You’ve probably noticed that I really like muffins, especially spiced LCHF muffins that taste like fall. These muffins combine the earthiness of cinnamon and fall spices with the bright zest of orange in the cream that goes on top. The texture of the cream really reminds me of the creamy goodness that topped those cinnamon buns my mom would make for us as a kid on special occasions.
Anyway, these low carb and sugar free hazelnut muffins use hazelnut flour, but you could just as easily use pecan flour. Don’t have access to either of those? Sure you do! I just food process the nuts until they are the right consistency. ;)
These keto-friendly muffins are low carb, grain free, gluten free, sugar free and super, super delicious. I would strongly recommend making them all the time.
Some notes on making sugar free hazelnut spice muffins:
- You don’t need to use hazelnuts for this recipe! I did, because it was inspired by a delicious Passover cake that I really love. You could easily sub the hazelnuts for pecans, or walnuts, or almonds.
- You could easily sub the stevia for 2 tbsp of Swerve Sweetener – a low carb, erythritol-based sweetener – notes on using it here. This will make the texture softer and the muffin a bit sweeter on the whole.
- If using Swerve in the frosting (you could also sub the stevia in that for 1 tbsp Swerve), be sure to dissolve it in the hot water before adding it to the rest of the ingredients, otherwise it may turn out a bit gritty!
- Spiced orange is one of those flavors that uniquely reminds me of the winter holidays, so this would make a perfect addition to a Christmas morning breakfast or brunch! Yeah, I know – it was inspired by Passover, and I’m excited to eat them at Christmas. #ALLthereligion!
Ingredients
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For the muffins:
- 1 cup hazelnut flour (finely ground hazelnuts)
- 1/4 cup coconut manna/butter
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 2 tsp five spice blend (or 1.5 tsp cinnamon)
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 10 drops of liquid stevia
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For the orange cream:
- 2 tbsp coconut manna/butter
- 4 tbsp plain quark, skyr, or Greek-style yogurt
- 1 tbsp hot water
- 1 tsp orange extract
- 5 drops of liquid stevia
Method
- Preheat the oven to 350. Grease a 6 wells of a muffin tin or use a silicon one. Either way is fine!
- Put the cup of hazelnuts in a food processor/blender and grind until fine.
- In a mixing bowl, add eggs, coconut butter, vanilla, stevia and spices. Mix until thoroughly combined.
- Mix in ground hazelnuts.
- Distribute evenly into the muffin tin and bake for 15 minutes until a knife comes out clean when inserted in the middle.
- While the muffins are baking, blend coconut manna, hot water, orange extract and stevia. Slowly mix in quark until a glaze forms. If it's still thick and clumpy, add more hot water (1 tsp at a time), stirring thoroughly before adding any more.
- Once muffins are pulled from the oven, let cool for 10 minutes before topping with cream!
