Hot Cross Muffins

Ingredients - muffins

1 cup rice flour
1/2 cup potato flour
1/2 tsp bicarb. of soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vegetable gum (guar or xanthan)

OR, in place of the above, use 1 1/2 cups of GF self-raising flour

1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp mixed spice or cinnamon
1/4 cup white sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
2 eggs
1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1/2 tsp vanilla essence
4 tbsp chopped mixed peel
2 tbsp diced dried apricots
2 tbsp sultanas

Ingredients - cross

1 tsp milk
1 dash vanilla essence
several tsp icing sugar

Method - muffins

1. Pre-heat oven to 180°C.
2. Combine rice & potato flours, baking powder bicarb. of soda, salt, mixed spice, vegetable gum, and salt in a mixing bowl. Stir until the mix is a smooth consistency.
3. Add oil, eggs, apple sauce and vanilla, stirring until evenly combined.
4. Lightly fold in peel, sultanas, and diced apricots.
5. Spoon into 12-hole muffin pan lined with muffin papers.
6. Bake until starting to brown on top (about 20 minutes).

Method - crosses

1. Add two tsp icing sugar to a cup
2. Add 1 tsp milk
3. Add dash vanilla essence
4. Stir adding more icing sugar until very thick
5. When the muffins are cool, paint a cross on each muffin