happy to get any kind of scrambled eggs that he issued his usual verdict: It's good. I like it. (Grunt.)

It's Not Easy Being Green Muffins

St. Pat's day is impending, and that means Green Breakfast for Spouse 1.0.  Having eschewed artificial green coloring, each year I face anew the challenge of creating a naturally green breakfast for him.

This year's inspiration: French green lentils.  They are such a pretty dark green -- until you cook them.  Then they become greenish brownish gray. 

The first installment towards the St. Pat's muffin was the Lenten Lentil Muffins. Even with the spinach and herbs, they weren't green enough. 

So, to green it up a bit, we use Lait du Pois instead of soy milk.  Lait du Pois? Um... that's french for pea milk.  But, odds are, if you're making these for your kids, there's no way you'll get them to eat something made with pea milk.  (Can't you hear your wee ones giggling and going "ewwww" and saying "Pea milk? Pea milk!! Yuck!" over & over until you want to scream?)  So, we use Lait du Pois instead.

And, Lait du Pois is really just... super runny pureed peas.

Lait du Pois

About 1 cup of frozen petite peas
About 1/2 cup water

1. Place peas in water and bring to a boil.  Do not let the peas cook for more than a few seconds.
2. Using a stick blender or a real blender, puree the peas in their cooking water.
3. Check the consistency.  It should be somewhere between whole milk and heavy whipping cream. If it's too thick, add more water.

You will use about 3/4 cup of the Lait du Pois for the St. Paddy's Lentil Muffins.  The rest can be used to round out your green breakfast by adding it to your scrambled eggs, or use it to make some green biscuits.

As we move from Lenten Lentil Muffins to St. Paddy's Lentil Muffins, not much has changed. Just the "milk," the acid, and the topping.

St. Paddy's Lentil Muffins

Vegetable Ingredients

1 cup well-drained cooked green lentils (do not overcook)
1/2 medium sweet onion, chopped fine
4 oz frozen organic chopped spinach

 

Dry Ingredients
30 g. white rice flour
60 g. brown rice flour
30 g. garbanzo flour
1 TBSP baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp each, slightly rounded: Rosemary, thyme, garlic, parsley
Freshly ground salt & pepper to taste

 

Wet Ingredients
A little less than 3/4 cup Lait du Pois

1.5 tsp lemon juice

42 g. olive oil

1 egg

Topping
About 1/4 to 1/3 cup finely chopped pistachios

Preheat oven to 400 (f) and line a muffin tin with 12 muffin liners.

1. Saute onion in olive oil until onion translucent. Set aside.
2. In same skillet, cook spinach. Cool and squeeze until very dry. Let cool.
3. Whisk dry ingredients together in a small bowl.
4. Whisk wet ingredients together in a medium bowl.
5. Add vegetables to wet ingredients and mix well.
6. Stir in dry ingredients, and add more water or lait du pois if needed to get a nice batter consistency. The amount of liquid you need will vary depending on how much water remains in the spinach and how well-drained the lentils are.
7. Spoon mixture into muffin liners, then top with chopped pistachios.
8. Bake 16-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
9. Cool in pan for 2 minutes, then transfer to cooling racks.

 Actually, because I don't like them to be too big, this made a baker's dozen muffins for me.  The 13th muffin is cooked in a glass Pampered Chef prep bowl lined with a muffin liner. That one usually is a little smaller than the others, and sometimes takes an extra few minutes to bake.

Lenten Lentil Muffins

On Monday I had another muffin vision.  It seems to take at least three rounds of tweakage to an existing recipe to achieve a muffinly vision.

Today's muffins were only round 2, and are therefore not the realization of Monday's vision. But these little guys seemed worthy of official muffinhood in their own right.

Lenten Lentil Muffins

Vegetable Ingredients
1 cup reasonably drained cooked green lentils (do not overcook)
1/2 medium sweet onion, chopped fine
4 oz frozen organic chopped spinach

Dry Ingredients
30 g. white rice flour
60 g. brown rice flour
30 g. garbanzo-fava flour
1 TBSP baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1/2 tsp each, slightly rounded: Rosemary, thyme, garlic, parsley
Freshly ground salt & pepper to taste

Wet Ingredients
1/4 cup soya powder (instant soy milk) mixed with 1/2 cup water
1 tsp cider vinegar
42 g. olive oil
1 egg

Topping
About 1/4 to 1/3 cup finely chopped walnuts

1. Preheat oven to 400 (f) and line a muffin tin with 12 muffin liners.
2. Saute onion and spinach in a small amount of olive oil until onion is translucent and vegetables appear dry, but extrude a small amount of liquid when pressed firmly with a spatula. Let cool and mix in the lentils.
3. Whisk dry ingredients together in a small bowl.
4. Whisk wet ingredients together in a medium bowl.
5. Add vegetables to wet ingredients and mix well.
6. Stir in dry ingredients, and add up to 1/4 cup water to get a nice batter consistency. The amount of water you need will vary depending on how much water remains in the spinach and how well-drained the lentils are.
7. Spoon mixture into muffin liners, then top with chopped walnuts.
8. Bake 16-18 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
9. Cool in pan for 2 minutes, then transfer to cooling racks.

The walnut topping is not strictly necessary, but GF muffins don't brown the way wheat-based ones do.  Using a topping adds visual appeal and helps disguise the lack of browning.

The muffins seem to have better texture after a few hours.

Sesame Soy Muffins

Lately, I've been obsessed with savory muffins. 

Pretty strange for a girl who a) has a bit of a sweet tooth, and b) doesn't really like muffins.

But, then, most of my muffin exposure has been to wheat ones:

• The ginormous over-sweet, greasy ones from the big box stores, where every muffin in the assortment kinda sorta tastes the same.
• The slightly dry ones manufactured in bulk and delivered to your favorite coffee shop. And, they all kinda sorta taste the same, too.
• The homemade ones that, well, end up kinda dry and overcooked because the dear person who made them was chasing her kids around the kitchen and averting household crises while baking.

Nope.  Not a fan of muffins.

Until.

Until spouse 1.0 needed to go GF, and I needed to find ways of providing grab and go breakfasts for him.

Even then I resisted muffins. Too many bad associations. And, who wants to clean muffin tins? And mine was 20 years old and made of a really scary aluminum.

But, the grab & go allure of muffins eventually wore my resistance down. As all GF bakers surely do, I gave in and started making muffins.

And, I worried that all those sweet, convenient morsels would lead to Spouse's destruction.  If he became diabetic from all my muffins, I'd have to give up making muffins.

Enter the savory muffin.

Now, most folks expect muffins to be sweet. Savory muffins really freak people out:

Me to Taster 1:  This is a sesame quinoa muffin. I'm experimenting with savory muffins, so it's OK to tell me what you really think.
Taster 1: It's good, but it needs something to make it sweeter. Maybe some agave syrup?

Me to Taster 2: I'm experimenting with savory muffins, so it's OK to tell me what you really think.  This one is a sesame soy muffin.

Taster 2: It's... it's... like food.  Maybe you should add a sauce to it? Like mangoes or something?

Someone with a more fragile ego would have given up somewhere around here.

But, I had a muffinly vision, and was not to be thwarted. The goal: A muffin gently evocative of a hearty and pretty fried rice. 

Sesame Soy Muffins (Gluten Free)

Dry ingredients:
90 grams brown rice flour (3/4 cup)
30 grams almond meal (1/4 cup)
3/4 tsp granulated garlic
1/2 tsp ginger
A few grinds each of sea salt & pepper
1 TBSP baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp xanthan gum

Wet ingredients:
25 grams (1/4 cup) soya powder mixed with a scant 3/4 cup water  (or just use a generous 3/4 cup unsweetened soy milk).
1 tsp pepper infused rice vinegar
42 grams sesame oil (3 TBSP)
1 large organic egg
1 tsp GF organic tamari sauce
1 cup cooked black rice, slightly packed
1/2 to 2/3 cup frozen petite peas, thawed
2 TBSP finely grated organic carrot

Topping
2 to 3 TBSP sesame seeds, lightly toasted

1. Preheat oven to 400 (f). 
2. Prepare a 12-cup muffin tin.  For these muffins, I use muffin liners, and spray the liners with a spritz of organic grapeseed oil.  
3. Whisk dry ingredients together in a small bowl.  Optionally, whisk in about 1 TBSP of the sesame seeds.
4. Whisk together the first 5 wet ingredients in a medium or large bowl until thoroughly blended.
5. Whisk in the rice, peas, and carrots.
6. Whisk the dry ingredients
7. Evenly distribute the batter among the muffin cups.  Dampen fingers and slightly smooth out the tops.
8. Top with a sprinkling of toasted sesame seeds.
9. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick tests done. Don't overbake.

Notes:

• I used Lundberg Japonica, but any black (or mostly black) rice should do.
• Substituting tri-color quinoa for the black rice makes a really pretty muffin with a lovely texture.
• To make pepper-infused vinegar, just put some small dried chili peppers in a jar, add rice vinegar,  cover and let it set in the fridge for at least several days. 
• If you don't want to make pepper infused vinegar, just use plain rice vinegar. Maybe add a tiny pinch of cayenne or an extra grind of the black pepper to compensate.