Delicious, super simple muffins that your whole family will love and won't give your kids a sugar rush.
As fall becomes winter, it seems like there aren't a lot of seasonal, fresh foods to make delicious baby meals. But with only a little imagination there are actually tons of possibilities! One of those being our Apple Hazelnut Muffins!
What better combination than sweet and tasty apples with the earthiness of roasted hazelnuts!
We have two ways of making these muffins – with blueberries mixed in or without. For example, my toddler wouldn't eat it with blueberries mixed in but I absolutely love them like that. So, if you also have a pickier eater, just omit the "mixing the blueberries in the the batter" step.
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Blueberry Apple Hazelnut Muffins Ingredients
To make these Apple Hazelnut Muffins, you will need the following ingredients:
Apples. One of the most diverse fruits you can choose, and pretty much available any time of year. If possible choose organic due to possible pesticide residue and wax on the skin. You can also just remove the skin, although it does have great nutritional benefits.
Hazelnuts. For these muffins you'll need to roast the hazelnuts, remove the skin and grind them before adding to the muffin batter. In some places you can also buy roasted and skinless hazelnuts but this may come at a premium price. You can also find hazelnut meal ready made to make life even easier.
Whole milk. If serving to babies or toddlers under the age of 2 it is advised to use whole milk. For older children you can use skimmed or even plant-based options. We chose to use full fat goat's milk.
Agave syrup. To add some sweetness to the muffins choose a natural sweetener like agave syrup. You can also use rice syrup, date syrup or honey. But be sure to avoid honey for babies under 1 year of age.
Sunflower oil. It has a more neutral taste than olive oil (which is healthier though) so we prefer to use it sometimes in baking recipes.
White flour. Helps the muffins rise (and taste) way better than wholegrain options.
Baking powder and soda. Help the muffins to rise.
Blueberries. Make the muffins super delicious of course.
Blueberry Apple Hazelnut Muffins Nutritional Benefits
Apples are a wonderful source of nutrients of which fiber and vitamin C are the highest. They also have several phytonutrients (small compounds in foods that do wonders for our health) that can help the body defend against cardiovascular diseases as well as diabetes.
Hazelnuts. A great source of healthy fats and protein. And calories. 🙂
Whole milk. An excellent source of fat, protein and calcium.
Agave syrup. Doesn't spike the blood sugar as much as regular table sugar.
Blueberries. Almost all berries are a great source of fiber as well as antioxidants which can protect the heart.
How To Make Blueberry Apple Hazelnut Muffins
Prepare the hazelnuts. Roast and grind the hazelnuts in advance. Roast them for 15-20 mins at 180ºC/360ºF. Let them fully cool before removing the skin by rubbing between your hands (or a clean dish towel). Then put into a food processor and pulse until fully ground down. Don't leave the processor running or you may release the oils and turn the hazelnuts into hazelnut butter.
You could probably already buy some roasted and peeled hazelnuts which will make the prep time shorter.
Preheat the oven. Preheat the oven to 180°C /360°F.
Prepare the apples. Wash, peel and cut the apple into pieces. Grate if you don't have a food processor.
Make the batter. Put the apple, milk, agave syrup and sunflower oil in a mixer/food processor and mix/blend. Add all the dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.
Blueberry option. Transfer the batter to a bowl, add the blueberries and mix in with a wooden spoon. You can do half the batter like this and half without the blueberries (like we did in the photos).
Fill the muffin tin. Grease each muffin cup with a bit of coconut oil so it doesn't stick. Fill each muffin cup about ⅔ of the way. Put fresh berries on the surface of each muffin.
Bake. Bake for about 25 minutes (when you insert a knife inside, it should come out clean).
Possible Variations
Make them vegan. To make these Apple Hazelnut Muffins vegan, simply use a plant-based milk. The best plant-based milk to use for baking is definitely soy milk but if you try any other and it works out great, let us know!
Mix the nuts. Ground roasted hazelnuts don't really need to be the first choice of nuts here. You can use ground roasted almonds, walnuts or really any unsalted type of nuts you want.
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Recipe
Blueberry Apple Hazelnut Muffins
EQUIPMENT
Ingredients
Wet ingredients
- 1½ cup whole milk
- 1 cup agave syrup
- ⅓ cup sunflower oil
Dry ingredients
- 1 apple medium-sized
- 2 cups white flour
- 1 cup wholegrain flour
- 1 cup hazelnuts roasted, ground
- 1½ tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
Additional
- 1 cup blueberries
Instructions
- Roast and grind the hazelnuts in advance. Roast them for 15-20 mins at 180ºC/360ºF. Let them fully cool before removing the skin by rubbing them between your hands (or a clean dish towel). Then put into a food processor and pulse until fully ground down. Don't leave the processor running or you may release the oils and turn the hazelnuts into hazelnut butter.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C /360°F.
- Wash, peel and cut the apple into pieces. Grate if you don't have a food processor.
- Put the apple. milk, agave syrup and sunflower oil in a mixer/food processor and mix/blend.
- Add all the dry ingredients and mix.
- If you are using blueberries, transfer the batter into a bowl, add the blueberries and mix them within the batter with a wooden spoon.
- Grease each muffin cup with a bit of coconut oil.
- Fill each muffin cup with batter.
- Bake for about 25 minutes (when you insert a knife inside, it should come out clean).
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature for 2-3 days, or freeze for up to 2 months.
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