Nut Muffins

I have given this recipe to many people, but this is the latest version of it. It was adapted from the muffin recipe in Elaine Gottschall's book, Breaking the Vicious Cycle. This book and the diet that Mrs. Gottschall created was the starting point for my search for better health through diet. I do not follow the diet exactly any more, but it is still highly recommended for people with bowel disorders.

Ingredients:
2 ½ cups ground nuts (I use almond meal)
¼ cup melted butter, or ¼ cup homemade yogurt, or small amount of fruit juice, or pure apple butter (add last and adjust amount depending on the consistency of the batter. I use 1/8 cup butter and 1/8 cup coconut oil. Melt the butter first then add the coconut oil.)
½ cup honey (more or less as desired--I tend to use less and add water if more liquid is needed)
½ t baking soda ( have found a baking soda without aluminum in it--Bob's Red Mill)
1/8 t salt (I leave this out most of the time)
3 eggs (if eggs must be avoided, use puréed fruit to hold ingredients together)

Additions:
½ chopped apple
1/3 cup raisins
½ cup blueberries, raspberries, or cranberries
walnut halves

Melt butter and add coconut oil. Place dry ingredients (nut meal, baking soda, salt) in one bowl and mix thoroughly. Place eggs in separate bowl and whisk in the honey. Add egg mixture to nut mixture and stir. At this point you can add chopped fruit, etc. and then add the butter/oil mixture. Stir. The batter will be rather more liquid than a normal muffin batter.

Spoon batter into muffin cups and place a walnut half on top of each muffin. Let them sit while you pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes. Makes 12 muffins.

You can use almond meal or any nut meal to create breads, etc., and to use as breading, but this is the only baked goodie that I still eat since I stopped eating grains. As in the case of sugar, I feel that if you are going to stop eating cakes and stuff like that, then just stop and don't waste a lot of time looking for substitutes. You get over your cravings for them much easier that way.

A great source of nuts and the almond meal that I use (which can be an expensive item if you don't shop around) is Hadley Fruit Orchards in Cabazon, CA. That's just before you get to Palm Springs.

Oops, I almost forgot. If you use Bob's Red Mill Baking Soda, you need to add something acidic to get the baking soda to react and cause the batter to rise, so I add one tablespoon of cider vinegar when I add the butter/oil mixture at the end. Organic, raw, unfiltered cider vinegar, of course.