As soon as New Years is over and well before Easter arrives, we are bombarded with supermarket aisles lined with chocolate rabbits, eggs and carrots – and let’s not forget the bakeries with the wafting sweet smell of cinnamon and nutmeg as you walk past.
With Easter brings the opportunity to catch up with loved ones amid requests to bring a plate! If you are on a real food journey this can often seem overwhelming and it can be tempting to resort to hot cross buns from your local bakery. Even with the real food movement, there are minimal gluten and refined sugar free options available to purchase and that’s just one of the reasons why we love our Grain Free Hot Cross Muffins. Our recipe is light and fluffy unlike many gluten free alternatives and is sweetened only with dried fruit and rice malt syrup. These are even great snacks for lunchboxes.
If you are looking for more Healthy Treats inspiration why not join Thea and Min from The Kitchen Whizz for their upcoming Sweet Treats Cooking Class? Held on Friday March 23rd the team will arm you with the skills and resources to eat real food, no matter the occasion. You’ll receive 8 new recipes, see first hand a number of these made, get to sample the goodies as well as a take home bag.
Ingredients (Makes 12)
- 2 cups almond meal
- ¼ cup buckwheat flour
- ½ cup dried fruit e.g. chopped peaches and sour cherries
- 1 tablespoon psyllium husks
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 tablespoon all spice
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon orange rind
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ¼ cup cold-pressed extra virgin coconut oil, melted
- ¼ cup rice malt syrup
- 4 eggs, free range
Egg wash and cross:
- 1 egg (yolk for wash, white for cross)
- 1½ tablespoons desiccated coconut
Method
- Preheat oven to 150°C and line a muffin tray with muffin cases.
- Add flours, dried fruit, psyllium, spices, baking powder, orange rind and salt to a large mixing bowl and combine well.
- Add coconut oil, rice malt syrup and beaten eggs, and stir until thoroughly combined.
- Scoop into prepared muffin cases and bake for 10 minutes.
- To make the egg wash and cross, firstly separate your remaining egg. Whisk yolk and set aside.
- Add egg white and desiccated coconut to a small bowl and whisk well. Transfer into a piping bag or zip-lock bag with one corner cut off.
- Remove muffins from the oven and coat with egg yolk. Use the egg white and coconut mix to form a cross on each muffin. Place back in the oven and cook for 15 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean.
We recommend serving these with a lashing of grass fed butter or simply enjoying them straight out of the oven.
Image by Sarah Craven Photography.