Cranberry Orange Macadamia Muffins

Considering the paleo diet, today I decided to make some gluten-free muffins for the kids for when they come home from school.

 

Ingredients:

2 cups of salted macadamia nuts

(if using unsalted, add ¼ tsp sea salt)

1 ¼ cup quinoa flour

1 tsp baking soda

¼ cup maple syrup

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 eggs

¼ cup olive oil or coconut oil or ghee (or butter)

1/3 cup orange juice

1 cup chopped fresh cranberries

(dry cranberries are another possibility)

 

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Place macadamia nuts in a food processor and pulse until a coarse meal forms.

3. In a medium bowl combine the first 3 ingredients together.

4. Add the eggs, oil, vanilla, maple syrup and orange juice and mix well.

5. Stir in cranberries.

6. Spoon batter into prepared muffins cups.

7. Bake for 24-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Note: To make Cranberry Orange Macadamia Cookies use  2 cups of quinoa flour for a thicker batter and form 8 even balls. Flatten each dough ball slightly and place on a parchment paper and bake as above.
Other possibilities are:
- corn flour instead of the quinoa flour
- cashew nuts instead of macadamia nuts
- ghee or butter instead of oil
- omit syrup and cranberries, but add instead 2 cups of grated fruit (persimmons, apples, pears, etc)
- orange, almond, rum or lemon extract instead of vanilla extract

Cranberry Almond Macadamia Cookies

 

Persimmon Cashew Cookies
 

Golden Berry Cashew Orange Cake

In the same manner as above, one can substitute as follows:

Ingredients:

2 cups of cashews

(if using unsalted, add ¼ tsp sea salt)

1 ¼ cup quinoa flour

1 tsp baking soda

¼ cup maple syrup or 1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tsp almond extract

2 eggs

¼ cup olive oil or coconut oil or ghee (or butter)

1/3 cup orange juice

1 cup chopped dry golden berries  

Directions: use the directions as above, but pour the batter into a pre-greased glass baking pan. Enjoy!