Autumn apple and cinnamon muffins (with secret veggies)

Part of my aiming for #zerowaste involves keeping an eye on fruit and veg that are going off and using those rather than throwing them out – even if onto the compost heap. So when I found myself with apples that needed using and a kid who needed a healthy lunchtime snack (hadn’t had time to make granola bars yet this week), the recipe for these nutritious muffins was born!

I’m sure the recipe will work equally well with pears, peaches or other fruit, and you can substitute grated pumpkin for carrot.

Ingredients

2 eggs

90g sugar (I used raw cane sugar this time, but I’m sure you can replace it with xylitol or other granule sugars)

200g grated carrot

100g gluten free flour (I used buckwheat this time)

100g ground almonds

30ml dairy free milk

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp xanthan

1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda

Pinch of salt

2 medium apples, cut into small chunks

For the crust:

50g lactose free or vegan butter

30g xylitol

20g cinnamon

Instructions

This recipe makes about 12 muffins. You’ll need a muffin tray.

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line the muffin tray with paper cases.

Whisk the eggs with the 90g sugar for 4 mins. Fold in all the other ingredients carefully (apart from those for the crust) until well combined.

Fill the cases entirely.

Mix the butter, sugar, and cinnamon for the crust until it’s squishy. Crumble a bit on top of the muffins and press down a little.

Bake for 30 mins. Take the muffin cases out of the tray and leave to cool on a wire rack. These are yummy on their own for a school or work snack, or you can serve with some cinnamon cream at home.