What? Wait WHAT, are you adding to those muffins?!
Is that…BEETS?!!
Why yes, honey, yes it is, I replied to my hubby with a smile one day as I was caught red-handed. (Haha, literally, I guess, since I’m always red after handling beets. Corny joke, sorry.)
Normally I’m pretty sly when it comes to sneaking veggies in, but not this time.
Mike happened to see me making these and the cat was out of the bag. There was no getting him to try them once he saw what was in there. Truthfully though, I didn’t mind. More for me.
So even though these little beauties were made in the spirit of Valentine’s Day (being Red Velvet and all), I guess I’ll be enjoying them by myself. How is that for romance? :)
These muffins are such a treat though. They’re not extraordinarily delicious for healthy muffins, they’re incredibly delicious for muffins, period. Soft, tender, and moist-crumbed with a light chocolate flavor, pleasant tang, and subtle sweetness. And you can’t taste the beets at all.
I’d call them Red Velvet perfection, but for one thing: they weren’t really red. There as a definite orange-ish hue inside, but that’s as far as it went. (Which was surprising because the batter was such a gorgeous shade of red!) I was tempted to re-work this recipe (increase the beets, decrease the cocoa, etc.), but honestly, these muffins are too good not to share and I was scared that in my quest to turn them red, I’d mess up their flavor/texture.
And we can’t have that, now can we?
If the color is a kicker for you, feel free to call them something else. But make them – you won’t be disappointed!
- 3 oz (85 g/scant 1 cup) beet pulp or finely shredded beet (see Note)
- ¾ cup (180 ml) very hot water
- ¾ cup (180 ml) pure maple syrup
- ¼ cup (60 ml) light olive oil
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 ½ teaspoons organic raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ¼ cups (140 g) almond meal
- ¼ cup (30 g) tapioca flour
- ¼ cup (28 g) coconut flour
- ¼ cup (20 g) unsweetened cocoa powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon fine salt
- Preheat the oven to 375F; line a muffin tray with paper liners.
- Process the beet pulp and hot water in a blender until smooth. Add the maple syrup, olive oil, vanilla, and vinegar and process again. Cool a couple minutes, and then process in the eggs.
- Whisk together the almond meal, tapioca flour, coconut flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry all at once and stir to combine, being careful not to over-mix. Let the batter rest for 3 minutes (it will thicken slightly).
- Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin tray (about ¼ cup batter per muffin), and bake until a toothpick inserted inside comes out dry or with just a couple crumbs, about 15 to 20 minutes.
- Transfer the muffins to a wire rack to cool.
Molly
Hi Faith,
I made beet juice yesterday and was looking for a red velvet recipe to use my pulp. So glad to find yours! Is there a purpose to the tapioca flour or could I just use more almond or coconut flour?
Thanks, molly
faith
Hi Molly, The blend of flours and meals that I use in this recipe (almond meal, tapioca flour, and coconut flour) are there to give these muffins the best texture and crumb possible; basically, to simulate the texture of a muffin made with all-purpose flour. I used tapioca flour to give these muffins a bit of chewiness (basically a little bit of springiness), similar to gluten in baked goods that are made with all-purpose flour. That being said, I'm sure there is another way to accomplish the same result without using all-purpose flour by using a different blend of gluten-free flours than what I've used here, but I honestly haven't tried this recipe without tapioca flour to know how it would turn out. If you decide to experiment with this recipe and use something in place of the tapioca flour, please let me know the results! :)
Caroline
Hi Faith,
I was just wondering if you can use oat flour or any other gluten free flour instead of the almond meal as my daughter use to be allergic to nuts and I really don't like using many nut products as I'm still scare that she may have a reaction to one of them and her school is also a nut free school as most school in Australia are could you please let me know.
Kind regards
Cassy
faith
Caroline, I haven't made this recipe using another gluten-free flour, but I think it could work. Oat flour may be a good choice! Coconut flour may also work, but it absorbs liquid much differently than almond flour, so the recipe might need other adjustments if you try it with coconut flour. If you decide to experiment with the recipe, please let me know how it goes!
Paula
This might be a stupidness question -- but I've never worked with beets before -- my question is do you need to cook the beets first before placing into the mix??
faith
Paula, Don't worry, there are no stupid questions! :) No, I didn't cook the beets first. I like to use raw beet pulp when I make these, but I've also used finely shredded raw beets. Hope you enjoy them if you give them a try!