Orange Almond Muffins

gluten free, dairy free





































These muffins are extremely easy to make. Using just few ingredients you will have a healthy desert in your kid's lunch box.

for the muffins:
(makes 14 cupcake size muffins)

 280 g almond meal /2 cups almonds
200 g organic cane sugar, or organic coconut sugar / 1 cup sugar
2 tsp baking powder
4 large eggs at room temperature
2 small oranges
30 g coconut butter/ or unsalted butter (it won't be dairy free if using butter)



These muffins will be baked in a water bath. Have a pan, bigger than the muffin pan you are using for this recipe. Put the muffin tin in it. Make sure that you will be able to fill with water (almost to the edge of the muffin pan). I baked them uncovered. Prepare the muffin tin. If you are using non stick pan, butter well with the coconut butter. I used paper cups for easier removal. I do not trust my pan. Removing the paper cups destroyed a bit the shape of the cakes, but that is also because the recipe uses the almond meal, instead if flour. Me and my guests did not mind that at all. 

Also, because my pan is 12-cupcake pan, I baked two cups outside the muffin pan, but still made sure that they fit in the water bath. 



































Prepare the almond meal - using a food processor/grinder, process the whole, non blanched almonds until an almond meal is formed. If your processor is powerful, you could process the almonds to flour. Mine is not and I kind of like the consistency of the almond meal. Scant the meal into a bowl. Add the sugar and baking powder. Set aside.

In the food processor, pulse the pealed oranges to a purée. If you have big oranges, use one and a half. Add the butter. Pulse. Add the eggs and pulse few more times. 

Add the orange mixture to the dry ingredients. Stir with a wooden spoon or flexible spatula. The batter is really liquid-ish. That should't concern you. 

Evenly distribute the batter into the muffin cups. Fill about three quarters of each cup. These muffins will raise while baking, but will not keep the height after cooling. 



Preheat the oven to 180C. Place the double pan in the oven. Carefully, fill the outside pan with water almost until the edge of the muffin tin. Bake for about 30 min, or until the skewer comes out dry from the centre of one the muffins. 

Leave to cool slightly in the double pan. Remove the muffin tin from the water bathe. Leave the muffins to cool in the pan. Arrange the on a wire rack until completely cooled. 

Serve at room temperature.




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