How To Bake Yummy Buckwheat Muffins with Cranberries and Toasted Almonds

Buckwheat flour is one of the more commonly available non-wheat flours, and it can be a great resource for gluten-free baking. It has a strong, interesting flavor, nutty and sort of rustic, for lack of a better word. It definitely has more personality than all-purpose flour, which makes for much more complex muffins. It can have a bitter lean to it, but the strong ingredients in this recipe keep it under wraps.

Oh yes, let’s talk about the other ingredients! Buckwheat is just a small part of what makes these muffins so amazing. Olive oil, almond, yogurt, lemon, cranberries – they have it all. It’s chock full of flavor and bursting with health, and all the different textures (silky olive oil, coarse buckwheat, crunchy nuts) make for a pretty wild muffin. Yes, we just called a muffin “wild”.

Buckwheat (Photo credit: Renée S. Suen)

Ingredients:

1 cup Greek yogurt or sour cream
3 cups buckwheat flour
2 cups granulated sugar
2 egg whites
½ cup olive oil
3 tsp. baking powder
zest of one lemon
½ cup almonds, chopped coarsely
½ cup cranberries

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 F.
Spread chopped almonds onto baking tray and bake for 10 – 12 minutes. When almonds are lightly browned and toasty, remove from oven but keep oven at 350 F. Place baking tray on baking rack to cool.
Whip egg whites in small mixing bowl until stiff peaks form. Set aside.
Stir flour, sugar, and baking powder together in medium mixing bowl.
Add yogurt, olive oil, and lemon zest to flour mixture and stir until combined.
Fold egg whites into batter. Gently stir in toasted almonds and cranberries.
Fill silicone muffin pan tins 2/3 of the way with batter and bake for 20 minutes. Serve plain or with jam or honey and enjoy!