Is it spring? Is it not? So confusing. I was in shorts last weekend and back to jeans today.

Regardless, the cooler weather always means I’m craving carbs – and so how about this time we do a healthy warm muffin straight from the oven?

Avoiding refined sugars is always a good thing. They unnecessarily “poke the bear” – the “bear” being your pancreas, which has to produce a big dose of insulin to cope with the sugar spike. When reaching for sweet options, always try and choose a more natural sweetener (such as sucanat or coconut sugar) and then make sure you combine it with fibre and protein. Fibre and protein help to steady sugar release so you get less of a spike and more, long-lasting energy.

When you are baking, it’s actually fairly easy to add fibre and protein by choosing recipes that include almond flour. Note that these are typically higher in calories. You don’t have to avoid high-calorie options if they are quality calories, but these recipes are definitely better for more active days (so after a weekend walk for example).

My blueberry and almond butter muffins below do include almond flour, as well as ground seeds (I like Linwoods in the baking section at Miles) for even more protein and a dose of omega 3 too. Furthermore, the fats have largely been replaced with almond butter (again more protein and a nice dose of vitamin E). If your almond butter is well mixed and runny you may not need the coconut oil at all. If your almond butter is fairly stiff or dry, then you will! You can leave it out and if your batter is too stiff, add it just before you add the blueberries.

I absolutely love blueberries in muffins as they look spectacular when they burst open during cooking. That deep purple pigment is so pretty and insanely heart healthy. It’s perfectly fine to use frozen blueberries but defrost them thoroughly and drain away the excess juice. Add the juice to a smoothie so you don’t waste all those antioxidants!

Blueberry & Almond Butter Muffins

Ingredients:

1 cup almond butter

1 cup almond meal flour

3 eggs, whisked

1/2 cup sucanat

1/3 cup Linwoods ground seed mix or unsweetened shredded coconut

1 tbsp coconut oil, melted

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp sea salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 cup fresh blueberries

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350F.

2. Place all the dry ingredients in one bowl, except the blueberries. Mix all the wet ingredients together in another bowl.

3. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and then fold in the blueberries gently.

4. Scoop the batter into liners in a muffin tin.

5. Bake for 14 minutes (mini muffins) or 20 minutes (large muffins) until risen and a pick/sharp knife comes out clean.

Catherine Burns is a fully qualified clinical nutritionist. She can be contacted at 291-4725 or clinicalnutritiongmail.com