[Emily's note: Just because you eat paleo or gluten free, avoid nuts, or are following a GAPS diet, doesn't mean you can't enjoy treats like these scrumptious apple muffins. Special diet or not, you're going to LOVE Naomi's creation…]
What can muffins be made of if they don't have grains or nuts? Coconut butter! And now that you can make your own coconut butter, you can make these perfect fall muffins with apples and warming spices.
The texture isn't exactly like wheat muffins, but they are moist and soft and stay together. They don't have a particularly coconut taste. Raisins or (soaked) nuts and seeds would be a lovely addition.
Another nice thing is that these can be made right away – no waiting for soaking nuts or fermenting sourdough, but a treat for immediate gratification.
I usually serve these apple muffins without any frosting (or icing, as we Canadians say) but I'll make a confession – I made this batch to take pictures and my oven was too hot (I'm blaming the kids) so the tops were very dark. I needed a frosting, and the coconut butter was still sitting out.
Thus was born coconut butter frosting. Happy accident. The frosting does taste like coconut, but I think a number of flavorings would pair well with it. It is quite rich, so be forewarned that you may only need a little. And, to top it off, the frosting is GAPS friendly as well.
Note: I've only ever used homemade coconut butter for the muffins, not store-bought. Store bought coconut butter has a higher moisture content, so I don't know how it would work.
Paleo apple muffins ingredients
- 3 eggs, room temperature
- 1/3 cup honey
- 1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ginger
- 1/4 teaspoon cloves
- 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon unrefined salt
- 3 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup homemade coconut butter (how to make it)
- 2 cups chopped apple
Paleo apple muffin method
- Whisk together eggs, honey, spices, salt, and baking powder. It's much better if the eggs are at room temperature, if cold the coconut butter will be harder to stir in.
- Stir in soft coconut butter (put it in a jar of hot water if too hard) until thoroughly combined.
- Add apples and stir, put into muffins tins. You can fill them more than regular muffins as they don't raise as much. Makes 12 muffins.
- In a pre-heated oven of 350F, bake for 20-25 min or until golden brown. Take out of oven and allow to cool.
Coconut butter frosting ingredients
- 1/2 cup coconut butter (how to make it)
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1/2 cup water (or milk/milk alternative/juice) *
- 1 teaspoon vanilla (or other flavouring – almond would be excellent)
*Note: if using store bought coconut butter, use half the amount of liquid, so only 1/4 cup.
Coconut butter frosting method
- In a food processor, blender, or with a hand blender, blend together soft coconut butter, honey, and vanilla or other flavouring. Add liquid until desired consistency.
- Spread on baked goods or eat plain!
The closest Naomi has gotten to her dream farm is growing live bacteria in jars and wrangling her four children, including twins. A Canadian who now lives in Slovakia, Naomi writes about traditions, food, and life in Slovakia (as well as some pretty strange food) at Almost Bananas.
I don’t like the taste of coconut, so I would not make the frosting for these, but can you taste the coconut in the muffins?
I can’t taste coconut in the muffins, although if you are really sensitive you might taste a hint. A pumpkin bar recipe is going up, and you definitely can’t taste coconut in those ones.
Apple Muffins with Coconut Butter sound so yummy! I want to make them, but I dont see any flour in the receipe. How can you make a muffin without flour? Is there something about Paleo I don’t understand?
There are Paleo flours, but in this case the coconut butter takes place of the flour and the fat (you’ll notice, there is no oil in the recipe either). It works out!
These look super moist and tasty! I love that they are grain-free!
They are very moist and tasty!
What a wonderful recipe. I just made mine (and I made it, as I do most things, in my rice cooker and it only takes 20 min and comes out perfect. It also means I can go out for hours and not worry about the oven!)
It’s light, fluffy, moist and so tasty!
I added 3 scoops of protein powder so it’s a whopping 104 grams of protein. Great for my macros (not sure if it’s still Paleo now?!)
It’s a little oily from the coconut which means I could back the coconut butter off a little (as you suggested). Mine is the Loving Earth Coconut Butter and 1 cup melted down to 1/2 cup but was still a little too much.
Now to show some restraint so I don’t eat it all in a day! THANK YOU for the recipe. AD from Australia
Wow, these are really good and the icing went really well with them:) was wondering if 3 tsp of baking powder is correct seems like alot . i used a commercial coconut manna and mine were very wet much to moist yet still tasted good . Should i use half the amount next time or just make homemade manna instead. Thanks for sharing this wonderful recipe ????