Gluten Free & Vegan Apple Chestnut Flour Muffins
Ricetta in Italiano in fondo
It's officially autumn, fall, harvest season, the time of all things apples, pumpkins and downright coziness.
To me autumn feels like coming home, it's comfort and warmth in spite of the cooling weather. I've always felt so at ease and in my element in the fall.
In literature autumn represents middle age, perhaps that means I've always been an "old" soul at heart. I don't know.
Science says that leaves turn in the fall as they stop producing chlorophyll, revealing their true colour, whether it be yellow, orange, red or the multitude of shades in between. Perhaps this is what appeals to me on a subconscious level; the beauty that ensues when we are stripped down to reveal our true selves.
For whatever reason, each year as summer comes to an end, I look forward to coming home, to this beautiful season of abundance and nourishment.
These Apple Chestnut Muffins are the embodiment of all things autumn, from the sweetness of crisp golden delicious apples to the maltiness of chestnut flour and the warmth of ground cinnamon all heightened with a touch of pure maple syrup.
Baking with Chestnut Flour
Baking with chestnut flour, once you get the hang of it, is pretty simple. Unlike most other gluten free flours, it holds up nicely on its own without the need for binders. It's quite absorbent and stays nice and moist all while lending a rich aromatic flavour that is so hard for any other flour to do. If you haven't tried baking with chesnut flour, I strongly encourage you to try it.
It's made with dried and ground chestnuts, which are an excellent source of folate and other B complex vitamins, iron, protein, and dietary fiber, all while being naturally low in fat and high in flavour. The mouth feel takes a bit of getting used to, as it’s a bit on the creamy side and not like a traditional flour, but the flavour it produces is out of this world. It’s deep and earthy and nutty and naturally sweet, so you can get away with adding very little to no sweetener if you’re trying to avoid added sugars.
I first published this recipe on my old blog, but I’ve been slowly bringing my favourites over to this space, retesting them first to make sure they’re well written and as good as I remember them. I whipped these up today and confirmed they are every bit as good as I remember, with only some minor modifications to the original recipe just because I can never leave any recipe (not even my own), alone!
Gluten free & vegan Apple Chestnut flour Muffins
Servings: 6 muffins Time: 30 minutes Difficulty: Easy
Ingredients
175 g Chesnut Flour (2 scant cups)
1.5 Tsp Ground Cinnamon
1/4 Tsp Pure Bourbon Vanilla Powder
2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/4 Tsp Baking Soda
1/4 C Pure Maple Syrup
2 Tbsp Coconut Oil, liquid
100 g (1/3 C) Apple Sauce
1 Tsp Apple Cider Vinegar (I forgot to add this once and they still turned out great).
80 ml (1/3 C) Hot Filtered Water
1 Apple, cored, chopped into bite size pieces (I used golden delicious apples)
Method
Preheat oven to 180 C and great a muffin pan/tins with coconut oil or line with muffin/cupcake wrappers.
Combine chestnut flour, cinnamon, vanilla, baking powder and baking soda in a bowl.
Combine maple syrup, melted/liquid coconut oil, apple sauce and hot water in a separate bowl and add to dry mixture. Mix to combine. Add apple cider vinegar and mix thoroughly. Fold in apple pieces.
Divide mixture into 6 portions and bake for 20 minutes. This will depend on the size of your baking tins, your oven temperature and other factors. Resist the temptation to open your oven doors until the 20 minute mark, then remove from the oven and close the door immediately to maintain oven temperature, test the muffins with a toothpick inserted in the center and if it comes out clean, then the muffins are ready. If not, return the muffins to the oven and continue baking for 2 or 3 minutes longer.
Remove from oven and let cool at least 10 minutes before attempting to remove them from the pan/tins then set them on a cooling rack or tray and allow them to cool completely before eating or storing. If you eat them too soon, they will feel a bit too moist.
These are wonderful served warm with some almond butter or apple butter and your favourite hot beverage and make a great tea time snack.
Store in an airtight container for 3 days at room temperature or in the refrigerator if you live an humid environment.
Note: I haven’t tested a version without maple syrup but I have a feeling it would work if you just add a touch more water or plant based milk to replace the liquid from the sweetener. The batter should be thick and scoopable, so don’t add too much liquid.
Muffin di farina di castagne e mele Golden senza glutine e vegan
Porzioni: 6 muffin Tempo: 30 minuti Difficoltà: Facile
Ingredienti
175 g di farina di castagne (2 cup circa)
1.5 cucchiaini di Cannella
1/4 cucchiaino di vaniglia bourbon puro in polvere
2 cucchiaini di polvere lievitante per dolci
1/4 cucchiaino di bicarbonato di sodio
1/4 cup di sciroppo d'acero puro
2 cucchiaini di olio di cocco, liquido
100 g (1/3 cup) di purea di mele
1 cucchiaino di aceto di mele (ho dimenticato di aggiungerlo una volta e sono venuti bene uguali)
80 ml (1/3 cup) di acqua calda (meglio se filtrata)
1 mela tagliata a pezzettini (io ho usato la mela golden)
Metodo
Riscaldare il forno a 180 ° C e ungere lo stampino da muffin con olio di cocco o usare involucri per cupcake.
Unire farina di castagne, cannella, vaniglia, lievito e bicarbonato in una ciotola. Unire lo sciroppo d'acero, l'olio di cocco liquido, la purea di mele e l'acqua calda in un’altra ciotola e aggiungere alla miscela secca. Mescolare per amalgamare. Aggiungere l'aceto di mele e mescolare bene poi aggiungere i pezzettini di mela.
Dividere la miscela in 6 porzioni e cuocere per 20 minuti. Ciò dipenderà dalle dimensioni delle vostre teglie, dalla temperatura del forno e da altri fattori. Resistere alla tentazione di aprire il forno per 20 minuti, quindi rimuovere i muffin dal forno e chiudere la porta immediatamente per mantenere la temperatura del forno, testare i muffin con uno stuzzicadenti inserito al centro e se esce pulito,i muffin sono pronti. In caso contrario, rimettere i muffin al forno e continuare a cuocere per 2 o 3 minuti in più.
Togliere dal forno e lasciare raffreddare almeno 10 minuti prima di tentare di rimuoverli dalla teglia quindi lasciateli raffreddare completamente prima di mangiarli o conservarli.
Sono meravigliosi serviti riscaldati con un po 'di burro di mandorle o burro di mele e la vostra bevanda calda preferita e fanno un ottimo spuntino al tè.
Conservare in un contenitore ermetico per 3 giorni a temperatura ambiente o in frigorifero se si vive in un ambiente umido.
Nota: non ho provato una versione senza sciroppo d'acero, ma penso che funzionerebbe se aggiungessi un tocco più di acqua o latte avegetale per sostituire il liquido dal dolcificante. La pastella deve essere densa e spatolabile, quindi non aggiungere troppo liquido.
