April 17, 2012

Almond Raspberry Jam Muffins (Low Carb and Gluten-Free)

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How do you decide what ingredient gets top billing in a recipe name? For that matter, how do you decide on a recipe name at all? Do you try to be descriptive, calling it by its main ingredients or the ones that make it unique? Or do you get all metaphoric, conjuring up poetic images of holidays and family meals and wonderful memories? This is forever the food blogger’s dilemma. Personally, I favour the descriptive recipe names, calling a spade a spade and not mincing words. Really, that’s how I approach most things in life, so I suppose it’s fitting. I don’t think about SEO (search engine optimization) when I name my dish, which by many accounts I should. I just try to get at the heart of what the recipe is, what the dominant flavours are and how it’s made, without being overly wordy. I may not always be perfectly successful, but I try.

Some recipes lend themselves to naming more easily than others. Some are named upon the moment of conception, like a much-longed for child. For others, the name grows on you as you start putting the dish together. And still others jump out at you as you taste the end result. But some names elude you, remaining just out of reach no matter how much you struggle to put the words together. Or, as the case with this recipe, all the elements are there, but they won’t sort themselves into the right order. I can’t figure out which descriptor should go where, which ingredient deserves to go first. It rolls off the tongue better if I say raspberry jam almond muffins, or if I leave out jam altogether. But I don’t want to mislead. In my head, these are almond muffins, first and foremost, and the jam, while a delightful touch, is the less important flavour. I wanted them to be “raspberry jam-filled” muffins, but as the jam sort of melted away into the body of the muffin, that too would be misleading. So I think I am stuck with the less melodious, perhaps a bit clunky “almond raspberry jam muffins”.

Whatever you want to call these, they are lovely little muffins. I simply took the batter for my Almond-Crusted Butter Cake, filled muffin cups halfway, spooned some sugar-free jam inside, topped it with more batter and sprinkled on some sliced almonds. I didn’t have a moment’s hesitation that these wouldn’t be good. In case you haven’t noticed, that cake may just be one of my all-time favourite recipes here on ADIDAF and I am determined to use it to my advantage. I did rather hope that these would be the sort of surprise-inside type muffins, where you bit into them to discover a little hidden jewel of jam. But although the jam soaked into the batter during baking instead, the results are still delicious. Raspberry and almonds are always wonderful together and these muffins are no exception.

Almond Raspberry Jam Muffins:

3 cups almond flour
1/3 cup unflavoured whey protein powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup butter, softened
1/2 cup granulated erythritol (I used Swerve)
3 large eggs, room temperature
1 tsp almond extract
20 drops stevia extract
1/2 cup almond milk
1/4 cup Raspberry Chia Seed Jam or other sugar-free raspberry jam

2 tbsp sliced almond for garnish

Preheat oven to 325F and line a muffin tin with paper liners.

In a medium bowl, whisk together almond flour, protein powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, beat butter until smooth. Add granulated erythritol and beat until lighter and well-combined, about 2 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at time, scraping down beaters and sides of bowl with a rubber spatula as needed. Beat in almond and stevia extracts.

Beat in half of the almond flour mixture, then beat in almond milk. Beat in remaining almond flour mixture until well combined. Fill each muffin cup to about 1/3 full with batter and create a small well in the center of each. Spoon 1 tsp raspberry jam into well, then top with remaining muffin batter. Sprinkle with sliced almonds.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes, or until tops is golden brown and a tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let cool in pan 5 minutes, transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Serves 12. Each serving has a total of 9.5 g of carbs and 4 g of fiber. Total NET CARBS = 5.5 g.**

**This will depend on what jam you use. I use Polaner’s All Fruit with Fiber.

Please note that I am not a medical or nutritional professional. I am simply recounting and sharing my own experiences on this blog. Nothing I express here should be taken as medical advice and you should consult with your doctor before starting any diet or exercise program. I provide nutritional information for my recipes simply as a courtesy to my readers. It is calculated using MacGourmet software and I remove erythritol from the final carb count and net carb count, as it does not affect my own blood glucose levels. I do my best to be as accurate as possible but you should independently calculate nutritional information on your own before relying on them. I expressly disclaim any and all liability of any kind with respect to any act or omission wholly or in part in reliance on anything contained in this website.

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