Recipe: Carob Muffins

Leave it to me to post recipes for sweet treats!  I find that an important way for me to stay motivated on the Endometriosis Diet is to be sure I have healthy treats on hand for when I need a pick-me-up.  Today is my first try on these carob muffins, but I like how they turned out. 
The recipe is from the awesome cookbook Recipes for the Endometriosis Diet by Carolyn Levett (she is also founder of the Endo-Resolved website, which is a great resource).  I made some modifications, and you'll find my version below (the original called for chickpea flour instead of the oat and rice flours, but I didn't have any on hand!  Also, the original omitted the cinnamon).  Feel free to experiment with different flours, different healthy sweeteners, and whatever else you want.. you may have some epic failures, but you will also learn a lot and come up with new tricks (and if you come up with any really good tricks, please share them here!)
Carob is used as a chocolate substitute, because it doesn't have the caffeine that chocolate does; the flavor is similar, but with more light and fruity tones.  You can probably find it in bulk at almost any natural foods store.
These muffins do not have eggs in them, so they DON'T rise much--I did add a small amount of apple cider vinegar, thinking it would help activate the baking powder, but I'm not sure how much difference it made!
I hope you like these little guys.

Recipe:  Carob Muffins

1 cup brown rice flour
1 cup oat flour
2 Tbsp. arrowroot powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
2 Tbsp. carob powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup milk substitute (almond, hemp, or coconut milk work well)
4 Tbsp. agave nectar or maple syrup
4 Tbsp. extra-virgin olive oil or grapeseed oil
1/4 tsp. apple cider vinegar

 Preheat oven to 350.

Grease a muffin tin with olive oil.  Combine dry ingredients in a medium mixing bowl.  Combine milk, agave or maple syrup and oil in a pan.  Warm liquid briefly, about 2-3 minutes.  Remove from heat, add apple cider vinegar, and mix.  Add liquid ingredients to the flour mixture, and mix briefly (just until flour is incorporated--do not overmix!)
Spoon batter into muffin cups and bake for 15 to 18 minutes.  When done, remove immediately from pan and allow to cool on a rack.
**Recipe is for 12 muffins, but when I made it I only had enough batter for 11-- if you have empty spaces in the muffin tin, just put a couple tablespoons of water in the empties so your pan doesn't warp.