Gluten Free Pumpkin Ginger Muffins

After I made the batter, I thought these would be a total dud. But was I wrong. The batter tasted soy-like and nasty. But once cooked, they were VERY similar to the 'regular' ones I made a couple of weeks ago. They are a very moist muffin, but they do rise and hold together quite well. If you want to use cupcake liners for these, use the silver-foil ones. They will stick to the paper ones.

You can't put too much fresh ginger in these. So, grate as much as you have the patience to do!

Nonstick vegetable oil spray
1 cup Gluten Free Baking Mix (I used Bob's Red Mill All Purpose Mix for this)
1/2 cup brown rice flour
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 tsp xantham gum
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup coarsely chopped walnuts, lightly toasted
1 1/4 cups canned pure pumpkin
1 cup buttermilk
2 large eggs
6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted
3 TBSP grated peeled fresh ginger (fresh ginger is easier to grate if it is frozen first)

preparation

Preheat oven to 375°F. Spray 15 standard muffin cups (2/3-cup capacity) with nonstick spray. Whisk both flours, sugar, baking powder, spices, xantham gum and salt in large bowl to blend. Whisk pumpkin, buttermilk, eggs, melted butter, and ginger in medium bowl to blend. Add to dry ingredients and stir just until incorporated (do not overmix).

Spoon 1/4 cup batter into each cup. Sprinkle walnuts and some raw sugar over the tops if you like. Bake until muffins are golden and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes. Turn muffins out onto rack and cool. (Can be made 1 day ahead. Store muffins airtight at room temperature.)