It’s no secret I love a good mid-morning snack. Most of the time it’s fruit, nuts, or yogurt but occasionally I want something hearty. Croissants, muffins, and scones are all the perfect occasional treat in my book. And while I wish I could eat croissants every day, it’s nice to have a slightly healthier option. These carrot muffins are packed full of flavor and have a great crunch thanks to uncooked millet.
Read more and see the recipe.
The post Spiced Carrot Muffins with Millet appeared first on Naturally Ella.
I love to transform my favourite recipes into something new. Often, it’s not too far of a stretch to take a solid recipe base and create something different and fresh. Maybe I’m a baking nerd, but I just love the process of calculating measurements, swapping new ingredients for others, figuring out new baking times, and streamlining the method. My goal with recipe writing is to provide as many pertinent details as I can so you feel like I’m in the kitchen with you, but I also try to simplify and condense, too. It gives me great joy to refine and improve a dish and the written recipe itself over multiple trials.
Yup, I’m definitely a baking nerd. There’s no denying it.
My Pumpkin Gingerbread Loaf with Spiced Buttercream is a bit of a legend on this blog. I created the recipe for a blogging competition, Project Food Blog, five years ago (side note: my recipe writing style has clearly changed since then!). Despite being buried in the archives, this loaf has stood the test of time and remains popular during the fall and winter seasons. I’ve had requests for a muffin version – something a bit lighter and more wholesome that could pair with breakfast or an afternoon snack. (Wait a second. The original loaf with frosting doesn’t count as breakfast? I’ve been doing it all wrong.)
Joking aside, it’s a great idea. So maybe it’s a few years late, but I’m not a miracle worker! Ok, maybe I am. I made the original loaf more wholesome by using whole-grain spelt flour rather than all-purpose white flour. Despite using this heavier flour, I was astonished by how light and fluffy the muffins turned out! Spelt flour is incredibly tasty with a lightly sweet and nutty flavour that works so well in a muffin. Actually, I kept saying to Eric that these muffins taste a bit like a spiced bran muffin (in a very good way!). In just 1/4 cup of whole-grain spelt flour you’ll find 4 grams of protein and 4 grams of fibre, too. Look for whole-grain spelt flour in the natural foods or specialty section of grocery stores or you can find it online. Keep in mind that it’s not gluten-free so it won’t work for those with gluten allergies. You’ll also find pumpkin, blackstrap molasses (a great source of iron), pumpkin pie spice, maple syrup, and more. It’s like a big fall hug. Get ready, because your place is going to smell like a gingerbread house. No joke.
Pumpkin Gingerbread Muffins
Vegan, soy-free
Despite using whole-grain spelt flour, pumpkin puree, and molasses, these muffins rise beautifully and they are so light and fluffy! I think you’re going to love them. They are perfectly spiced (not too strong and not too light) and great for fall and winter baking. You won’t believe how incredible these muffins will make your house smell, too. Throw a batch in the oven before company comes over and your entire place will smell like a gingerbread house! This recipe is adapted from a reader favourite recipe: my Pumpkin Gingerbread loaf with Spiced Buttercream.
Yield 1 dozen
Prep Time 15 Minutes
Cook time 22 Minutes
Total Time 37 Minutes
Ingredients:
For the wet ingredients:
1 tablespoon chia seeds
3 tablespoons water
1 cup unsweetened pumpkin puree*
1/3 cup grapeseed oil or melted coconut oil**
3 tablespoons pure maple syrup
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 cup blackstrap molasses
For the dry ingredients:
1 2/3 cups whole-grain spelt flour***
1 tablespoon pumpkin pie spice (see tips below for link to recipe)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
Heaping 1/2 cup toasted chopped walnuts (optional)
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a muffin pan with large paper liners. (this is my favorite brand as they never stick!)
In a mug or small bowl, whisk together the chia seeds and water. Set aside for a few minutes to thicken.
In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (spelt flour, pumpkin pie spice, baking soda, baking powder, and salt).
In a medium bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients until smooth (chia mixture, pumpkin puree, oil, maple syrup, brown sugar, and molasses).
Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. No patches of flour should remain. Be sure not to overmix the batter as spelt is a delicate flour.
If using, stir in the chopped walnuts. You can also reserve some for garnish on top, like in the photos.
Divide the batter equally between the 12 muffin liners. They should be about 3/4 full or a bit more. Add any reserved walnuts on top and gently push down (optional).
Bake the muffins for 20-24 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.
Cool the muffins in the pan for 5-10 minutes, and then transfer each muffin onto a cooling rack until completely cool.
TIPS:
* If your pumpkin puree is a bit grainy, try throwing it into a food processor and processing it until smooth before making this recipe. Or you can beat it with electric beaters. This will simply prevent clumps in the dough.
** If using melted coconut oil, make sure that the rest of the wet ingredients are all at room temperature (do not use refrigerated milk, pumpkin, maple syrup, etc. as they will harden the coconut oil).
***I haven’t tried these muffins with any other flour yet, but I expect that regular all-purpose flour will work (like in the loaf recipe). If you try any different flours please leave a comment with what you used and how it worked out!
If the warm apple and cinnamon fragrance from our kitchen could spread into my laptop, on to the internet and out through whatever device you are reading this on, then I could stop writing this text right here. You would already be deep into your pantry drawers looking for the ingredients to start baking these muffins.
Instead, I guess I have to convince you the old-fashioned way, with words and images. And since we truly want you to understand how thrilled we are about this recipe, we also filmed a video for our youtube channel. Let’s start with that!
Apple trees heavy with fruit, small rubber boots tumbling around in the leaves, warm porridge in the morning, furry sweaters, cinnamon sticks, pitch dark nights and rainy afternoons. Autumn is already over us and it always seem to come with a profound desire for baking. In our apartment, switching on the oven is also a necessary trick to keep warm, since our radiators have a mind of their own.
If anyone remembers my previous aversion to warm apples, this recipe must be the ultimate proof that I’m passed it. Not only does our muffins have shredded apples in the batter and sliced apples on top of them, but they also hold small golden pockets of apple sauce in the middle. It’s a serenade of apple flavours and textures paired with warm spices and they sing happy songs together.
I guess this is an Autumnal edition of our Blueberry & Turmeric Breakfast Muffins. These are only sweetened with apples and dates, they are gluten-free and we have included a well-tested vegan option. The vegan version come out just slightly denser, but they taste almost identical. The combination of apple, oats, almond and buckwheat is perfect in an earthy, wholesome but still light kind of way.
So if you are also feeling the autumn mood or are just freezing and need another excuse to switch on the oven, we have got just the right recipe for you.
Triple Apple & Almond Muffins Makes 12 muffins
These muffins are only sweetened with apples and dates. We make our own apple sauce and even though it is unsweetened, it tastes very sweet and works perfect in this recipe. Since the muffins are not overly decadent, we enjoy them both as weekend breakfast and weekday dessert. However, if you know that you like your muffins more on the sweeter side, you can replace have of the apple sauce with maple syrup. Or simply use a sweetened apple sauce.
Dry ingredients 1 cup / 100 g almond flour 1 cup / 100 g rolled oats (use cert. gluten free if intolerant) 2/3 cup / 75 g buckwheat flour 2 tbsp arrowroot (or potato starch) 1 1/2 tsp baking powder 1/2 tsp baking soda 1 tsp ground cinnamon 1 tsp ground cardamom ½ tsp ground ginger ½ tsp sea salt
Wet ingredients 160 ml / 2/3 cup plain unsweetened yogurt or plant yogurt 80 ml / 1/3 cup coconut oil, butter or olive oil 10 fresh soft dates, pitted and mashed 3 large eggs (or 3 tbsp chia seeds mixed with 9 tbsp water) 1/2 cup / 120 ml apple sauce, unsweetened (see below for instructions hot to make your own) 3 organic apples
Preheat the oven to 400°F / 200°C. Grease a muffin pan with oil or butter or line it with muffin tins. Add all the dry ingredients to a food processor or blender and process on high speed so the oats turn into coarse flour and all ingredients are mixed. Transfer to a large mixing bowl. Add eggs, yogurt, coconut oil, dates and 1/3 cup / 80 ml of the apple sauce (save the rest for later) to the food processor or blender and mix until smooth, and then transfer to the mixing bowl with the dry ingredients. Grate two of the apples and add them to the batter. Divide the batter into the muffin tins, filling them only half way up. Drop a heaping teaspoon of apple sauce in the middle of each muffin and then cover with the remaining batter. Slice the last apple thinly, brush the slices with oil and place one or a few slices on top of each muffin, pressing them down slightly. Dust with cinnamon. Bake for about 18-20 minutes. Let cool for a bit before taking them out of their tins and they will release easier. Enjoy!
Apple Sauce Apple sauce is one of the simplest things to make and if you choose a sweet variety of apples, no other sweetener is needed. This makes more than you need for the Apple Muffin recipe, which is good as you can add large spoonfuls of the leftovers on top of yogurt or cultured buttermilk in the morning.
1 lb / ½ kg organic apples ¼ cup / 60 ml water 1 tsp lemon juice
Core the apples, cut them in ½ inch / 1 cm dices and add to a large sauce pan on medium heat together with the water. Bring to a boil and then turn down the heat slightly. Let simmer for 20-25 minutes. Use a hand blender to mix it smoothly. Add lemon juice and stir around to prevent the color from going brown. Store in air-tight glass jars the fridge for up to about a week or in plastic containers in the freezer for-like-ever.
