CHESTNUT, CARROT AND GINGER MUFFINS WITH PUMPKIN SEEDS
A recipe challenge is guaranteed to make me tick, and this proved to be just that! I’m all about adding carrots to baking where possible, and I’ve also been working with chestnut flour, sweetened with a little maple syrup, for years. However, it turns out that combining these three sweet ingredients is a big ask for digestion. My Ayurvedic doctor put a question mark by this recipe when I showed it to him, so I went back to the drawing board! I knew I didn’t want an overly sweet muffin — something just sweet enough for breakfast, or as a snack if I know a meal is going to be delayed — so I took out the maple syrup and worked on the spices to make it a delicious little bran-style muffin. These keep well in an airtight container for a day or two or longer in the fridge, but allow them to come to room temperature before you eat them.
You can find this recipe in East by West page 73.
INGREDIENTS
Makes 6
115g (1 cup) chestnut flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 large pinches of sea salt
5 medium eggs or 5 flax eggs (see page 256)
2cm (¾in) piece of fresh ginger, grated
5 tbsp butter, melted
2 medium carrots, coarsely grated (about 125g)
Handful of pumpkin seeds, to garnish
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 220°C (fan 200°C/gas mark 7).
Mix together the flour, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, mix together the eggs, ginger, butter and carrots. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry mixture, stirring gently.
Divide the mixture between six muffin cases, top with pumpkin seeds and bake the muffins for 20 minutes until they turn a deep golden colour. Allow to cool before serving.
East by West tips:
The eggs and chestnut flour makes this suited to winter and Vata nature. Enjoy with ginger tea.
If you’re feeling Pitta, enjoy with fennel tea and use flax eggs. You could try 50:50 chestnut flour and rice flour.
If you’re feeling Kapha, enjoy with black tea and use flax eggs. You could try 50:50 chestnut flour and buckwheat flour.
