Tasty Tuesday: {Good Eats & Great Interiors}

If you’re attempting to stick to your healthy-eating resolution, then this is the post for you!

Now full disclosure, I’m one of those people that works hard to search out healthy choices that don’t sacrifice taste. I also try to live by the ethos that if you make it, you’ve earned it. So over Christmas I tried my hand at a health conscious muffin as our Christmas morning treat! Yes, you can indulge in this one with only a half shred of guilt. I promise.

My recipe comes from Sprouted Kitchen, my go-to destination for health conscious cooking. Sara Forte’s focus on whole ingredients, prioritization of gluten and dairy free options* and continuous commitment to great taste is a gold mine. I have her book, if you don’t yet, get it!

But back to our miracle muffins.While nixing refined white sugar and white flour can take extra time and effort {see extended ingredient list below}, trust me, it is well worth it. Your body will thank you for elminating the inflammatory and metabolism sabatoging ingreidents that you don’t need, and your tastebuds will thank you for giving them something seriously delicious! Of course these aren’t entirely virtuous, butter and less processed sugars are involved. You could substitue coconut oil for butter and stevia for the sugars but then why would you even call it a treat?!

Even though The Loft’s kitchen is essentially the exact opposite of the stunning Scandinavian style featured above, I will simply dream of marble and bright white counters while I treat myself after a week of virtuous eating by making another batch of these muffins this weekend!

Brown Butter Espresso Chip Muffins, adapted from Sprouted Kitchen

Ingredients

1/2 C butter

2 eggs

1/3 cup applesauce

1 tsp. vanilla extract

2/3 cup packed muscavado sugar

3/4 cup, spelt flour

1/3 cup oat flour

1 cup almond flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. baking soda

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1 Tbsp. espresso or finely ground coffee

3 oz. dark chocolate, chopped

// topping //

1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats

2 Tbsp. unsalted butter {a bit of cheat here}

1/4 cup turbinado sugar

pinch of salt

*note: due to the use of a bit of spelt flour these muffins are not entirely gluten free but you could play with the balance of flours or try substituting rice flour to create a gluten free option.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350′. Fill a standard muffin tin with paper liners.

Melt the butter in a small pan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally until the solids turn a light brown color, it’s a nice shade of amber and it starts to smell nutty. Remove from the heat to cool – {highly recommend this step as it is the browned butter that give this recipe it’s name and it’s incredible depth of flavor!}

Whisk the eggs, applesauce and vanilla together. Once the brown butter is slightly cooled, whisk that in as well. In another large mixing bowl, dry ingredients to combine. Add the wet ingredients and mix. Stir in the chopped chocolate but do not overmix.

For streusel, combine the oats, butter, turbinado and pinch of salt. Press it together with your fingers to mash everything together.

Scoop the batter into the tins about 3/4 full. You will get somewhere between 8 to 10. Sprinkle a bit of streusel on top of each muffin. Bake on the middle rack for 20 minutes or until centers are just cooked through. Remove to cool.

kitchen image by petra bindel, recipe by sprouted kitchen, muffin photo by yours truly