L’Oven Muffins

Make muffins, or turn it into a loaf!

Gluten-free baking can be pretty unsatisfying – full of random starches and binders, with grainy, crumbly results. Blech! These muffins, on the other hand, use whole food ingredients like almond flour (also called almond meal – just ground almonds), plus pureed fruit or root veggies for a moist delicious and naturally sweet crumb. I also recommend using eggs (rather than a substitute) for the paleo-friendly/almond meal-only version.

If you want to make a vegan version of these muffins, simply use a flax meal or chia seed egg replacement (you may also want to sub in some buckwheat or other flour if you’re avoiding real eggs).

And if you’re in need of a nut-free version, simply swap the almond flour for buckwheat or spelt flour! [Buckwheat is gluten-free; spelt is not]

L'Oven Muffins

 

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Prep time

5 mins

Cook time

20 mins

Total time

25 mins

 

This is a fantastically simple, one-bowl recipe that I'm pretty sure my kids could make entirely on their own, adding in their preferences for the day (currants, goji berries, ginger, you name it).

Serves: 15

Ingredients

• 1 cup apple sauce, pureed beets, or other delicious mush
• ¼ cup grapeseed oil
• ½ cup maple syrup or honey
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 2½ cups flour (for great gluten-free muffins, I like almond flour, but sometimes I'll sub in about 1 cup buckwheat + 1½ cups almond meal)
• 2 eggs (you can use an egg replacement, such as flax or chia, but real eggs are best if you're opting for the flour combination suggested above)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp sea salt
• ½ cup chopped nuts, or nut pulp from almond milk! (optional)
• 1 tsp vanilla (optional)
• ¼ cup raisins or other dry fruit (optional)
• 1 Tbsp grated ginger root (optional)

Instructions

1. In a large mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly.
2. Incorporate nuts or other optional add-ins.
3. Fill muffin pan, or loaf pan with batter (will come out faster and easier if you grease the pan, but if you skip the grease, just allow to cool completely before trying to remove loaf 😉 )
4. For muffins, bake for 15 minutes at 350 degrees.
5. For a loaf, bake for 60 or more minutes at 350 degrees, until toothpick can be inserted and comes out dry.
6. Makes 1 loaf or 15 regular-sized muffins.
7. Allow to cool.

3.5.3208

For the muffins pictured, I used some homemade applesauce with pureed rhubarb and a buckwheat/almond flour combo. And for the loaf, I used pureed beets and almond flour. Both wonderful – change it up however you like it (and based on the ingredients you have on hand)!

Enjoy!