Delicious Gluten-Free Apple Spice Muffins

This is a great gluten-free muffin recipe that I originally discovered on Kimi Harris’s blog, The Nourishing Gourmet after trying numerous recipes with these ingredients and failing miserably (like - 5 times!). I apologize in advance for not sharing a pic today but as soon as I finished the muffins, my test kitchen audience devoured them! I'll try to make another batch this weekend and post a pic. A note on the ingredients...

• the recipe utilizes coconut flour - a gluten-free, fiber filled and low glycemic option to wheat flour. For the uninitiated, the glycemic index refers to how quickly a particular food triggers a rise in blood glucose levels. Increased fiber = slower release. 
• coconut flour is a little pricey at 6.99/bag but the recipe only uses 1/2 cup for 9 muffins. And, if you’re missing baked goods while eating a gluten-free or low glycemic diet, the extra bucks may feel worth it.
• This recipe is filled with GREAT Fat - coconut oil and good protein in the form of 3 eggs.

I made a few changes to Kimi's recipe, including adding vanilla, decreasing the cloves and apples and adding apple cider vinegar and zucchini.

Now, before we start baking, a quick tutorial about muffins.
1. A great secret to all good baking is to be sure your ingredients are all about the same temperature before you combine them. You don’t want hot honey and oil hitting cold eggs or you’re going to have a sugary omelet on your hands! ICK!
2. Kimi mentioned in her recipe not to exceed the recommended amount of fruit. Otherwise, these muffins will be wet. I can attest to this from personal experience.
3. Most of all - do not, I repeat, do NOT over-mix muffins. You simply want to combine the ingredients and make sure they don't have big clumps of dry flour. Be gentle.

Spiced Apple Muffins Makes 9 Muffins

Wet ingredients

1/3 cup of coconut oil
1/4 cup of honey

3 large eggs – break into a bowl right away so they’ll be close to room temp for mixing

1 t. apple cider vinegar

1 t. vanilla (optional)

Dry ingredients

1/2 cup of coconut flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon*
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
a pinch of ground cloves (optional)
* if you don't have all the spices, sub 1 1/2 t. pumpkin pie spice

The good stuff!

1/2 c shredded apples

¼ c shredded zucchini

½ c. chopped walnuts or pecans for topping

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees

2. Prep the muffin tins with baking cups or by oiling and flouring the tins.

3. In a medium saucepan, melt, thoroughly whisk together & set aside to cool. It looks like gooey syrup.

• Coconut oil
• honey

4. Sift together the dry ingredients. Coconut flour can be a little lumpy so sifting will save you from over-mixing the muffins when combining the wet and dry ingredients. Measure your ingredients straight into the sifter.

• coconut flour
• baking soda
• sea salt
• cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves

5. In a separate bowl, gently whisk wet ingredients together till just mixed.

•  Eggs 
•  Honey and coconut oil 
• Vinegar 

6. Add dry ingredients to wet and combine with a few swift strokes (12 maximum!)

7. Pour into muffin tins and sprinkle with some chopped nuts.

8. Bake for 20 minutes or until the tops are lightly browned and spring back to the touch.