Mini Roasted Strawberry Almond Meal Muffins

The original recipe calls for two cups almond meal. I subbed in a bit of cornmeal because I love how it pairs with berries, the occasional bit of crunch, and wanted to see if I could just barely pull the flavour through. Either way should work. I am new to playing with coconut sugar and really love the sandy texture and almost smoky, caramel smell. It turns the end result a bit more murky brown but I’m not too concerned with that. A maple sugar, muscavado or natural cane sugar would work fine here as well.If using a standard muffin tin, I am guessing you’ll want to add about 5-7 minutes to the baking time. Haven’t tried it yet, so just keep an eye on them.

Makes 24 mini muffins

INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 cups almond meal
1/2 cup cornmeal
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/3 cup coconut sugar
1/4 tsp. sea salt
2 eggs
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
2 Tbsp. honey
1/2 tsp. almond extract
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 cup roasted strawberries*
1/3 cup chocolate chips, optional

METHOD
1 Preheat the oven to 375°C. Prepare a mini muffin tin with paper liners, or coat the pan generously with coconut oil.
2 In a large bowl, combine the almond meal, cornmeal, baking soda, coconut sugar and salt. In another bowl, whisk the eggs, olive oil, honey, almond and vanilla extracts together. Whisk it up real well until fully combined and even in color. Add the wet to the dry ingredients and stir to mix. The batter will be fairly thick. Fold in the strawberries and chocolate chips. Fill the muffin liners to the top, they don’t poof too much.
3 Bake on the middle rack for 16-18 minutes until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick poked in the center comes out clean. Turn the muffins on their sides in the pan, or remove to a wire rack to cool.
4 Roasted Strawberries: Oven to 350°C. Toss 4 cups quartered strawberries with a pinch of salt and 2 tsp. melted coconut oil (or olive oil works too). This will do for ripe, juicy berries. If yours are dry or lacking flavor, add a splash of maple or honey to sweeten. Spread them in a single layer on a parchment lined baking sheet. Roast for 25-30 minutes or until juicy and reduced in size. Set aside to cool. This may yield more than you need for the recipe. Mix the extras in plain yogurt or in your morning oatmeal.

The Carousel thanks sprouted kitchen for this recipe!

Recipe adapted from The Longevity Kitchen by Rebecca Katz