Muffins, the perfect pick-me up in the morning.
They really are one of the best portable snacks. Easy to make, and compact. But unfortunately, they’re generally a little carb heavy to be a great after exercise snack. To fill the void, I’ve been working on a series of low sugar, high protein muffin recipes.
The most obvious source of protein to add to a muffin is nuts. I think banana walnut was the first muffin I ever made. But nuts are a bit of a difficult ingredient if you want to make something for young children, especially something they may want to take to daycare or school, or even just to the park. So I started to think about seeds, but I wasn’t sure. Then I was reading a recipe for financiers (french almond cakes a bit like friands), and I thought why not try sunflower meal.
And so, this recipe was born. The timeless combination of apple and cinnamon, with a little sunflower crunch.
Apple and sunflower seed muffins
An original recipe from http://blog.uplusfitness.com.au
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups Gluten Free plain flour
- 1 tbsp Gluten Free baking powder
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1 cup sunflower seeds
- 3 Granny Smith apples, unpeeled, cored and diced
- 125g Nuttelex (or other dairy free margarine), melted
- 1/2 cup lactose free milk
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
Directions
Pulse the sunflower seeds in a food processor until you have a very coarse meal. I like there to still be some chunky bits to give it a nice crunch. The longer you pulse it, the more consistent it will be and the less crunch you will get. But if you have very little ones, this might suit better.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder and cinnamon.
Add the sunflower meal and diced apple and toss to coat.
Add the wet ingredients and mix through.
Take care not to overmix.
Grease a muffin pan or line with patty papers.
Bake at 190°C for 15 minutes or until lightly browned. Try to avoid over-cooking so the muffins retain their moisture.
