I can hardly contain
my excitement whilst writing this post. Why? you may ask. It looks like just
any other muffin topped with the usual artery clogging butter and sugar
frosting. Well guess what - there is no butter, no refined sugar and it is grain
free. I have most definitely not turned over a new leaf and gone super-duper
healthy but I have been following the progress of a lady over in New Zealand
who is trying to alleviate some of her health issues by changing her diet.
Suzanne's blog is over at Strands of
My Life and is full of interesting information about using alternative
products to change the way we eat. Suzanne is adamant that going gluten, dairy
and refined sugar free should not mean that she cannot have her sweet treats
and this gorgeous treat below and many others are as a result of her hard work
to achieve this.
The muffin itself is
made with coconut oil, coconut flour, honey, carrots, raisins, shredded
coconut, eggs, bicarb and cinnamon. I found the first two products at Holland
& Barrett and they are not cheap. £14.00 for the two products is a lot to
pay but if you are plagued with food intolerances then you may have these items
already. I was just curious and wanted to try them out for myself. The baked
muffin is quite heavy and dense but not unpleasant. It is sweet and tasty and
very moist. But the piece de resistance is the fabulous chocolate frosting. This
is made from avocado, cocoa and honey. It is unbelievably thick and creamy and
has absolutely no taste of avocado. Suzanne explains about the benefits of
avocados so I will not repeat it here. If like me, you have children then you
will know that it is usually the frosting on a cupcake that they go for,
leaving the cupcake for someone else to finish off (me). Every time I watch my
children devour all this butter and sugar I feel guilty but this would be so different.
Yes, avocados contain fat but it is good fat and honey is so much better for
you than all that refined sugar that makes up icing sugar.
I have just returned
from picking my 6 y/o up from school and couldn't wait for him to try one of
these muffins. I had placed the muffin so that he would see it as soon as he
came into the kitchen and of course he begged to have it there and then. I was
trying to act as normal as possible so as not to alert him to the fact that
is was different. He took his first lick of icing, looked at me and said
"did you make this?" Oh here we go, he's sussed me out, I thought.
"Yes," I said, "why?" He walked over to me and gave me a
big hug and said "this is so yummy, thanks." He didn't eat the muffin
but that is not unusual.
Result!!
The next time I make
chocolate cupcakes for the kids I will definitely use this frosting. It is just
so much healthier than the buttercream frosting I normally use.
For this fabulous
recipe and more information on going grain, dairy and refined sugar free pop
over to
Because these muffins are sugar free I am going to submit them to the We Should Cocoa challenge which is hosted by
and to the Calendar Cakes challenge which is hosted by
Written by : Angela Darroch
These look & sound amazing, but don't think I'll be beating a path down to Holland & Barrett just yet at those prices:-) But as you say if you were intolerant or had deep pockets what a great idea!
ReplyDeleteI agree - but the topping is still worth a try though.
DeleteAng, thank you for featuring my muffins. It is very important to mix the dry with the wet ingredients only until they are just combined or they will toughen up. That could have been the issue. Also you will have noticed how little coconut flour you use compared to normal flour. Coconut flour is more expensive but a bag lasts me forever while I used to go through bags and bags of white flour in the same time. It probably works out not too different.
ReplyDeleteYour photo looks lovely as usual.
It's a pleasure - I've wanted to try some of your recipes for ages now and I'm glad I did. I enjoyed the muffins and would probably make them as a healthy treat for myself. I think if people have made the choice to convert to a grain free diet then the cost works out as you say. It seemed expensive to me because I was buying them on top of my usual ingredients.
DeleteI really must try avocado as an icing, I can imagine it would work as it has the right sort of texture. Yours look so pretty and what a great result. Coconut oil is expensive, I use it but not as often as I would if it was cheaper. Thanks for entering these into We Should Cocoa.
ReplyDeleteI think the key to the icing is making sure the avocados are nice and ripe which in this country is not always easy. Mine were the Sainsburys organic ones and they were ready to eat unlike so many others I've bought before from other supermarkets.
DeleteThis muffin looks healthy and delicious. That chocolate icing is super tempting!
ReplyDeleteI would never have thought to put avocados on a cake but it worked really well.
DeleteCoconut flour and oil..the muffin alone without frosting sound already fantastic. I have to try the avocado frosting too.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely worth trying at least once. I will be using it again for sure.
DeleteHi, that muffin looks devine....and its good for you = dangerous!The photos on your blog are gorgeous! :)
ReplyDeleteWho would have thought avocado, cocoa and honey would be so tasty. Thanks for the lovely comment about my photos - it means a lot to me.
ReplyDeleteI love coconut. Makes me so happy.
ReplyDeleteAnd I love that coconut makes The Happy Whisk so happy :-) hope you are feeling better.
DeleteThese look and sound fabulous. Do you get your coconut oil from H&B? Last time I was in there I couldn't find any, but maybe it was too small a store...?
ReplyDeleteThanks - yes I did get from H&B but I had to ask them for it as I also couldn't find any on the shelves. It was in a small tub which is why I probably missed it.
DeleteWhat a lovely after school treat! It brings so much joy to share our baking with others! The pairing of chocolate and coconut is scrumptious!
ReplyDeleteThanks Deb - I did get a bit excited about these. It is just so unusual to find something which is healthy and which the kids love. Thanks for the visit.
DeleteFantastic! I agree about the prohibitive cost of the coconut oil/flour but I am definitely trying out that frosting. My youngest only eats the frosting too!
ReplyDeleteSuzanne did make a good point about the cost - you only use a small amount of coconut flour compared to cake flour so it is not as expensive as it seems. I hope you enjoy the frosting as much as we did.
DeleteSugar-free! I love to bookmark this recipe to bake for my colleagues.
ReplyDeleteIt's always good to find a guilt free treat especially at this time of year.
DeleteI love the idea of this frosting and I am definitely going to try it out on my children too. I know what you mean about the difficulty of finding a good avocado - just when you think they are ripe you find they are actually black.
ReplyDeleteI hope they like it. My son saw an avocado in the fridge today and went 'yuck. If he only he knew :-)
DeleteWow! That frosting looks simply divine! So yummy...
ReplyDeleteHopped on over for the calendar cakes round up! *waves hello* from a new follower, Hazel x
Hi Hazel. Tks for the follow - will be over to visit you shortly.
DeleteAvocados are amazing! I've not used them in icing, but I have made a pretty divine avocado chocolate mousse, and used them mashed instead of butter in muffins. So versatile and delicious - and these look beautiful
ReplyDeleteThanks Ruth - the chocolate mousse sounds interesting and I can believe that it would be delicious.
Delete