I went into the kitchen with confidence. My task was to produce something gluten free, dairy free, and fast to eat on those busy mornings. I was armed with a recipe I had printed offline and was only going to sub out the whole wheat flour with coconut flour. Simple.
Not really…
When I got going I realised the apple sauce jar I had expired. That’s right, expired. I foolishly bought a 4 pack of massive unsweetened apple sauce jars at Costco, last Christmas. For some reason I thought Joe really liked unsweetened apple sauce…I was wrong:)
Anyway, I’m finally down to the last of the darn things and just as I get down to business…boom! Expired! The honey also was suspect, so the rest of the project was a complete ‘fly by the seat’. I just rolled with it as I had already measured out a lot of the ingredients. Almost everything I ended up using was from a coconut. Surprisingly, I didn’t feel like they tasted overly coconut-y. It’s the same with these macaroons. Buttery and a light, toasty coconut flavour.
My main idea was to create some kind of streusel topping using the coconut sugar I bought recently.
I didn’t get a chance to shoot the main muffin ingredients, as I just started throwing things together and it all happened so fast…
The batter was pretty spongy. Not runny or liquid-y at all. I ended up with 1 1/2 small scoops of the batter into each of the 12 muffin liners.
I flattened it down with my fingers, pressing it into the corners.Then a teaspoon of the coconut sugar streusel and a sprinkling of coarse sea salt.
I put into a 350 oven and crossed my fingers. Well, actually, I did the dishes but in my mind my fingers were crossed…I took them out after 25 minutes, when the toothpick test came out clean and the edges were beginning to brown.After sitting for 5 minutes I transferred the muffins to a wire rack for 30 minutes.
The result was good. The flavour I was looking for was there. Just like a slightly coconut-y piece of soft banana bread. I had one at breakfast, about an hour before I went to the gym, and felt satisfied all the way up to lunch, which I had about 5 hours later. This muffin kept me full and fueled. I did however find it to be a bit crumbly. I simply cut the muffin in half and then into quarters and ate it in four bites.
If anyone has some expertise in gluten/dairy free cooking to share and knows how to make it less crumbly, let me know…
All things considered a great, healthy version of a normally very decadent bakery item.
My muffin was inspired by this banana bread recipe.
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- For the muffin:
- 2 cups coconut flour
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/2 cup coconut oil slightly melted
- 3/4 cup maple syrup
- 2 eggs beaten
- 3 ripe bananas mashed
- For the streusel:
- 1/4 cup coconut sugar
- 2 tbsp coconut flour
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tbsp cold Earth Balance vegan butter
- Preheat oven to 350 and line muffin tin with 12 liners.
- In large bowl combine coconut flour, baking soda and salt.
- Add in beaten egss and mashed bananas to flour mixture.
- Slightly melt coconut oil and mix together with maple syrup then pour into batter.
- Scoop batter evenly into 12 liners and press into corners.
- Mix together all streusel ingredients until crumbly and press 1 tsp onto the tops of the muffin.
- Sprinkle a pinch of sea salt on top of the streusel.
- Bake for approximately 20 minutes. Test that a toothpick comes out clean and the edges are browned but not burned.
- Let sit for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack for another 20 minutes to cool.
Rachel
October 23, 2013 at 9:42 amThis recipe sounds lovely, thanks so much for sharing! I’m wondering if there’s a possible substitute for the eggs though?
Sharon
October 23, 2013 at 11:05 amYes, you could try flax eggs! It’s a ratio of 1 tbsp of ground flax to 3 tbsp water for each egg you need. Stir it together well and let sit for about 5 minutes until it’s a gel-like texture. These work great and are the perfect sub! I just tried them with my carrot cake muffins last week.
Sarah
October 31, 2013 at 9:53 amDo you think I could use Chia instead of flax seeds? I need to make an egg and grain free dessert for my daughter’s first birthday cake and don’t know if she can have flax seeds but I know she’s eaten chia before
Sharon
October 31, 2013 at 12:13 pmHey Sarah! You could totally try a chia egg in this. I’ve read the ratio for 1 egg is 2 tbsp of chia seeds to 1/2 cup of cold water. I haven’t tried it personally but I’ve seen others be successful with chia eggs. Happy Birthday to your daughter 🙂
Chelsea
December 23, 2013 at 2:22 pmJust made these last night: AH-MAZ-ING!!!!!!!!!!
I can’t even stand how good they are! Thanks! 🙂
Sharon
December 23, 2013 at 2:39 pmThanks Chelsea! I must say I agree with you 😉 Happy Holidays!
Monica
August 8, 2014 at 8:12 amJust made these!!! Holy crap these have changed my life. So so so good! And it’s vegan. 🙂
Sharon
August 8, 2014 at 10:12 amSo glad you loved these, Monica! Have a great weekend. 🙂