So my almost-three-year-old daughter and I decided to make muffins yesterday. And by ‘we decided’, I mean ‘she demanded’.
“I want to make muffins, mommy.”
“Ok honey! What kind of muffins do you want to make?”
“Egg.”
“EGG muffins? Ok. Well…we’ll be sure to put eggs inside the muffins, great idea! But… what do you want them to taste like?”
“Eggs.”
Realizing I wasn’t going to get any further, I started throwing ideas out like, cinnamon raisin muffins…carrot ‘cake’ muffins…coconut muffins…apple ‘pie’ muffins… And after each suggestion I got a confident, “yes, let’s do that!!!” So, not wanting to disappoint the boss of the house, we made muffins using every single ingredient that little 2 year old liked.
And, I gotta hand it to her, they’re delicious!! (And, extremely healthy since mommy made sure to use all the good stuff. They do taste very healthy, I’m not gonna lie. Not in a bad way, but they’re definitely not light or cakey…the coconut flour tends to make things a little wet-sandy in texture but nobody seemed to mind a bit!) These muffins are what you want to make after you’ve maybe indulged too much in, let’s say, cheese.
They pleased the ever-so-hard-to-please boss of the house, her 6 year old brother, and the grown ups of the household. So, I’d say that’s a pretty good end result.
I haven’t done the math yet on these, but I confidently guarantee that they have an extremely high fiber count and I know for a fact that every ingredient does something good for your body. No processed sugars or flours, just a whole lot of whole goodness. And after we all ate them, I asked my daughter what she wanted to call her creation.
“Eggs Up Muffins”, she said- tiny mouth full of goodness.
So, that’s what I’m naming them. Even if it doesn’t make any sense to do so. Because, frankly, I’m a little scared not to.
Enjoy!
*Eggs Up Muffins
(Makes 14 standard muffins)
In a medium bowl, mix the following dry ingredients together:
-1/2 cup teff flour**
-1/2 cup coconut flour
-1/3 cup rolled, raw oats
-1/3 cup coconut palm sugar
-1 1/2 tsp baking soda
-1 tsp ground cinnamon
-1/2 tsp, (rounded) kosher salt
Mix to combine and to break up any lumps. Set aside.
(Quality control…)
In a large mixing bowl, combine the following wet ingredients:
-2 large eggs
-1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
-3 TB coconut oil (if your eggs are very cold, your coconut oil will harden in the bowl and be difficult to mix. So I usually melt mine a bit in the microwave first, just for about 20 seconds or so.)
-a good splash of vanilla extract
-1/2 cup orange juice**
-1/4 cup pure maple syrup
Mix with an electric beater until the eggs have fully broken down and everything is incorporated well.
Add your dry ingredients to your large bowl of wet ingredients and beat again until just combined, being careful not to over mix.
Now it’s time to stir in your ‘add-ins’…and there’s a lot of them!!
Add in the following:
-1/2 cup golden raisins (chopped, dried apricots or dried cranberries would be great here as well)
-1/4 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
-2 large carrots, shredded
-1 medium apple, shredded (peel kept on for added nutrition)
(I used my box grater for both the carrots and the apple. It took less than a minute for both.)
Fold in your add-in’s until they’re evenly distributed throughout the batter.
Using a greased, medium sized ice cream scoop, scoop out some batter into the greased cups of 2 standard sized muffin tins. This should fill them all the way full. You should get exactly 14 muffins. Fill the empty muffin cups of the second tin with water to ensure even cooking.
(She’s counting them…)
Bake the muffins in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30 minutes, or until they seem firm to the touch. They should still be soft on the inside, but cooked completely through.
Allow to cool in the pans until easy to handle and finish cooling on a rack before storing in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Or you can freeze them, wrapped in plastic and then inside a freezer safe bag for about a month.
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(**teff flour is the worlds smallest grain, found in a lot of Ethiopian cuisine. It is incredibly high in both fiber and protein and I get mine from my local health food store. It has a deeply nutty and rich flavor and I like it a lot for quick bread recipes such as this one. If you can’t find it or don’t feel like buying something new, feel free to substitute whole wheat pastry floor or spelt flour for another healthy option. Another note- if you don’t use the coconut flour at all in this recipe, and substitute something different, omit the OJ completely.)
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