Grain Free Chocolate Brazil Nut Muffins with a Cranberry Swirl

I love cranberries. So much that when I make a batch for the holidays, I like to make extra and freeze it in small jam jars, to pull out whenever a craving strikes. They are just too darn tasty to be relegated to the holiday season! I pulled a jar out earlier in the week and used some to top a meatloaf recipe that will be posted soon ( I will link here when I get it posted) . I wanted to make a muffin with chocolate and Brazil nuts, but knew they would need some sort of brightness to balance the flavours. Cranberry sauce to the rescue!  It added just the right amount of tartness to the muffin without overwhelming. I think these would be an awesome Christmas morning brunch muffin too!

Grain Free Chocolate Brazil Nut Muffins with a Cranberry Swirl

4 eggs, preferably pastured

1/3 cup coconut flour

2 T Sunflower Seed Flour

2 Tbsp Chickpea Flour

2 Tbsp Arrowroot flour

¼ cup cocoa powder

1 tsp baking soda

Generous pinch of Himalayan sea salt

¼ cup coconut sugar (or other sweetener of choice)

½ cup kefir or yogurt

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½ cup raw Brazil nuts, chopped

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Approx ½ cup premade cranberry sauce (see recipe here)

Preheat oven to 375F.

Place all ingredients EXCEPT the Brazil nuts and cranberry sauce into a medium mixing bowl, and mix well with an immersion blender , scraping down the sides as necessary.  With a spatula, mix in the chopped Brazil nuts (I chopped mine in my handy little chopper, you want to see some larger chunks to add a nice texture to the muffin) and stir well until combined.

Divide evenly between 12 muffin cups, either greased or lined.

Top with approx. 2 tsp of cranberry sauce (be generous!), and swirl in with a butter knife or the end of your measuring spoon.

Bake in preheated oven for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove to a wire rack and cool for as long as you can before gobbling them up!

Grain-Free Nut-Free Gluten-Free Blueberry Pancakes

I found myself alone for breakfast on a Sunday morning, and had a craving for blueberry pancakes. I was out of almond flour (again!) so I got creative with some other grain free flours and came up with this tasty version.  Tasty and quick, a perfect breakfast for one on a sunny Sunday morning!

This amount made 1 large pancake in my 8 inch cast iron pan. It could easily be doubled for more servings.

Grain Free Nut Free Blueberry Pancakes

1 egg

2 tbsp kefir (or yogurt)

1 tsp maple syrup

1 tbsp chick pea flour

1 tbsp hemp flour

1 tbsp sunflower flour

1 tbsp coconut flour

¼ tsp baking soda

Pinch of salt
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1 tbsp butter

¼ cup of organic blueberries, rinsed and dried

Whisk all ingredients together well,(excluding the butter and blueberries) making sure there are no clumps of flour.

Melt butter over medium high heat in a cast iron or other pan of choice.

Scrape the batter into the pan and cook for approx 4-5 minutes, or until the edges start to look cooked (they should look set, and loose the shine of the raw batter. Don't flip too soon or you may have a mess on your hands!) Sprinkle the batter with the blueberries, and flip carefully to cook the other side, approx 2-3 minutes.

Serve hot with toppings of choice.

Grain Free Pancakes

We like this version of pancakes way better than my old wheat based recipe, and the leftovers are very versatile. We use them cold in our lunches as kind of a sandwich with various toppings, jams and nut butters, cream cheese and cinnamon, cucumbers and sun butter (sounds so very strange, but it really is so VERY good!) Or you can just pop them in the toaster and have them like a typical pancake, smothered in pure maple syrup and butter!

Just be warned, if you do use the sunflower flour, your pancakes will be a vibrant green the next day, due to the high chlorophyll content of the sunflower flour. It does not alter the taste at all, but you may get some strange looks while you eat your green pancakes!

Grain Free Pancakes

6 Tbsp coconut flour, packed

4 Tbsp Almond flour

4 Tbsp sunflower flour, packed (or use the equal amount almond flour in place of this)

2 tsp baking soda

8 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

4 Tbsp milk or kefir – or more if needed to achieve consistency

4 Tbsp butter, melted – or coconut oil

1 Tbsp tsp honey

1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)

Method:

They should still be slightly wet on the tops before flipping,
but starting to get dry around the edges, like this.

Using mixer, beat all ingredients until well combined. Let stand 3-4 minutes to let the coconut flour thicken up. Add more if the batter is too thin, it should be the same consistency of regular pancake batter, not to thin, not too thick.

Ladle batter on to  350 degree pre-heated greased griddle. They do not bubble quite like regular pancakes, but let them cook well on the first side so they will flip easily. They should still be slightly wet on the tops before flipping. 

Flip carefully, cook for a minute or two on the second side, remove to your plate and enjoy!

Serve hot with your favourite pancake toppings!