blood orange and pistachio muffins

When I started cutting (most) gluten out of my diet, I thought, "well there goes muffins". If gluten-free bread didn't taste so great (no crispy crusts, soft centres or toast-ability), then surely muffins wouldn't taste so good either. But then I found breads that actually made a pretty decent sandwich, or even more thrilling, a grilled cheese sandwich. So I thought, perhaps gluten-free muffins that had the consistency of a regular muffin were possible. I found a recipe using almond flour from The Vanilla Bean Blog for grapefruit and pistachio muffins, an adaptation from Roost's chamomile and honey almond meal muffins. I'd never used almond flour before but was eager to try it. I switched things up just a little bit too by substituting blood oranges for grapefruit and sprinkling the muffins with chopped pistachios before popping them into the oven. I was so excited when I first took a bite into one of these little beauties. Muffins are officially back on the breakfast menu.





Blood Orange and Pistachio Muffins (adapted from The Vanilla Bean Blog and Roost)

Makes 6 muffins

2 cups finely ground almond flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 cup chopped pistachio nuts, plus a small handful for sprinkling
1 blood orange, juiced (regular oranges are fine too)
1 tsp orange zest
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs
1/4 cup oil (I used olive oil)
1/4 cup honey

Mix flour, salt, baking soda, orange zest, and 1/4 cup nuts in a bowl. Mix orange juice, vanilla, eggs, oil and honey in a separate bowl. Combine wet and dry ingredients until well incorporated. Pour into lined muffin tins. Mix remaining nuts with some sugar and sprinkle on top of muffins. Bake for 25-30 minutes at 350º F (or until golden brown).

These were even more amazing with a smearing of honey