Naturally sweet chestnut flour has been a real discovery for me and works great in many baked goods. Together with apple puree and maple glazed chunks of apple it makes these wholesome muffins sweet and utterly delicious without the addition of any refined sugar.
What you need:
For the dough:
80g chestnut flour
140g wholemeal flour (or 220g if not using chestnut flour)
2tsp mixed spice
2tsp cinnamon
1tsp bicarbonate of soda
1tsp baking powder
360g unsweetened apple puree (bought or homemade)
2tsp apple cider vinegar
Dash of almond or rice milk
* 2tbsp maple syrup if you aren’t using chestnut flour or like it a little sweeter
For the maple glazed apple and walnut chunks:
1 apple peeled and cut into small cubes
20 walnuts broken in pieces
2tbsp maple syrup
How you do it:
Preheat your oven at gas mark 5 (190C).
Start by making the glazed apple and walnut chunks.
In a hot frying pan roast the walnut pieces for a couple of minutes before adding apple cubes and maple syrup.
Stir frequently on low heat until the syrup starts to caramelise and the apple cubes have softened.
Mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl.
Now fold in the wet ingredients spoon after spoon making sure everything combines well and there are no lumps.
Finally mix in the apple/walnut mixture before spooning the dough into 12 muffin cases.
Bake for 20-25mins or until a thin skewer or toothpick comes out clean if inserted into one of the muffins.
Chocolate option:
Prefer chocolate over cinnamon?
Simply leave away apple chunks (keep the walnut pieces, maple glazed or dry roasted) and replace cinnamon and mixed spice with a handful of chocolate chips - or around 50g of roughly chopped vegan chocolate - 1 tbsp of unsweetened cocoa powder and 2tbsp of maple syrup. Done!
