Sweet Sugar Free Muffins!

Guilt Free Muff!

 

Let's face it- we all love a bit of muff every now and then!

  

I especially like to have a muff for morning tea.. but was tired of feeling guilty when I thought about all the sugar in most of my favourite muffins! (of course I was talking about muffins... what did you think I meant? Sickos...)

Flavours like blueberry and orange and poppyseed actually trick you into thinking they're healthy! We call that cheeky muff marketing! Of course I hate depriving myself of anything so wanted to find a less naughty way to enjoy my morning muff.

I tried a little experiment that turned out surprisingly ok- I took some traditional blueberry and banana muffin recipes (which called for a whopping ¾ cups of sugar in each recipe!) and tweaked them to see if I could create something tasty without using any sugar.

The result was delicious and pretty healthy- so here are the recipes, but remember that mine were made kind of winging it, so feel free to use other ingredients or omit anything you don’t like.

I used almond milk instead of normal milk to sweeten them as well as wholegrain flour to keep them healthier but it will work just as well with the original milk and white flour.

I added dates for sweetness, halved the amount of butter and substituted with coconut oil instead.

For a savory fix I also whipped up some kale, sundried tomato, olive and feta ones. Great as an afternoon snack! And keep in mind that you can put pretty much anything in, once you have the basic recipe down pat you can just go nuts on the muff! Hahaha. Now who's the sicko! Anyway- enjoy guys! 

 

Sugar free blueberry muffins

• 2 1/4 cups wholemeal self-raising flour
• 45g butter, chopped  
• 1 tbs coconut oil
• 1/2 cup almond meal
• 2 Tbs honey
• 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ¼ cup chopped semi dried dates
• 125g fresh blueberries
• 1 cup  almond milk
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten 

1. Step 1

Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan-forced. Grease a 12-hole, 1/3 cup-capacity muffin pan.

2. Step 2

Sift flour into a bowl. Using fingertips, rub butter into flour until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Stir in almond meal and cinnamon.

3. Step 3

Make a well in centre of flour mixture. Add blueberries, dates,  coconut oil, almond milk, egg and honey. Gently stir until just combined. Spoon mixture into prepared holes. Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted in centre of 1 muffin comes out clean. Stand in pan for 5 minutes. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool. Serve.

Sugar free banana and cinnamon muffins

• 3 cups wholemeal self-raising flour
• 1 1/4 cups almond milk
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 45g butter, melted
• 1 tbs coconut oil
• ¼ cup almond meal
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 3 tbs honey
• ¼ cup chopped semi dried dates
• 2 small bananas, peeled, mashed

Step 1

Preheat oven to 180°C. Lightly grease a 12-hole, 1/3-cup capacity non-stick muffin pan.

1. Step 2

Sift flour into a large bowl. Add almond meal and cinnamon and stir to combine. Make a well in the centre. Combine milk, egg, coconut oil, honey and butter in a jug. Add mashed banana with the milk mixture. Pour mixture into the well. Using a wooden spoon, stir until just combined (don't over-mix).

2. Step 3

Spoon mixture into muffin holes until three-quarters full. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Bake for 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for 1 minute. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.

Kale, sundried tomato, olive and feta wholemeal muffins

• 3 cups wholemeal self-raising flour
• 1 1/4 cups almond milk
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 45g butter, melted
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1 tbs lemon juice
•  1 cup chopped kale
• ¼ cup chopped semi sun dried tomatoes
• ¼ cup pitted kalamata olives, halved.
• 50 g reduced fat feta cheese, cubed
• Pepper to taste

Step 1

Preheat oven to 180°C. Lightly grease a 12-hole, 1/3-cup capacity non-stick muffin pan.

3. Step 2

Sift flour into a large bowl. Add almond milk, butter, egg, olive oil, lemon juice and stir to combine. Add kale, tomatoes, olives, and feta and mix through.  I also add some oil from the sundried tomatoes and the olives to add flavour, not too much! (otherwise a tad more olive oil instead) Add several grinds of black pepper. (I like heaps!) You can add salt to taste if you like but I tend to omit it as the olives and sun dried tomatoes are salty anyway.

4. Step 3

Spoon mixture into muffin holes until three-quarters full. Bake for 25 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean. Allow to cool in pan for 1 minute. Turn out onto a wire rack to cool.