Wynette Richards

Zina's No-Flour Vege Nut Muffins

I got this recipe from my friend Zina who made these for our get-together in Tucson in January 2018 (Bonnie, Zina and me.) Zina made lots of changes to her original recipe and I've made even more. This is how I am currently making the muffins. As Zina told me, the recipe is very forgiving, so feel free to experiment with other vegetables, nuts, etc. Calories below are for a single muffin. They are not low calorie but they are nutritions and tasty.

Makes 12 muffins.

The Recipe

• 1 cup almonds
• 1/2 cup ground flax seeds
• 2 t. cinnamon
• 1/4 t. ground cardamom (optional)
• 1/4 t. ground cloves (optional)
• 1 t. baking soda
• 1/4 t. salt
• 3 eggs
• 6 to 8 oz fresh raw spinach
• 2 cups grated carrots or apples or mixture of both
• 1 cup walnuts or pecans, coarsely chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350.
2. Put almonds into a blender and blend till well ground.
3. Add the flax seeds, spices, baking soda, salt and then blend again.
4. Add eggs and blend.
5. Stuff spinach into blender and then put carrots on top (to help weigh down the spinach).
6. Blend till well mixed. You'll probably have to stop and scrape the sides of the blender a few times.
7. Mixture should be moist. Like a thick cake batter. If it seems too dry, add some water or applesauce or banana or ... Be careful not to add too much. Just add a tablespoon at a time.
8. Transfer mixture from blender to large bowl.
9. Stir in walnuts or pecans. (Note that you don't want these nuts to be in blender; you want them to stay chunky.)
10. Grease a muffin tin or line muffin cups with paper or silicone liners.
11. Spoon mixture into muffin cups.
12. Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

1. Add raisins at end (along with pecans or walnuts).
2. Blend in some protein powder.
3. Add a banana.
4. Bake in a shallow pan like a cake instead of in muffin cups.