Light, Moist, Tender & Tasty
Nutritionally rich Flaxseed Muffins w/ Apple ’n Blueberries feature oat flour, flaxseeds, coconut sugar and coconut milk. Light, moist, tender and tasty, they’ve become my new go-to muffins whenever I have a little extra time for breakfast. For sure I’ll prepare them for Easter Sunday brunch with these 
brightly colored paper liners—a birthday gift from a friend a number of years ago.
Jury duty
All day yesterday I sat in our local municipal courtroom as one of six jurors. My first time as a juror so I was intrigued with the whole process. (For example, did you know that everyone stands when the jurors enter the courtroom to take their seats?) I served with a diverse, conscientious and impressive group of jurors.
Jury decisions, just like combining ingredients in muffins, result from a team effort. Let me introduce you to some of the team members that make Flaxseed Muffins so unique.
Coconut sugar
Similar in taste to brown sugar, coconut sugar has a high mineral and B vitamin content. Healthier than refined white or brown sugar, coconut sugar has 36 times the iron, four times the magnesium, and over 10 times the amount of zinc. Use it as a 1:1 sugar substitute in baking and cooking. The coconut sap from which coconut sugar is derived, contains 16 amino acids.
Oat flour
Flaxseed Muffins w/ Apple ’n Blueberries represent the first muffins (or anything, actually) that I’ve baked with oat flour. My first bite was a revelation—soft, moist and tender. Great in baking, oat flour adds protein, iron, thiamine, and fiber while lowering cholesterol and supporting the heart.
Oat flour takes a minute to make at home. Just process rolled oats in a blender until they reach the consistency of flour. Or, if you’d rather, you can purchase oat flour in many natural foods markets. Oat flour is often used in gluten-free baking as oats do not contain gluten. Rolled oats and oat flour are often processed in facilities which handle grains containing gluten. So, if you are very sensitive to gluten, purchase rolled oats or oat flour specifically labeled as gluten-free.
Flaxseeds
Like oat flour, flaxseeds take about a minute to grind in a blender. Flaxseeds provide a nut-like crunch along with a unique combination of health benefits from their Omega-3 fatty acids and lignans. Plus their high mucilage content help these gluten-free muffins hold together.
Acquitted on all counts
As with a jury, each juror/ingredient brings who they are to the table—and in this case flavor and nutrition as well. Flaxseed Muffins w/ Apple ’n Blueberries have been acquitted on all counts. They’ve done everything right. These Flaxseed Muffins have been found to be light, moist, tender and tasty.
Flaxseed Muffins w/ Apple ’n Blueberries
Inspired by and adapted from a recipe from Tartine Bakery‘s Elisabeth Prueitt. Light, moist and filled with nutritious goodies including flaxseeds, blueberries, coconut sugar and oat flour. Dairy and gluten-free.
Makes 12 muffins Printer-Friendly Recipe
Active time: 25 minutes
Total time: 1 hour
Ingredients
½ cup coconut sugar
4 teaspoons molasses
3 large eggs
1¼ cups light coconut milk (from the can)
1/3 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons ground flaxseeds (from ¾ cup whole flaxseeds)
1 1/3 cup oat flour (from about 1 1/3 cups rolled oats)
2 teaspoons baking soda
Rounded teaspoon ground cinnamon
Rounded ½ teaspoon sea salt
1 tart red apple, cored and cut into ¼-inch dice
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a standard-size muffin tin with paper liners.
In a small mixing bowl combine the coconut sugar, molasses, eggs, coconut milk and oil. Stir in the ground flaxseeds. Set this mixture aside while you prepare the other ingredients.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the oat flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Make a well in the center of these dry ingredients.
Pour the flaxseed mixture all at once into the well. Then gently fold it into the oat flour mix. When two-thirds mixed, stir in the diced apple and blueberries till just combined.
Fill each muffin cup with a scant ½ cup of the batter.- Bake for 25 minutes. Rotate the pan 180 degrees. Bake for another 10 minutes. Insert a toothpick in the center of a couple of muffins. If it comes out clean, the muffins are done. If not, bake for another 5 minutes and test again.
Remove the muffins from the oven. Let the muffins cool for about 5 minutes before removing them from the pan. Enjoy Flaxseed Muffins warm. Though you’ll find them even more flavorful at room temperature.
That’s what I love about your blog, you make me want to try things like coconut sugar and oat flour!
Try them Rhonda, you’ll like them.
These sound delicious. However, I am allergic to flaxseed. Do you think I could simply increase the oat flour by an equal amount?
Pam, I don’t know for sure what would work. Here’s a possibility that you could try: replace half the flaxseed with chia seeds and add ground almonds for the other half. Or you could try replacing with half oat flour and half chia seeds. I understand that chia seeds do not need to be ground before using them as with flaxseeds. Not having done either of these, no guarantees. Please let me know if either of these options work. And perhaps another reader with more experience will weigh in for us.
Pam, I just spoke with someone who suggested that ground chia seeds would be a great substitute for the flaxseeds. Hope they work well for you.