Candied Almond and White Bean Mini-Muffins
Makes about 1½ dozen mini-muffins.
Ingredients:
1 cup organic unbleached white flour
¾ cup organic oat flour
2 tablespoons organic, whole ground flaxseed meal
⅓ cup organic brown sugar, packed down
2 teaspoons baking powder, slightly rounded
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup Candied Almonds (see recipe below)
1 large free-range organic egg, beaten
½ cup whole organic milk
1 of organic Great Northern Beans (15-ounce can)
⅓ cup pure maple syrup
¼ cup canola oil
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400F degrees.
Grease muffin pans, including top of pans where muffin tops form.
Make the Candied Almonds and the Candied Almond Crumble in advance, and set them aside.
Put all of the dry ingredients into a bowl. Sift them together to evenly distribute all of the ingredients.
Mince the Candied Almonds in a food processor.
Add the minced Candied Almonds to the flour mixture. Mix thoroughly.
In a separate bowl, beat the egg and blend in the milk until it’s a frothy mixture.
Open the can of beans, drain the beans, and rinse them thoroughly in a sieve.
Purée the rinsed beans in a food processor.
Add the maple syrup to the beans in the food processor, and purée them until they are the consistency of thick, pasty mashed potatoes.
Add the bean mash to the egg mixture and whip them until they are light and fluffy.
Add oil to the egg mixture and stir until well mixed.
Make a well in the middle of the dry mixture.
Pour the liquid mixture into the well of the dry mixture.
Blend carefully, gently mixing the ingredients. Be careful not to over mix the batter. It will be thick and lumpy.
Use a small spoon to fill mini-muffin pan with batter. Pile the batter high to create muffin tops. Candied Almond Crumble on top of the muffins.
Bake them for about 10 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
Let the muffins cool in the silicone pan for a minute or so before popping them out onto a cooling rack.
Make the Brown Sugar Glaze, and drizzle it on top of the muffins.
Add a Candied Almond to the top of each muffin, “gluing” it on the muffin with the glaze.
Serve the mini-muffins warm.
Shortcut: Buy pre-made candied almonds and jarred baby food instead of homemade puréed beans.
Candied Almonds
Ingredients:
½ cup water
½ cup organic cane sugar
½ cup organic brown sugar, packed down
⅓ cup pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon cinnamon
2 cups whole un-roasted almonds
Instructions:
Put all of the ingredients except the almonds into a nonstick saucepan.
Bring the liquid to a boil on medium-high heat. This takes about 5 minutes.
Add the almonds to the boiling liquid, and return the mixture to a boil stirring regularly with a wooden spoon.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer until all of the liquid evaporates. This will take about 15-20 minutes. As the mixture thickens, stir it constantly to prevent sticking or burning.
When all of the liquid has evaporated, and it’s a thick syrupy coating on the almonds, spread the coated almonds onto a wax paper-covered baking sheet. The wax paper will not melt under the heat of the candied almonds. You will need to spread them onto the wax paper quickly because they cool quickly.
Sprinkle a handful of sugar onto the almonds, as well as a dusting of cinnamon, while they’re still sticky and warm.
Separate each almond with a fork.
Let the almonds cool.
Candied Almond Crumble
Ingredients:
⅓ cup brown sugar, packed
¼ cup organic white flour
1½ tablespoons butter, diced
⅔ cup candied almonds
Instructions:
Mix the brown sugar and flour in a bowl.
Add the diced butter and, using a fork, mash the butter into the flour mixture until the mixture is crumbly.
Mince the Candied Almonds in a food processor.
Add the minced Candied Almonds to the crumble mixture. Stir until they’re evenly distributed
Brown Sugar Glaze
Ingredients:
½ cup organic brown sugar, packed down
2 tablespoons water
Instructions:
Heat the brown sugar and water in a saucepan on medium-high heat until it boils.
Turn it down to medium heat, stirring until a thick, syrupy consistency.
Take the pan off the burner. Let it thicken a little more into a thick, gooey warm glaze, but use before it completely cools down or it will be too hard to drizzle.
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