Happy Leap Day!
What did you do with your extra day?
I went grocery shopping, played with Isabella, and….
made super, yummy, tasty muffins!
This morning, I had a hankering for poppy seed muffins. I had no lemons in the house, so lemon poppy seed muffins were out. While I myself am not “grain free”, I am trying to experiment with other flours to get a feel for them. I also prefer to soak anything made with regular whole wheat flour. *To learn more about the benefits/method of soaking, check out this post over at Passionate Homemaking. Many of you who are “grain/gluten free” may find that by simply soaking your flour first, you can avoid all of the discomfort caused when you eat gluten. I encourage you to try it out! You may get to enjoy some of your favorite “gluten-filled” goodies again!
Anyway, bake to muffin baking. So since lemon was out, my other favorite variety was in: Almond Poppy Seed Muffins. I thought, not only because I have wanted to venture out, but also because it would add to the almond-y flavor that I would use…Almond Flour. Perfect! Especially, since I happened to have some soaked almonds ready to go.
Soaked almonds, you ask? Well of course! Not only should you soak your flour, but soaked almonds are much more nutritious for you and easier for your body to digest! So the first step in making your almond poppy seed muffins is to soak your almonds before turning them into flour. Making your own almond flour is not only cheaper but it is also much more nutritious than using store bought almond flour (especially when using soaked almonds).
Recipe for Crispy Almonds
Taken from the Nourishing Traditions cookbook
Ingredients
- 4 cups shelled, raw almonds (I skin my almonds after they are done soaking)
- 1 Tbsp Sea Salt
- Filtered Water
Method
Mix almonds and sea salt with enough filtered water to cover them. Leave them sit at room temperature on kitchen counter for 7 hours or overnight. Drain and spread almonds on baking sheet and dry in a warm oven (150F) until completely dry (up to 12 hours) OR drain and spread on trays for a dehydrator and dehydrate for up to 24 hours (until completely dry).
Now on to the good stuff…..muffins!
Almond Poppy Seed Muffin (Grain-Free!)
makes 16-20 mini muffins
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups Almond Flour (instructions on making your own below)
- 2 Eggs
- 1/4 cup Coconut Oil or Butter (melted over low heat in a saucepan on stove top)
- 1/8 cup Honey (add more for a sweeter muffin – I might add a bit more next time)
- A pinch of Salt
- 1/4 tsp Baking Soda
- 1-2 tsp Almond Extract (more or less depending how almond-y you like it)
- 1 Tbsp Poppy Seeds
Method
- Preheat oven to 350 F.
- Grind almonds using a food processor into a fine flour consistency (my flour was a bit more coarse which made more of a crunchy texture – we liked it!). Don’t over grind (you’ll start to make almond butter).
- Mix almond flour, salt, and baking soda in a medium sized bowl.
- Stir eggs, melted oil/butter, honey, and extract together in another small bowl.
- Mix wet ingredients in with the dry. If the mixture looks a little too wet, feel free to add more almond flour.
- Spoon batter into a greased mini muffin pan. I may have overfilled mine a bit (not at all sure how much the batter would rise – it rises quite a bit). Fill about 3/4 full.
- Place pan into oven and bake for just about 10 minutes (maybe a little under). Check on them to make sure they don’t burn.
- Remove and allow to cool.
- ENJOY!
There you have it! Easy, yummy almond poppy seed muffins.
I enjoyed these with a yummy berry, protein smoothie.
Also toddler approved!
Linked to Pennywise Platter @ The Nourishing Gourmet
&
Real Food Wednesdays @ Kelly the Kitchen Kop
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What if your dehydrator burned in a fire? Will leaving it on your porch for five days work 😉
This sounds so good and healthy. I’ve got to dig out my dehydrator.