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| Gorgeous Hazelnut Blueberry Muffins |
I adore these Hazelnut Blueberry Muffins and my Gorgeous Man loves these muffins, too. They are delish! And…they are guilt-free. What?! How is it possible to have guilt-free blueberry muffins?
Well, these luscious gluten and dairy-free muffins are made with hazelnut flour (ground hazelnuts), flaxseed, gluten-free oat flour, high-fiber coconut flour, sweetened with honey and filled with a TON of healthy blueberries! You see? Guilt-free!
However, if you don’t mind having “just a little guilt”… you can add an optional cinnamon/sugar topping. If you look at my “muffin photo” you can see that the muffins in the front are sugar-free and have plain cinnamon sprinkled on top of them; and the other muffins have the cinnamon–sugar sprinkled on top. You can guess which muffins “go” first ~ Yeah…we are soooo bad!
Hazelnut Blueberry Muffins
Healthy, elegant, delicious AND gluten and dairy-free ~ Hazelnut Blueberry Muffins simply ROCK!
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Line cupcake/muffin pan with cupcake papers.
- Makes 12 muffins. Bake time: Approximately 25-30 minutes
INGREDIENTS
1 1/4 cups hazelnut flour (I used Bob’s Red Mill)
1 cup ground flaxseed (I used organic golden flaxseed)
3/4 cup gluten-free oat flour
1/3 cup coconut flour
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1/2 cup oil (I use a mild flavored olive oil)
1/2 cup mild-flavored honey
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1 cup milk of your choice (I used So–Delicious Unsweetened Coconut Milk)
2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)
Optional Cinnamon Sugar Topping (recipe below)
GIMME GLUTEN FREE METHOD
1. In a large bowl whisk together first six ingredients until mixed.
Add the eggs, oil, honey, vinegar, vanilla and milk. Stir until mixed; then stir in the blueberries.
2. Divide batter into a 12 cupcake-paper lined pan.
3. Sprinkle with optional Cinnamon/Sugar topping, if you desire. If you want sugar-free muffins ~ sprinkle each muffin with a little cinnamon. Pop the muffins in the oven.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for approximately 25-30 minutes or until done. If you are using frozen blueberries it takes about 30 minutes for the muffins to get done.
- How to tell if your muffins are done: Simply insert a toothpick into a muffin ~ if the toothpick comes out clean (without any dough on it) then they are done.
Cinnamon Sugar Topping (optional)
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
Mix the sugar and cinnamon together. Gently spoon on the top of the unbaked muffins, bake as directed.
NOTE: You can substitute 1 cup buttermilk for the milk and apple cider vinegar, if you wish.
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| I Love… Hazelnut Blueberry Muffins |
Can you substitute almond flour for hazelnut flour if you can’t find hazelnuts?
Hi Marianne E! Yes, you can substitute almond flour for hazelnut flour. The flavor of course, will be slightly different, but I think you will love them!
Hi! What should I use to replace oat flour with? Need to make them grain free.
Hi Norma! This recipe was designed specifically with oat flour, but if you want to experiment to make it grain free, you could try using cassava flour instead of oat flour. Now, a word of caution – I have not tried substituting the oat flour myself, so I do not know how the results will be! (They could be amazing – or not!) I have tried cassava flour in several different recipes and enjoyed the flavor! Sometimes, cassava recipes need more liquid. Now, Norma, if you do attempt to try this substitution, please let us all know how it works for you! Happy Baking!
P.S. May I suggest adding sharing buttons? So much quicker and easier to share when they’re right there.
You are absolutely right! I will figure out how to do that and add it! Thanks!
Grateful smiles, Ruby Lynn
I made these yesterday, grinding the flax seed and oats (to make the oat flour) in my coffee grinder and using dried, ground coconut milk pulp for the coconut flour. They turned out amazing! Big hit in our house. Absolutely delicious. Sharing as my pick for Recipe of the Day on my foodie Facebook page, Twitter and elsewhere on social media today. Thanks for a terrific recipe!
Dearest Kathryn Grace,
Hooray! I am so excited that your Hazelnut Blueberry Muffins were a bit hit at your house! I love the way you freshly ground your flaxseed, oats and coconut. BRILLIANT! And thanks a million for sharing the recipe with your friends!
YOU ROCK! with love, Ruby Lynn
Hi Karen!
I am so happy that you loved the muffins! And I am so excited that you made ingredient changes that worked for you! Hooray!! It is so much FUN to learn from each other!!
Thanks for writing and sharing your muffin experience! Yahoo!
Smiles, Lynn
Like Kristi, I also did not have enough hazelnut flour. I used 1/4 hazelnut flour, 3/4 almond flour and for my first time ever I used 1/4 cup teff flour. I ground some oats into a flour using a small chopper. I did not use the sugar on top.
Unlike Kristi, I thought the muffins were plenty sweet and was thinking about using LESS honey next time! LOL
I like Kristi's idea of adding cinnamon. I'll have to try that.
I love the muffins!
Karen
Hi Kristi!
I'm so glad your muffins turned out so well!! Yahoo!!
What a great idea to add the cinnamon! I am going to have to try your variations! They sound yummy! I just wish I had one of your muffins this very minute!!!
Happy Day!!! Hugs, Lynn
Lynn, I found a couple of bags of hazelnuts on clearance at the grocery today, and thought that maybe I should revisit this muffin recipe. I'm glad I did!
Because muffins lend themselves so well to tweaking for individual tastes, here's what I did:
I had to grind my own hazelnut and oat flour in the blender. I used 3/4 cup flaxseed and 1 cup oat flour. Then I threw in nearly a tablespoon of cinnamon into the batter, and upped the salt to 3/4 tsp.
And because they're topped with sugar anyway, I decided another 4 tablespoons in the batter would solve my sweetness issue.
Everything else I left according to recipe (except I had only 1 cup of blueberries, but what could I do? The kids are asleep and running to the store is out).
I think it's important to watch the bake time on this recipe; I took them out at 25 minutes. So whether it was adding more sugar & salt, actually using the hazelnut flour this time, and not over baking — they came out wonderfully moist and flavorful.
Hi Kristi!
I'm so glad you are a fan of the peanut butter muffins! Yahoo!
But let's get right to creating FLAVOR!
Flavor Punch Up: Now I will be the first to admit that my "uber-healthy" Hazelnut Blueberry Muffin recipe is less sweet than one made with sugar! Sigh… I am trying to cut down on sugar and be more healthy… but being healthy is not quite so easy for me… I just had a "wee bowl" of dairy-free coconut ice cream. Don't tell anyone, okay?
Back to flavor…
Here is some things I do to get optimal flavor in a super-healthy muffin, that I unfortunately forgot to mention… (Eeek! Sorry! I'll try to amend my evil ways!)
Flavor secrets for "Uber-Healthy Muffins" ~
#1. I use Pink Himalayan Salt and NOT regular table salt. Why? Pink Himalayan Salt has much more flavor than "regular old table salt" and it's much better for our health, too. Pink Himalayan Salt has a ton of minerals, but regular salt has been stripped of minerals (that's why the salt is pure white) and usually just one mineral is added – iodine.
#2. Another thing I do for flavor is to be sure to use a locally grown, artisan honey. Sadly, most of the honey on our grocery store shelves has been ultra-filtered. When honey is "ultra-filtered" it makes a pretty clear color, but it filters out the natural pollens, the healthy benefits of honey and… flavor! Eeek! And even more sad; news reports are saying that up to 73% of our honey has not only been ultra-filtered, but has has also been adulterated with corn syrup! Flavorless honey will result in flavorless baking – ohhh, sad face!
#3. Berries ~ I have found that local berries, in season, are much sweeter and flavorful than out-of-season berries, so try to bake with local berries for that extra punch of flavor.
Whew! That was a lot of info!
But Kristi, what if you find that you really, really prefer a sweeter taste in your baking than with honey??
Well, I do have two GREAT RECOMMENDATIONS! Wha-hoo! The first recommendation is my "World's Best Coffee Cake." You can add blueberries to the batter then pour the batter into your cupcake/muffin pan, top with the yummy topping – and Hallelujah! You have a delicious and nutritious blueberry muffin!
Another idea is to mix up the batter for my Very Vanilla Cupcakes; stir in blueberries and top with 2 tablespoons of sugar mixed with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon and bake. YUM!
Oh and one more idea… you could follow the directions for my Double Lemon Cupcakes, add blueberries to the batter, bake, then glaze with the lemon glaze… ohhhh. Delish!
I hope this info is helpful to you, Kristi. Thanks so much for writing! Happy Baking and BIG hugs to YOU! Lynn
I made these with almond meal because it's all I had, so admittedly it was a big departure from the recipe. However, I feel like the flavor could be punched up. I'd add more salt and honey, and reduce the flax, and maybe mix in cinnamon. I'm a big fan of your peanut butter muffins though.