Sweet Cauliflower Muffins with Dried Cherries & Nuts
Yup, you read it right. Sweet, not savory, cauliflower muffins with dried cherries and nuts. This recipe was inspired by my healing foods for autism post last week. The response to that blog was overwhelming on Facebook. Many parents said they couldn't get their children to eat some of the foods on my list. That got me thinking and I decided to create some gluten-free, casein-free recipes that included those essential minerals that may help manage symptoms of autism and ADHD. Recipes that would appeal to a child's palette but also hide some nutrient-rich foods many children won't eat like cruciferous vegetables.
As some of you know, I love cooking with cauliflower. Several of my cauliflower recipes are my most popular posts on Ordinary Vegan. The extraordinary thing about these cauliflower muffins is that you can't taste the cauliflower but reap all the nutritional benefits. For example, cauliflower is sulfur rich for healthy gut and folate rich for neural development. In addition to the cauliflower, I included ground flax seeds and nuts which are manganese rich and help with anxiety. I also added blackstrap molasses which is iron rich for brain function. Not only are these muffins an excellent snack for autism spectrum disorder but also for anyone who wants to feed themselves and their family nutrient-rich recipes to improve gut bacteria. Always remember, healthy gut bacteria plays a major role in everyone's health and longevity.
I also recommend individually wrapping and freezing the muffins for a grab-n-go snack. They thaw quickly and still taste great. Hope you enjoy these cauliflower muffins as much as I did. Don't miss any of Ordinary Vegan's free recipes by signing up here.
- 1½ cups gluten-free flour
- 2 tablespoons ground flax seed
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ cup chopped walnuts (or nuts of your choice)
- ½ cup dried cherries or cranberries
- 1¼ cups chopped raw cauliflower
- 1 cup of non-flavored almond milk (or soy)
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ⅛ cup black strap molasses
- ¼ cup apple sauce
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 1 ripe banana
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin or use muffin cup liners.
- Combine all the dry ingredients.
- Place the cauliflower into a food processor. Process until it is a fine crumble. Add all the remaining wet ingredients. Process until smooth.
- Mix the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until all the flour mixture is absorbed. Try not to overmix.
- Pour the batter into the prepared muffins cups, filling them about ⅔ full. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the tops are lightly browned and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Turn onto a wire rack.
- *I like to individually wrap them and put them in the freezer after they cool. They thaw quickly and still taste wonderful.
- *If your dried fruit is too hard, in a small bowl, soak the dried fruit covered in apple juice or water for 10 minutes
They are in the oven now!
Hope you like them Dawn!
Is the coliflower used raw or boiled?
Hi Daveed – It calls for raw cauliflower – I just made a note of that on the recipe. Thanks for the heads up and thanks for being part of our community.
Nancy