Healthy Spiced Apple Muffins – Wheat, Dairy & Sugar Free
Spiced Apple Muffins Featuring Cinnamon and Ginger
These spiced apple muffins remind me of apple and cinnamon porridge, and they are healthy enough to be eaten for breakfast. They are free of wheat, dairy and refined sugar.
Ingredients:
1 cup coconut flour
½ cup rolled oats (I used wheat free)
½ cup desiccated coconut
½ cup roughly chopped walnuts
6 pitted, chopped, fresh dates (depending on your sweetness preference)
2 teaspoons Cinnamon powder
2 teaspoons Ginger powder
1 teaspoon vanilla (I used powder but liquid extract or paste can be used too)
Pinch of Celtic or Himalayan salt
2 cups almond (or coconut) milk (this sounds like a lot but coconut flour absorbs heaps of liquid) – I used Carew Kitchen fresh almond milk in a glass bottle because it does not have additives, unlike the stuff on the shelf in tetra packs
½ cup melted macadamia or coconut oil
2 eggs
2 peeled and grated green apples
Method:
1. Preheat oven to 180˚C.
2. Line 12 regular sized muffin tins with cases so they don’t stick.
3. In a large bowl combine the coconut flour, oats, coconut, walnuts, dates, Cinnamon, Ginger, vanilla, and salt.
4. Add the milk, oil, eggs and apple, and mix well.
5. Spoon the mixture into the prepared muffin tins and place into the oven for about 25-30 minutes or until golden brown and they spring back when lightly touched.
6. Serve with butter, nut butter, coconut yoghurt or coconut oil.
Cinnamon and Ginger are medicinal herbs. The Bachelor of Naturopathic and Herbal Medicine at Wellpark College will teach you how to use them therapeutically. I love to incorporate herbs into my diet wherever possible, especially during winter.
Cinnamon is carminative (relieves flatulence and soothes intestinal spasm/pain) and an aromatic digestive (assists digestion), therefore, it is recommended for digestive issues. It stabilises blood glucose levels, which is beneficial for diabetics. It is also warming and stimulates circulation.
Ginger is also carminative, a digestive stimulant and stimulates circulation. Additionally, it is spasmolytic (relieves muscles spasms in the gastrointestinal system) and anti-inflammatory (reduces inflammation). It is commonly prescribed for nausea, motion sickness, morning sickness, period pain, digestive problems, fever and the common cold.
Olivia Kennedy ~ final year Naturopath, Nutrition & Herbal Medicine student
