Gluten-Free Salted Maple Muffins
A great hack for omitting butter in a recipe is to swap in avocado. It’s important to make sure your avocado is properly ripe and smashed into a smooth cream, but this switch is a fun way to add richness to baked goods while adding good fats to your diet. As someone who loves the flavor of salted caramel, I’ve replaced traditional caramel with a salted maple sauce. Bananas add both a touch of sweetness and moisture, for a clean breakfast treat.
SALTED CARAMEL BANANA MUFFINS INGREDIENTS
1 cup Maple Syrup1 tablespoon Salt3 Bananas, sliced into ¼ inch thick rounds2 cups Gluten-Free Flour⅔ cup Almond Flour1 tablespoon Baking Powder1½ teaspoon Cinnamon½ teaspoon Baking Soda½ cup Coconut Oil, melted2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract3 Chia Eggs*½ Ripe Avocado, mashed*To make one chia egg, in a small bowl combine 1 tablespoon of chia seeds with 3 tablespoons of water and stir. Let sit for about five minutes to gel, stirring every few minutes.
SALTED CARAMEL BANANA MUFFINS ASSEMBLY
1 | Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease the muffin pan with coconut oil. 2 | Pour the maple syrup into a small pan and heat over medium heat until bubbling, stirring occasionally. Continue to cook the maple syrup until it slightly reduces to about ¾ of a cup. Add the salt, and stir to dissolve. Remove the pan from the heat and stir in banana slices from two bananas. Set aside.3 | Combine the gluten-free flour, almond flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Mix.4 | In another medium bowl, whisk together the coconut oil, vanilla extract, chia eggs, smashed avocado, and maple-banana mixture, reserving a bit to pour over the muffins after baking. 5 | Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until combined. 6 | Divide the batter between muffin tins and top with reserved banana slices. Bake until the muffins are cooked through and light brown on top (about 20 minutes). Let the muffins cool in the pan and then drizzle each with a bit of the remaining salted maple sauce. *Makes 12 muffins.Kat Odell is the entrepreneur behind the plant-based food and drink brand, Unicorn Food, as well as a food and travel journalist. She was the inaugural editor of Eater Drinks, and was the Editor of Eater LA for five years. She has been published in Vogue, New York Times’ T magazine, Travel + Leisure, Conde Nast Traveler, Bon Appetit, amongst others. She has also served as a judge and expert at a variety of food-related events. Kat Odell and Unicorn Food can be found at @kat_odell and @unicornfoods.
