Macadamia muffins – gluten free, sugar free, keto, paleo or whole food

I made a blueberry version of these for Xmas, but previously I’d been making them with choc chips. So I’ll start with that version.

First off, 150 grams of macadamias go into my mini food processor. They will also grind up in a full size food processor, but seem to get finer in the small one. Or a coffee grinder would probably work. But be careful not to over grind, as you want meal not nut butter.

Though that’s an idea. Maybe using macadamia butter (like the almond butter in the brownies) would make a better texture. On my list for further testing. Or if anyone else feels like trying it and reporting back…

Ok, so back to the dry ingredients, which then get mixed together in a big bowl:

• 150gm macadamias, ground into meal (see note 1)
• 50 grams of Great Lakes collagen hydrolysate (see note 2)
• 2-4 Tablespoons lakanto (see note 3)
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch sea salt

Note 1 – I usually use raw, but you can use roasted & salted and just not add salt

Note 2 – You can use any other protein powder, but you may have to experiment with quantities. I like this because it’s neutral flavoured and quite fine. If you’re not keto, you could also try any gluten free flour.

Note 3 – Or other natural sweetener of your choice, if you’re not keto. If say, using maple syrup, add to the wet ingredients instead. I use 2 Tablespoons but that won’t be enough for many people. If you’re doing GAPS, use honey and 2 Tbs might be enough.

Then zizz up the wet ingredients in the mini food processor (no need to clean it first):

• 2 eggs
• 3 Tablespoons MCT oil or 42gm melted butter (see note 4)
• 4 Tablespoons coconut milk or coconut cream or liquid cream (see note 5)
• ½ teaspoon orange extract if doing choco chip, vanilla if doing berry, or other extract of your choice

Note 4 – I usually choose MCT (medium chain triglycerides) oil, to get myself more into ketosis. But I made a special batch yesterday, using melted butter instead of the MCT oil, to see if it worked. It did, so melted coconut oil would also work.

Note 5 – I think any high fat liquid milk sub would work. Or even a Greek yoghurt. One time I used our homemade runnier yoghurt, though, and that wasn’t as successful.

Mix them together, and let sit for a few minutes for the liquids to fully soak into the dry’s.

Spoon about a tablespoon into each of 24 mini muffin pans. If you don’t have silicon ones, you need to grease them really well, or cut little bits of baking paper for lining, or use tiny paper cups. None of which I can be faffed doing any more. So if you haven’t got silicon cups, go and buy some!

Now it’s time to add your little extras. Usually I use these little dark choc baking bits.

I pressed 2 into the top of each muffin. There were only a few left over in the bag, so some got 3. Usually I poke them in a bit with a skewer, but this time decided to experiment with just leaving them on top to see if they’d sink by themselves.

If you’re using the MCT oil, don’t cook at more than 160C, and they will take about 25 minutes. If you’re using another fat, you can cook a little hotter for less time.

We can now see that the choc chips didn’t sink, so if you want them inside, poke them in. But I think on top is fine.

When I made some at Christmas, I placed a frozen blueberry on top of each one and pushed it in a tiny bit. They needed to cook for a few more minutes. Those did sink to the bottom! If you’re GAPS, this is the version for you.

Note on the silicon baking trays

I love these things, so much easier to get things out of them. BUT… keto baking is very soft, and I’m finding the easiest way to get them out is to wait till they’ve cooled, freeze them still in the cups, then peel the cups off. I take them out of the pans, and straight into a plastic ziplock bag and back in the freezer. They defrost in mere minutes, so you can have a snack whenever you want one.