Thursday, October 27, 2011

Apple Cinnamon Muffins (grain-free : nut-free : GAPS-legal)

This time of year, fresh local apples are showing their colors at our farmer's market. These apple cinnamon muffins are a wonderful breakfast treat, sure to please the whole family.

Apple Cinnamon Muffins
Makes 12 muffins
  • 1/2 cup butter or unrefined coconut oil
  • 1/2 cup honey
  • 3/4 tsp celtic sea salt 
  • 6 eggs, preferably pasture-raised
  • 1.5 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3/4 to 1 tsp cinnamon (use 1 tsp if you like lots of cinnamon flavor, or use 3/4 tsp if you like the cinnamon flavor to be subtle)
  • pinch ground nutmeg
  • 3/4 cup coconut flour 
  • 2 cups shredded tart apples, such as Rome or Granny Smith (leave the skins on and shred them with a box grater)
  1. Melt butter or coconut oil in a small saucepan over low heat. Turn off heat and allow to cool slightly. 
  2. Meanwhile, combine the eggs, salt, vanilla extract, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a large bowl.  If using an immersion blender, pulse a few times to combine. Otherwise, mix to combine with a whisk or mixer.
  3. Add the honey to the butter (or coconut oil) and stir slightly.  Pour this mixture into the wet ingredients and blend well with immersion blender or mixer.
  4. Measure out the coconut flour.  Since coconut flour clumps, it will need to be sifted if you are not using an immersion blender.*
  5. Pour the coconut flour into the bowl with the wet ingredients.  Use an immersion blender or mixer to thoroughly combine all ingredients, making sure there are no lumps.  (Since coconut flour does not contain gluten, there is no worry of over-mixing it).
  6. Fold in the shredded apples.
  7. Line a muffin tin with paper cups.  Scoop the muffin batter into the paper cups.  I like to use a 3-Tb scoop for this, but you could just use a large spoon.
  8. Bake muffins in 325 degree oven for about 40-50 minutes, until muffins are set and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.  If you are in a time-crunch, you could bake them at 350 degrees initially, but you'll need to reduce the heat after a bit so they won't burn before being set in the middle.
  9. Remove from oven and cool.  Delicious with a pat of butter and a big glass of raw milk or milk kefir!  Pair these muffins with bacon or eggs for a hearty meal.
Time-saving tips:
*If you use an immersion blender to combine the ingredients, you can skip the step of sifting the coconut flour.  This also gives you less dirty dishes!
**While you are at it, why not make a double batch of muffins and throw one dozen into the freezer?  It doesn't take much more time, and they will make a very easy breakfast for some other week.

This post is part of Real Food Wednesday, Fat Tuesday, Grain-Free Carnival, Monday Mania, Fight Back Friday and Pennywise Platter!

14 comments:

Kimmy said...

Thank you so much for this lovely recipe again, we were just starting to get a bit fed up with the pear and ginger ones and the banana and blueberry ones, and we just picked thousands of apples of the tree - so I can see a lot of batch baking coming ahead!

Anonymous said...

I had a similar recipe, but I used maple syrup instead of honey. I find maple syrup to be much better than honey for baking, although honey is ok too. I usually like honey in raw recipes, as the vitamins and enzymes remain intact. I started to use maple syrup after reading "Nourishing traditions" and love it for baking. What do you all think of maple syrup (organic and w/ no formaldehyde)? Any disadvantages of using it instead of honey for baking?

Sarah Smith said...

The reason I use honey in all of my recipes is that it is the only GAPS-legal sweetener. Maple syrup is not allowed on GAPS because it contains complex sugars, and only simple sugars are allowed on GAPS as they are easier for the impaired gut to digest. Pre-GAPS, I used plenty of maple syrup, and it is a great natural sweetener. Grade B maple syrup is even better as it has more minerals (and it's cheaper too).

Jill @RealFoodForager.com said...

Thanks for linking your great post to FAT TUESDAY. This was very interesting! Hope to see you next week!

Be sure to visit RealFoodForager.com on Sunday for Sunday Snippets – your post from Fat Tuesday may be featured there!

http://realfoodforager.com/2011/10/fat-tuesday-november-1-2011/
If you have grain-free recipes please visit my Grain-Free Linky Carnival in support of my 28 day grain-free challenge! It will be open until November 2.

http://realfoodforager.com/2011/10/grain-free-real-food-linky-carnival/

Christine said...

I just tried this recipe. I had to sub flax meal/water mixture for the eggs since I have a little one who's allergic to eggs. I did not turn out. It didn't rise. That was the first batch. I am currently baking a second batch, but with added baking soda to hopefully help it rise. We'll see how it turns out. If anyone has any suggestions for a good egg substitute, please share :)

Sarah Smith said...

Hi Christine,
I have not tried it, but have you seen this article about using chia seeds and water to make an egg replacement?
http://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/video-the-best-baking-substitute-for-eggs/

I've also heard that applesauce works as a replacement. I haven't tried that either, but I hope you can find something that works. Let me know what works out for you!

Unknown said...

I have these in the oven right now! I loved that the recipe was nice and simple, and made for a pretty quick cleanup too! FYI, I had MacIntosh and Royal Gala apples in the house, so I used those... The mac's didn't shred at all with the skin on, but were fine once I peeled it off. The Gala with the skin on was great. I can't wait to try them!

Sarah Smith said...

Great, Katie. I hope you like them!

Wendy Moiron said...

These were a really welcome change from our old standby, lemon blueberry. We've had them twice now, and they are even better slightly under-baked (very slightly) because they have the flavor and consistency of bread pudding, which is a staple around here and sorely missed!

Evi said...

Very tasty Sarah, thank you!
Since baking soda is now allowed on full GAPS I added some and the result was good.

Unknown said...

I wanted to like these. I used coconut oil, and they had an underlying coconut flavor that sort of overpowered the apple. I substituted maple syrup for honey as well...maybe that changed something because they came out kind of dry. I am very new to paleo baking, so I may have done something wrong, but I didn't enjoy these as much as I really wanted to.

Sarah Smith said...

To reduce the coconut flavor, try using butter, ghee, or even refined coconut oil instead of virgin coconut oil (which has a rather strong coconut flavor).

Sabra Schweger said...

Hi Sarah! This is the first recipe I have tried from your blog. These muffins are great! They girls and I are devouring them right now. We followed the recipe exactly using butter instead of coconut oil. Looking forward to trying more of your recipes.

Sarah Smith said...

Great Sabra, I'm glad you and your daughters liked the muffins!!