Recipe: Hearty Hazelnut Muffins

Here’s a lovely recipe for your weekend. Whether you’re hitting the trails or just hanging with pals for a leisurely brunch, these will get gobbled up.

The basic blueprint, of course, belongs to my friends over at PurelyPrimal.com. But the recipe is so forgiving, you can tool around with it and it always seems to turn out great. This time around, I wanted something a little heartier, a little more reminiscent of a wheaty, “wholesome” muffin, just without all the glutens, vegetable oils, and sugars. I shudder to think of all the cups of sugar I used to pour into baked goods recipes. These days, when I make a substitution, I can’t remember why it was ever necessary.

I made one half of the batch with dried cranberries for breakfast and the other half with dark chocolate chips for later. Both were awesome. I haven’t felt a lick of guilt about eating four of them today.

Hearty Hazelnut Muffins

1 1/2 cups hazelnut flour

1/2 cup almond flour

2 Tbsp. ground flax seed

1 Tbsp. coconut flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

4 eggs

1/2 cup pastured butter or coconut oil

1/4 cup water

1/4 cup honey

2 tsp. vanilla

Before

fun additions: dried fruit, fresh fruit (make sure it’s chopped small and isn’t too wet), chocolate chips, nuts, citrus zest

1) Preheat oven to 350°F. In large bowl, whisk all dry ingredients (flours through flax seed) together. In smaller glass bowl or large measuring cup, melt butter or coconut oil in microwave in 15 second increments. Add water, honey, and vanilla to melted butter/oil and whisk. Add eggs and whisk some more, until combined.

After

2) Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir to combine. If using additions (fruit, nuts, etc.), gently stir them in now. Pour batter into muffin tins lined with muffin liners. DO NOT ATTEMPT THESE WITHOUT MUFFIN LINERS (these are my faves) OR, AT THE VERY LEAST, A SERIOUS GREASING WITH BUTTER OR COCONUT OIL. Otherwise, you’ll never get these out of the pan in one piece.

3) Place in oven and set timer for 15 minutes. Check for doneness. Mine always seem to need another 3-5 minutes to get golden on top and springy to the touch.

Makes 12 regular sized muffins.

NOTES: These will keep on your counter top for about 2 days. I’ve heard they will keep longer in the fridge, about 4-5 days. I wouldn’t know, because ours never last that long.