Thursday, May 3, 2012

Wheat-free, dairy-free muffins

Yesterday I mentioned that I would post paleo muffin recipes, a great way to use up some of the nut pulp strained from your homemade nut milk, and a great accompaniment to your paleo latte! Both are based on recipes from the Paleo Comfort Foods cook book, but I've modified them slightly.

Morning Glory Muffins
2-3 medium-size carrots
1 large apple, cored
2½ cups almond flour (I use 1½ cups almond flour and 1 cup nut pulp)
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
½ cup shredded coconut
½ cup raisins
3 large eggs
1 tbsp honey (optional)
¼ cup avocado oil
¼ cup coconut oil
½ tsp vanilla extract

Shred carrots in a food processor. This should amount to a generous 2 cups. Shred apple and mix with shredded carrot in a bowl. Set aside. Combine almond flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add carrot, apple, coconut and raisins and combine well. In a separate bowl, whisk together eggs, honey (if using), oils and vanilla extract. Pour the liquid mixture over the dry ingredients and mix well. (If using nut pulp, add it in here.) Cover the bowl with a tea towel and allow the mixture to sit for 30-60 minutes. This helps the mixture get nice and moist. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spoon batter into greased muffin pan and place on the middle or upper rack of the oven. Bake for 45 minutes and check for doneness. A toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean. If more time is needed, return pans to the oven and check every 5 minutes. Cool muffins in pan for 8-10 minutes and remove to a cooling rack to cool completely. Makes 12 muffins or 3 mini loaves.


Banana Nut Muffins
3 cups almond flour (I use 2 cups almond flour and 1 cup nut pulp)
2 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
¼ cup coconut oil, melted
4 large eggs
3 very ripe bananas, mashed
3 tsp vanilla extract
3 tsp cinnamon
½ cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine dry ingredients in small bowl and set aside. In large bowl, mix together oil and eggs. Add flour combination into oil and eggs and mix well. (If using nut pulp, add it in here.) Add in mashed banana, vanilla and cinnamon. Fold in walnuts. Spoon batter into greased muffin pan and place on the middle or upper rack of the oven. Bake for 35 minutes and check for doneness. A toothpick inserted in the middle should come out clean. If more time is needed, return pans to the oven and check every 5 minutes. Cool muffins in pan for 8-10 minutes and remove to a cooling rack to cool completely. Makes 12 muffins.

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We go through lots of bananas, but sometimes they ripen faster than we can eat them. I like to toss over-ripe bananas in the freezer and pull them out later for muffins. I freeze them with the peel on, but some people like to peel and slice up the bananas before freezing. When the bananas thaw, they'll be soft and watery, but that makes them easy to mash.

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