Grain Free Apple Walnut Muffins

Usually I post recipes that are tried and true but today I’m going to show my process for developing a new recipe. These are Paleo, gluten free, sugar free, no starch, can be dairy free.

A couple of weeks ago, when we had heaps of feijoas, I adapted my Banana Cashew muffin recipe to make feijoa muffins (which I will share one day). Now we have a fridge full of apples, so my thoughts turned to Apple muffins.

Often when I’m developing a new recipe, I’ll do a chart comparing some related recipes, then come up with a plan I think will work for my first trial. But since I know the feijoa muffin recipe worked, all I was going to do was sub apples for feijoas (change #1).

But then when I was in the organics shop I spied walnuts (they go well with apple) and right by them on the shelf was carob. @sift666 doesn’t go too well on either starches or cocoa/chocolate so we use carob quite a bit, and it seemed like just the thing to jazz these up a bit. So the second change to the recipe was to reduce the cashews, add in some carob, and some chopped walnuts for texture.

Since carob has some sweetness and our taste buds are used to low sugar, I decided not to leave out the sweetener and see if the apple and carob were enough. Change # 3.

Ok, let’s get baking.

First I’ll tell you what I did. Then there will be some notes for substitutions. Then how they turned out!

• 250 gm raw cashews (note 1)
• 75 gm walnuts
• 80 gm carob powder, sifted (note 2)
• 4 free range, pastured eggs
• 2 medium-ish apples (sorry, forgot to measure how much it came to when peeled and chopped)
• ½ cup yoghurt (note 3)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda, sifted (note 4)
• 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar (note 4)
• ¼ cup collagen hydrolysate, if needed (note 5)

You’ll need a food processor, or a grinder of some sort. Grind the cashews till reasonably fine. My food processor only does them this fine, but that’s fine enough. Tip them into a mixing bowl.

Put the walnuts into the processor and pulse a few times. We don’t want them to turn to flour, but to be small chunks. Add to the bowl.

Peel, quarter and core the apples. Cut off any bruises. At this point you could grate them. But I just cut each piece into 2 or 3, then tossed them in the food processor and pulsed a few times till they were finely chopped. Add to the mixing bowl.

Put the eggs, yoghurt, sifted carob, salt, sifted baking soda and apple cider vinegar into the food processor and beat together till well mixed.

Pour into the bowl, and mix everything together. It was at this point that I realised the mixture was a bit runny. So I tossed in a bit of collagen hydrolysate, just because it was what I had on hand. See note 4 for what else could have been used.

I used a 1/3 cup measuring cup to put the mixture into my prepared muffin cups. I used paper cups, but you could grease the tins really well instead.

Cook for 25-30 minutes at 175C (350F) or till a skewer comes out clean.

Notes

1. Cashews. This time I chose to use cashews as the base. Next time I might try ground almonds or coconut flour, which will be an entirely different recipe, and which I’ll do another post for. If you want to try other flours, the other amounts will need to be adjusted.

2. The carob powder has three roles in this recipe – as a flour, as a flavouring and as a sweetener. If you really don’t like it, you could use cocoa instead, or use starch such as arrowroot or tapioca starch and some cinnamon or mixed spice for extra flavour. If you do either of those, you will need to add some sweetener.

3. The yoghurt. I used homemade Caspian sea yoghurt which is quite thick, so a Greek yoghurt might be best. If you don’t do dairy, replace it with something moist – eg. coconut milk, nut milk, apple puree.

4. I use baking soda most of the time, and it helps to have something acidic to activate it. That’s what the apple cider vinegar is for. If you prefer to use baking powder, you may need to use a little more, but you won’t need the ACV.

5. Collagen hydrolysate. I used this as it’s a safe food for us, and I didn’t have any starches to hand. But I think a starch like arrowroot or tapioca starch would have worked better for those who can tolerate them. Or coconut flour, but only half as much, would have worked. If you are gluten free but not grain free, you could use other flours as well. Though it might have worked out fine, even without the extra thickener. If you want high protein, a little protein powder could work.

Results

Flavour.

We liked it, though if you’re not used to carob, you might want to use a little less carob and a little more cashew or other starch.

If your taste buds are expecting chocolate, you might be disappointed though. So think of the carob as a spice, not a chocolate substitute.

Sweetness.

Again, it was sweet enough for us. But unless you’re used to low sugar baking, you might want to add a little whole food sweetener such as honey, stevia, maple syrup, coconut sugar or mashed dates. Or just adding a few chopped dates could do it.

Texture.

Not bad. But they were a bit crumbly, and quite a bit stuck to the paper cup.

Overall.

For our needs, it hit the spot. But if I make this recipe again, I’ll use a bit less carob, up the cashews to 300gm, and if I need extra thickener, use coconut flour. I would recommend most others add a bit of sweetener.

What I’m more likely to do for the next trial though, is test out a coconut flour version of the recipe.

Toppings

Chance to let your imagination run wild. Here’s one topped with a dollop of yoghurt and a chunk of carob bar. Or you could melt carob for an icing. How about some yoghurt and some ground walnuts?

Thanks for reading and stay posted for Apple Walnut Coconut Flour muffins

Photos by myself.

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Some of my previous RECIPES AND KITCHEN TIPS:

BREAKFASTS –
• Choc Blackcurrant Smoothie
• Feijoa Pear Smoothie
• Cashew Porridge
• Other Breakfast ideas
BREADS & BAKING -
• Grain free, dairy free Pumpkin & Cashew Bread
• Grain Free Banana Cashew muffins
• Carrot Almond bread
• Vegetable muffins
• Grain free cheese muffins
• Happy birthday to me! with birthday cake recipe…
SOUPS & DINNERS –
• Warming winter soup
• Paleo Cottage Pie
• I judged the Steemit CulInary Challenge: Paleo
SNACKS & FINGER FOODS –
• Healthy Chocolate & Fudge
• Jerky with vegetables
• Choco-mallow protein bars
• Grain free Fruit & Nut bar
• Finger food for a gathering
• Real food ideas for snacks and road trips
FESTIVE –
• Festive smoothies for Xmas morning ~
• Orange Cranberry Xmas Breakfast Muffins ~
• Crisp & crunchy Xmas cheese stars
• Best ever (and easiest) Christmas cake
• Xmas menu ideas
• Planning your holiday eating to be a bit more balanced
• Paleo Easter Buns (coconut-almond flours, gluten and starch free, lowish carb)
• Even yummier Paleo Easter Buns
KITCHEN TIPS & MENUS –
• Tip for storing ginger & tumeric ~
• Equipment for the real food kitchen
For MORE RECIPES and my 15 step Whole Food cooking course, see my recipe website.