Servings: 12 Prep: 15 mins Cook: 45 mins Total: 1 hr
Anyone that knows me, follows my blog or likes my Facebook page likely knows that I have a soft spot for all things “Pumpkin”. Spiced pumpkin flavored treats, soups and desserts are always admired and appreciated by this here Foodie.
This dessert came about by thinking of a festive holiday dessert, which could be brought to just about any occasion. The white chocolate, in my mind, was to suggest that these miniature muffins had been snowed upon. I was going to call them “Blustery Mini-Muffins”, but when I added the toasted hazelnuts to the tops, in the photos, it somewhat diminished the “Blustery” look. I leave this in your hands.
Note: These are unbelievably and outrageously delicious. I don’t say that, lightly. They are incredibly soft and moist. The chocolate hardens when it cools, making something like a small soft candy treat. I tried baking larger muffins with this batter and they simply fell flat. They were absolutely delicious, but they were more pancake-like, than muffin-like. The mini-muffins held their shape. On that note, this is likely a mind-melting pancake batter and would be utterly fantastic cooked like pancakes and topped with maple syrup and toasted hazelnuts.
Second Note: The sugar free white chocolate used is sweetened with Malitol. In my opinion, you should count about half the carbs of the white chocolate (not all and not “none”). Also, unless you eat a lot of Malitol … go easy on these, or else you’ll experience some gastric distress.
White Chocolate Dipped Mini Hazelnut-Pumpkin Muffins
Print RateIngredients
- 3/4 cup hazelnut flour
- 1/4 cup golden flaxseed meal
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup 'Swerve' or other sugar replacement
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp guar gum
- 1/4 tsp xanthan gum
- 1 tsp cinnamon ground
- 1/2 tsp nutmeg freshly ground
- 1/2 tsp cloves ground
- 1 tsp fresh ginger grated
- 2 tbsp sour cream
- 2/3 cup mashed pumpkin
- 2 large whole eggs
- 2 tbsp sugar free maple syrup
- 1/4 cup fresh whole butter melted
- 5 oz sugar free white chocolate
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 325 F.
- Blend together all your dry ingredients. Mix them well.
- Combine all your wet ingredients in a mixing bowl. Mix in your warm melted butter, slowly, so as not to accidentally cook the eggs.
- Mix the dry ingredients into the wet, until combined.
- Evenly distribute in 24 greased mini-muffin cups (I used silicone molds). Fill the cups about 80% of the way.
- Bake for about 45 minutes, or until they are golden brown around the edges. They can take a good amount of time in the oven.
- Remove and let cool ... completely.
- Melt the chocolate over a double boiler, being careful not to get any water or steam in the melting chocolate.
- Dip each muffin, top first, in the chocolate. Set aside and let harden. Feel free to dust with cinnamon, hazelnuts, squirts of sugar free milk chocolate, etc.
- Serve!
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* Learn More: More about this recipe and nutrition …
These sound and look ab-so-lute-ly delicious! Like you I too love anything pumpkin but as the Netherlands don’t sell it canned or in any other way prepared I sometimes don’t want to get into wrestling a pumpkin 🙁 Tis recipe however seems a must!! The only thing I don’t have are the chocolate (but can order that on-line) and the maple (which I cannot get hold of) …. am drooling at the thought 🙂 Thanks
Hi Nikki! Thanks! You can really substitute many different kinds of squash. I don’t know what you have in the Netherlands, but Butternut Squash, Acorn, Kabocha, etc. These will all work. About the maple, you can just use a sugar substitute in its place. If you put a small amount of maple flavoring, this will help "make the point". And, the chocolate? Yep, you can find online, or just skip it and make pancakes with the batter! 😉 Let me know how they turn out! 🙂
Could I use almond flour? I have that….I have not seen hazelnut at any of my local stores…I suppose I could make it….But just using my almond would be easier…:)
Hi Melissa. I’ve personally never tried this with almond flour. However, I have tried many other recipes and use the two nut flours interchangeably. I have never noticed a difference in how the two flours behave within a recipe. It’s my belief that almond flour would work quite well and only create a very subtle change in flavor. I’d say … go for it! Regarding finding it, I usually can find it at a Whole Foods (but not always). I tend to order it online, when I run low. Between the two flours, hazelnut is usually my favorite from a taste perspective but almond meal tends to create a more consistent looking product. Both are great and totally interchangeable, in my experience. Good luck!
These look yummy. I’m just full of questions today…. I was curious as to why the guar and the xathan gum? I was under the impression they were pretty interchangeable. Do they do different things for this recipe? Sorry, I told you I liked the science of it, ha.ha.
Hi Fran, in this case, the xanthan serves to act a bit as a structural element, in place of any gluten. If I had to choose between the two, within a baking application, xanthan is the way to go. However, it’s my understanding that there is some synergistic bliss that occurs when both are added. I also don’t know that they can be used interchangeably, always. This is a generalization. For example, if I wanted to thicken a cold soup, I’d use guar gum because it doesn’t need heated, even though it doesn’t have quite the thickening power of xanthan. Again, in the case of this recipe, they’re there to aid in the structure. I hope this helps!
I didn’t realize guar gum was the preferred thickener for cold things. Good information. Thanks.
These look amazing, DJ! Pinning them…
Much oblige, Carolyn! They were very … VERY good! Small little … almost candy-like morsels of yum. Thank you for the pin! 🙂
Do you think I could replace the Hazelnut flour with Almond Flour? (I’m allergic to hazelnut.) Thanks.
Definitely, Debbie! 🙂
Without going into all the chemical properties, this is a pretty good explanation of the difference between guar gum and xanthan gum in case anyone is wondering!
http://blog.bobsredmill.com/gluten-free/guar-gum-vs-xanthan-gum/
Thanks, Olwen. I’ve read that before … and have referenced it many times. <a href="http://blog.bobsredmill.com/gluten-free/guar-gum-vs-xanthan-gum/" target="_blank">Here’s the article</a> that Olwen suggested … for those that wanted something to click on. Thanks, again!
Sorry, DJ, I just answered my own question by reading one of commenters’ earlier posts, and found the answer, so please disregard my last post. I am thinking Stevia might be much better to use than Splenda for the sweetner. But I also just picked up a 2lb bag of Erythritol, so I’m wondering if this might work, as well. Though I haven’t tried using Erythritol yet, it appears to be 100% pure non-GMO and with zero calories. It also says it is great for sugar free recipes. Any thoughts on the above? Thanks in advance.