BLUEBERRY LEMON PALEO MUFFINS

In thinking about making muffins today, I thought about the various flours I use in cooking and baking. I have a variety of flours on hand and most of them I keep in the fridge. I did wonder about coconut flour as I have been keeping coconut flour in the fridge and was curious if it was necessary. From reading various posts on the internet I will keep it in the fridge. I buy a big bag of almond flour from Costco and have kept that in a cupboard where I keep dry goods. I use it fairly frequently and it is kept in quite a sturdy bag. For now I have decided to keep it in the cupboard which is a dark and located in a cool spot. 

With all of the fresh blueberries available it is an opportune time to make blueberry muffins. This recipe from paleorunningmomma included ingredients I had on hand so I decided to make it.  I made a few modifications to the original recipe. I used coconut milk in the cartoon as it is more handy and I don't cook enough with canned coconut milk to warrant having leftovers in the fridge. If you use canned coconut milk, shake the can really well before opening it. I also used liquid coconut oil instead of melting coconut oil. I do have coconut oil in the plastic container but decided to use some of the MCT oil I have on hand. The directions call for using a hand mixer or other mixing gadgets. You can make these muffins without a hand mixer and using a whisk will work just as well. For a muffin tin I like to use one made with silicon as it doesn't require muffin tin paper liners. 

Messy silicon muffin tin that I used to make the muffins.

Muffins cooling in the pan.

Ready for sampling.

INGREDIENTS:

4 large eggs
1/2 cup full fat canned coconut milk or coconut milk in the cartoon
6 tbsp honey, maple syrup or stevia
3 tbsp coconut oil, melted and cooled
1/4 cup lemon juice
zest from a small lemon (optional)
1 tsp vanilla extract

2/3 cup coconut flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt

3/4 -1 cup of fresh blueberries (can use frozen blueberries that are thawed)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. If using a metal or non-stick muffin tin, line the cups with muffin tin paper liners. 

In a large bowl that can accommodate a hand mixer or using a mixmaster (I used a mixmaster in mixing these muffins), add the eggs and blend them until they are mixed. Add the coconut milk, honey or other sweetener, coconut oil, lemon juice, zest and vanilla extract to the bowl with the beaten eggs and mix well. 

In a separate medium size bowl, add all of the dry ingredients and mix well. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients using low speed until combined. The batter will be thick because of the coconut and tapioca flours. Add the blueberries and fold into the batter using a mixing spoon. 

Using a large spoon, add the batter to each of the lined muffin cups filling it to about 3/4 full. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes. I had the oven on convection and took the muffins out after 20 minutes. Let the muffins cool in the muffin tin for about five minutes and then remove each muffin and transfer them to a cooling rack. Store in the fridge for three to four days and freeze any leftovers. Makes 12 muffins.

Adapted from paleorunningmomma.com

PALEO UPSIDE DOWN RHUBARB CAKE

With two healthy rhubarb plants in the garden, I decided to make a big dent in the stalks that were ready to be eaten and pulled out many stalks this morning. I pulled out enough that I had 11 cups of chopped rhubarb. I froze four bags each with two cups of chopped rhubarb and used the last three cups to make a cake. 

Three years ago I posted a recipe for upside down rhubarb cake. It is still a great recipe and I decided to update it to make it paleo. This is a favourite recipe of the DH (he has many favourites) and he asked if I would make it again. The change that I made was to make a paleo cake batter. I used a coffee cake recipe with a few small modifications from paleorunningmomma.com and the same rhubarb topping and directions from my original posted recipe. In the original post I also made subsequent upside down cakes and used other fruit besides rhubarb. 

In a number of coffee cake recipes, cinnamon is used and I decided to add cinnamon but in less quantity. I also wanted to use a white based sugar versus maple syrup or sugar or coconut sugar that many paleo cakes use as I didn't want the batter to be too dark. I used stevia to sweeten the batter and the rhubarb topping. 

Cake pan greased with butter and then sugar added.

Rhubarb topping placed over the sugar lined cake pan and then added the batter.

Out of the oven and cooling.

Inverted into a large glass quiche plate 

Ready to sample.

INGREDIENTS:

Topping:
3 cups rhubarb, chopped
1/4 cup strawberry or raspberry jam
1/4 cup sugar 
1 tbsp soft butter 

Batter:
2 cups ground almond flour
1/4 cup arrowroot flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon 
1/4 tsp salt

3 eggs, room temperature
1/4 cup coconut or almond milk
1 tbsp lemon juice
3 tbsp coconut oil, melted and room temperature 
2/3 cup sugar, eg stevia or coconut, or maple sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract


DIRECTIONS:

Slice the rhubarb into small pieces. Place in a medium-size bowl.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Generously coat the bottom and side of a 9-inch round cake pan or a 10-inch deep-dish pie plate with 1 tbsp butter. 

Place jam in a small bowl and microwave for 25 to 30 seconds, until melted. Pour the jam over the rhubarb and stir to evenly coat. Evenly sprinkle 1/4 cup sugar over the bottom of the cake pan or pie plate. Spoon rhubarb mixture over the sugar and evenly spread it out.

In a medium bowl, combine the almond flour, arrowroot flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk the eggs and then add the milk, lemon juice, coconut oil, sugar and vanilla extract. Using a whisk or a mixing spoon combine well. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix well using a spatula or mixing spoon.

Spoon the batter over the rhubarb mixture in the cake pan and evenly spread the batter around. The batter will be thick. Bake in the oven for 28 to 30 minutes and cook until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out dry. If the cake batter is browning too quickly, cover loosely with foil for the last five or so minutes. 

Cool the cake in the pan on a rack. Run a knife around edge of cake. Invert onto a large cake plate. It is best to wait until the cake cools down before you flip it onto a plate as you want the fruit topping to solidify. Serves 8 to 10 depending on serving sizes.

Cake batter adapted from paleorunningmomma.com