A great wheat-free recipe to make with the kids, perfect to pop into lunch boxes whether you're heading off to school or the office!
We’ve used carrot, but these muffins can also be made using courgette, beetroot, or parsnip. We recommend using whatever veg is in season at the time. These are not overly sweet and make an excellent, nutritious lunchbox filler. If you are dairy or egg free, you can use vegan yoghurt in place of buttermilk and psyllium husk gel in place of the eggs.
Streusel is a crumbly topping, often added on muffins, cakes and pies. The streusel is delicious, but if you are short on time, the recipe is still tasty without it. A small handful of raisins in the wet mixture is also lovely if you have them in the pantry.
If you don’t have any buttermilk and you want to make these right now, you can use runny yoghurt in it’s place, or squeeze lemon juice into regular milk, and leave it to stand for ten minutes- this will curdle the milk slightly, helping to create the same tang as buttermilk.
Get the kids involved- 3yr old Billy helps Mum to make the muffins
Dry Ingredients
- 85 g (¾ cup) rolled oats
- 100 g (1 cup) ground almonds (or ground sunflower seeds for a nut-free version)
- 90 g (⅔ cup) buckwheat flour
- 2 tbsp arrowroot or potato starch
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ tsp sea salt
Wet Ingredients
- ½ medium carrot, coarsely grated
- 160 ml (⅔ cup) organic buttermilk
- 80 ml (⅓ cup) melted butter (or olive oil)
- 2 ripe bananas, mashed
- 8 dates
- 3 large organic eggs
Streusel Topping (optional)
- 40 g (½ cup) rolled oats
- 2 tbsp coconut oil (or olive oil)
- 1 tbsp maple syrup
- ½ medium carrot, coarsely grated
- 1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
Method
- Preheat the oven to 200°C and line a muffin tin with paper cases.
- In a large bowl, mix all the dry ingredients together and set aside.
- Put the courgette, buttermilk, oil, bananas and dates in a food processor or blender and whizz until combined and smooth, then transfer this mixture to the bowl with the dry ingredients.
- Crack the eggs into a separate bowl and beat them for a minute or so before adding them to the rest of the mix. Fold all your ingredients together, then divide the batter between the lined muffin cases.
- In a small bowl, mix together the streusel topping ingredients (if using), then scatter some over each muffin. Bake for 20 minutes.
These are best when eaten warm from the oven, but can keep in an airtight container for 3–4 days.
