I have been making my own varieties of protein muffins for almost 2 years. I bake them weekly and there are always tweaks until I think I now have the absolute perfect muffin that is delicious, healthy, high in protein, low in added sugars and will keep you going all morning. My loaded Apple Protein Muffins are not difficult to make and they also freeze beautifully. I just pop one in the microwave to get the center nut butter oozy and it’s good to go.

The Loaded Apple Protein Muffin is my personal favorite, but I do occasionally make a Banana, Carrot or Zucchini Protein Muffin just to shake things up a bit. These delicious muffins are a powerhouse of energy that will not give you sugar spikes or let you down an hour after you have eaten them. Start your New Year out right with these Loaded Apple Protein Muffins.

RECIPE

Yield: 12 standard muffins

INGREDIENTS

1.75 cups of superfine almond flour (I like to use 1 cup of natural almond flour, which contains the almond skins and 3/4 cup of blanched almond flour for the best balance. You don’t have to use this mix, but I have found it to give the best results in texture and flavor.)

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 cup whole dried cranberries

1/4 cup of chopped diced dried or fresh apples (I like the cinnamon apples from Nuts.com, which does add a small amount of additional sugar, but not much. I also love them in my hot cereal.)

4 to 5 large Medjool dates, pitted and coarsely chopped

1/3 cup of chopped nuts (My favorites are black walnuts for a depth of flavor, but any almonds or regular walnuts are fine.)

2 Tablespoons peanut butter powder

1/2 cup of vanilla or plain protein powder (I use a grass fed whey powder.) (If you use plain protein powder, add 1 teaspoon of pure vanilla extract.)

1/4 cup of dark brown sugar

1 cup of your favorite applesauce

2 teaspoons of sweet hawaij or pumpkin pie spice ( A recipe for sweet hawaij can be found at the end of this post. Once you try it, you will never go back to pumpkin pie spice. We use it on so many things.)

3 large eggs

1/4 cup refined coconut oil, melted and slightly cooled

About 4 Tablespoons of your favorite nut butter. (I like chunky peanut butter or almond butter.)

DIRECTIONS

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Line a standard muffin tin with parchment muffin cups. You could just spray a non-stick pan, but I like the muffin cups in the pan and clean-up is faster.

In a large bowl, mix together all of your dry ingredients. Add the dates next and mix to coat with the almond flour etc. It will help reduce clumping. Then add in your diced apples, cranberries and nuts and mix through to evenly distribute things as much as possible.

In a separate medium bowl, add your eggs, brown sugar and applesauce. Mix well to break up the eggs. Meanwhile melt your coconut oil. In my microwave it takes 32 seconds for the perfect temperature and consistency. When it has just cooled slightly, whisk it into the eggs and applesauce. Add the liquid to the large bowl of ingredients and mix it well. Allow this mixture to sit for about 12 to 15 minutes. It took me awhile to figure this out, but allowing the dry ingredients to get absorbed by the wet makes all of the difference in the end product.

Using a 2 Tablespoon scoop, I add the mixture to each cup. 2 Tablespoons is about 1/2 of the muffin cup. I then add about 1 teaspoon of nut butter into the center of each muffin. Thicker nut butter is better than thinner! I then cover the nut butter with an additional 2 Tablespoons of mixture. This should fill each muffin cup pretty much to the top.

Place the tin into the hot oven for 6 minutes. Then turn the heat down to 375 degrees F. and bake for another 10 to 12 minutes. Ovens vary but the tops should be nicely browned, and rounded.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for about 12 minutes. Then gently remove the muffin cups from the pan and allow to cool completely on a wire rack. You can then freeze what you are not going to use within 2 to 3 days depending on the temperature of your kitchen. You can also refrigerate the muffins. These are best enjoyed warmed for just about 14 to 15 seconds in the microwave.

Sweet Hawaij

Yield: About 1/2 cup

1 Tablespoon ground cloves

2 Tablespoons freshly grated nutmeg

2 Tablespoons ground cinnamon

2 Tablespoons ground ginger

1 Tablespoon ground cardamom

This will last in a cool, dark place kept in a small glass air-tight jar for up to a year. Mine gets used up waaaaaay before that!