PEAR AND CINNAMON MUFFIN

To muffin or not to muffin? That is the question. I used to love muffins; it was without a doubt my go-to breakfast option along with a skinny cappuccino in my early years at Design School. Little did I know then just how unhealthy they were. Sound familiar? I’m sure almost all of you can relate to this. It’s 8am, you’re getting a morning coffee before work and you’re faced with two options: an egg and bacon muffin loaded with saturated fat and tremendous amounts of sodium, or a “healthy” muffin advertised on the menu which in fact contains on average 9.5 teaspoons of sugar. Of course the type of muffin you are buying will depend on the sugar content but my point is that this popular fast food, consumed with intentions far better than the reality, really should be left off your breakfast menu, unless you want an energy crash before it even hits 11am.

Like everything, you don’t have to forgo your favourite treat as I’ve created a healthier alternative which is not only DELICIOUS and spongy but also contains no gluten or refined sugars. These muffins do contain a small amount of dairy in the way of natural yoghurt but it can be left out if you are intolerant.

For extra deliciousness eat the muffins warm and drizzle with a salted caramel topping.

Ingredients:

3 bosc pears

2 and ½ cups almond meal

¼ cup tapioca flour

2 tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg

2 tsp bicarb soda

1 tsp double acting baking powder

4 eggs

½ cup rice malt syrup

¼ cup maple syrup

pinch sea salt

¼ cup natural yoghurt

¼ cup chopped walnuts / pecans / nuts of your choice

Salted Caramel

¼ cup almond butter

¼ cup maple syrup

¼ cup coconut oil

Pinch of sea salt

Method:

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees celsius and prepare a muffin tray with muffin liners.

Pure 2 pears in a food processor, blender or even a coffee grinder if need be.

Place the almond meal, tapioca flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, bi-carb soda, baking powder and salt in a medium sized bowl. In a separate bowl whisk the eggs, rice malt syrup, maple syrup and yogurt together then mix the wet ingredients into the dry, adding the puréed pair.

Roughly chop the left over pear and nuts and mix through the muffin batter.

Spoon mixture into prepared muffin tray and bake for 25-30 minutes.

Cool on a cooling rack before serving.

Salted caramel topping

Mix all ingredients together with a spoon and drizzle on top