Fluffy almond muffins topped with vibrant blood oranges and spiced with a pinch of clove for a little extra something.
These muffins are so incredibly light, fluffy & that-word-starting-with-an-M-that-I-hate. I had these for brunch on the weekend, after devouring a plate each of Hot For Food’s AMAZING smoked tofu benedict, along with huge glasses of orange juice and mugs of coffee, it was seriously perfect. It will probably be a repeat next weekend. I love these muffins. I’ve eaten far too many of them this week and I froze a bunch for later brunching. I’ve used blood oranges that I picked up from the Marrickville organic markets in Sydney a couple of weekends back — they’ve added a beautiful deep, vibrant colour to the tops and a zesty, bitter orange kick to the batter. You can use regular oranges though, or grapefruit, if blood oranges aren’t in season where you are.
They are super easy, virtually just a matter of mixing the dry ingredients together, then the wet and then mixing the two together. Just obey the cardinal rule of muffin/cake making — don’t over-mix —and you will be a-okay (over-mixing the batter toughens up the gluten to create a tough / dense / flat / sad muffin). I can imagine these would be amazing with pistachios as well if you happen to have any around. But almonds really do play nicely with the blood oranges and clove. If you have a vanilla bean within your grasp, use it. It added so much to these little muffins, it’s well worth it.
Blood Orange Clove + Almond Muffins {vegan}
Ingredients
dry
- 1 cup all‐purpose / white wheat flour
- 1 cup light spelt flour or sub all‐purpose
- 1/2 cup packed almond meal / flour
- 3/4 cup raw granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
wet
- 2 tbsp ground flaxseed preferably golden flax
- 6 tbsp almond milk or water
- 1 1/2 cup almond milk room temp
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 3/4 cup coconut oil melted & cooled
- 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut yoghurt i like coyo, room temp
- zest of 1 large or 2 small unwaxed blood oranges
- 1/4 cup blood orange juice 1 — 2 oranges
- seeds of 1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla bean paste / 1 tbsp vanilla extract
topping
- 2 unwaxed blood oranges washed, very thinly sliced & seeds removed
- raw granulated sugar to sprinkle the tops
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius / 400 fahrenheit with a rack positioned in the middle of the oven.
- Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl until well incorporated. In a small bowl, whisk together the ground flaxseed & the 6 Tbsp of milk or water until combined. Set aside & allow to thicken. In a measuring jug, mix together the 1 1/2 cups almond milk & the apple cider vinegar. Set aside for 5 — 10 minutes to thicken slightly & activate (resulting in 'buttermilk').
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flax mixture, melted coconut oil & coconut yoghurt. Slowly whisk in the almond 'buttermilk', followed by the rest of the wet ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients over the flour mixture and gently fold until just combined. A few floury patches are ok, just don't overmix the batter or you will end up with tough & flat muffins.
- Spoon the muffin mixture into lined muffin tins, filling to about 3/4 full. Top each muffin with a thin slice of blood orange & scatter with a little sugar so that the orange caramelises a little in the oven. Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 — 30 minutes (less if you are making smaller muffins), until golden brown on the edges & a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the muffin tin & then remove the muffins & allow them to cool on a wire rack.
Blood Orange Clove + Almond Muffins {vegan}
Ingredients
dry
- 1 cup all‐purpose / white wheat flour
- 1 cup light spelt flour or sub all‐purpose
- 1/2 cup packed almond meal / flour
- 3/4 cup raw granulated sugar
- 1/2 cup sliced almonds
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 3 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
wet
- 2 tbsp ground flaxseed preferably golden flax
- 6 tbsp almond milk or water
- 1 1/2 cup almond milk room temp
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 3/4 cup coconut oil melted & cooled
- 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut yoghurt i like coyo, room temp
- zest of 1 large or 2 small unwaxed blood oranges
- 1/4 cup blood orange juice 1 — 2 oranges
- seeds of 1 vanilla bean or 1 tsp vanilla bean paste / 1 tbsp vanilla extract
topping
- 2 unwaxed blood oranges washed, very thinly sliced & seeds removed
- raw granulated sugar to sprinkle the tops
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees celsius / 400 fahrenheit with a rack positioned in the middle of the oven.
- Whisk the dry ingredients together in a large bowl until well incorporated. In a small bowl, whisk together the ground flaxseed & the 6 Tbsp of milk or water until combined. Set aside & allow to thicken. In a measuring jug, mix together the 1 1/2 cups almond milk & the apple cider vinegar. Set aside for 5 — 10 minutes to thicken slightly & activate (resulting in 'buttermilk').
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flax mixture, melted coconut oil & coconut yoghurt. Slowly whisk in the almond 'buttermilk', followed by the rest of the wet ingredients. Pour the wet ingredients over the flour mixture and gently fold until just combined. A few floury patches are ok, just don't overmix the batter or you will end up with tough & flat muffins.
- Spoon the muffin mixture into lined muffin tins, filling to about 3/4 full. Top each muffin with a thin slice of blood orange & scatter with a little sugar so that the orange caramelises a little in the oven. Bake in the preheated oven for about 25 — 30 minutes (less if you are making smaller muffins), until golden brown on the edges & a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the muffin tin & then remove the muffins & allow them to cool on a wire rack.