Apple and Hemp Muffins with Hemp Crumble Topping

Happy festive period, everyone. I am so excited to share this recipe with you as it was one that proved quite popular on my Instagram stories a few weeks ago and since then I have made them a few times and can attest that they make a great snack, on-the-go mini breakfast and an after-dinner treat.

Apple and Hemp Muffins with Hemp Crumble Topping

As my recipe index will prove, I’m more of a cake, biscuit or raw-bake kinda girl and muffins and cupcakes don’t get too much of a look in. This is quite surprising, really, when I think that cupcakes used to be my thing. I’d make cupcakes for friends’ birthdays in any variety of flavours – from chocolate to vanilla and everything in between. Since starting to focus on more wholefoods, I’ve noticed that my sweet tooth has become much less sweet and I find cupcake icings way too sugar-heavy and sickly. So, without meaning to, my baking creativity went into naturally sweetened, un-iced bakes.

Apple and Hemp Muffins with Hemp Crumble Topping

Now, that’s where the humble muffin comes in. It satisfies the individually-portioned cake desire within me without the heavy icing on top. We’re not talking those super-sweet muffins you get from coffee chain shops, but hearty, wholesome and homemade muffins.

These Apple and Hemp Muffins with Hemp Crumble Topping have it all. A super fluffy and moist sponge that’s the perfect sweetness thanks to the unsweetened homemade apple sauce and the little bit of maple syrup. They also boast complex carbohydrates to keep us going, lots of fibre and healthy fats from the hemp seeds. The best part? The hemp crumble topping (I’ve been loving these ones from Good Hemp)! The topping was always the most exciting part of a cake, so I’ve made a quick and simple ‘crumble’ that really is the icing on the cake!

These bakes surprised me with how good they taste despite being totally healthy and homemade. The apple sauce adds a lot of moistness to the sponge while the blend of ground almonds and spelt flour adds a great bite and texture to the muffin. I make my own applesauce by adding peeled and chopped cooking apples to a saucepan with a splash of water and warming through until you can mash the pieces with a fork. It works every time! I like to make a big batch so I can make (more muffins) apple porridge or stir a spoonful into yoghurt with granola. The applesauce acts a binding agent, too, in this recipe so you won’t need any flax or chia eggs, just a splash of unsweetened plant milk, a pinch of baking powder, a sprinkle of cinnamon and nutmeg and away you go.

p.s. make extra hemp crumble for a deliciously simple breakfast topper!

Apple and Hemp Muffins with Hemp Crumble Topping

• Servings: 12-14
• Time: 35 minutes
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Moist and fluffy apple and hemp muffins with a deliciously crunchy hemp and coconut sugar crumble.

Ingredients

• 240g (1 ½ cups) spelt flour
• 120 (1 cup) ground almonds
• 100g (3/4 cup) hemp seeds
• 2 tsp baking powder
• Pinch salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 180ml (3/4 cup) unsweetened hemp milk
• 260g (1 cup) unsweetened applesauce
• 7 tbsp (1/3 cup) maple syrup
• 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
– Crumble topping:
• 2 tbsp melted coconut oil
• 6 tbsp hemp seeds
• 3 tbsp coconut sugar

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 160Fan/180*C and line a muffin tray with cases
2. In a large bowl, mix the together the spelt flour, ground almonds, hemp seeds, baking powder, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg.
3. In separate bowl, combine the hemp milk, applesauce, maple syrup and vanilla, and stir together until smooth.
4. Prepare the hemp crumble topping by melting the coconut oil and then stirring in the hemp seeds and coconut sugar until combined.
5. Add the apple mixture to the hemp-flour bowl and gently mix through, until just combined – taking care not to overmix.
6. Spoon the mixture into the muffin tray. Top each muffin with about ½ tbsp of the crumble topping.
7. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Allow to cool for 10 minutes in the tray before removing and cooling fully on a wire rack. Store in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Apple and Hemp Muffins with Hemp Crumble Topping

I hope you’ll love these Apple and Hemp Muffins with Hemp Crumble Topping as much as we all did at home. They seriously are a healthy but delicious bake – I can’t believe how good they taste for such a simple recipe! Let me know how you get on by leaving a comment below and tagging me in your creations. I’m @nourishing.amy on Instagram and use the hashtag #nourishingamy so I can see them. You can also find me on Twitter, Facebook and Pinterest – do say hi!

With hemps of love x