I love baked treats but I don’t have a sweet tooth so I tend to do more savoury slices, muffins and breads.
Many baked paleo treats use nut meals and as much as we love nuts, and they are nutritious, these treats are not always kid lunch box friendly. Some nuts are also very high in Omega-6 fatty acids and too much of those guys can actually be a little inflammatory to our systems. I’ve been trying to develop a few recipes for baked goodies that are nut free and still use nutritious natural ingredients so I hope you like this one.
Recipe Notes
These savoury muffins are made with grated zucchini and sun-dried tomatoes and garlic to add lots of flavour. The batter is thickened with ground pumpkin seeds, which are rich in vitamin E, zinc and magnesium; flaxseed meal which is high Omega-3 (offsetting those Omega-6 in the pumpkin seeds) and a little tapioca flour. They are super simple to make and will make a great little addition to yours or your kids lunch box.
 Step-By-Step Photos
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Ingredients
- Coconut oil for greasing
- 1 1/2 cup zucchini grated
- 6 sun-dried tomatoes rinsed if in oil
- 1 medium clove garlic
- 1/2 cup pumpkin seeds pepitas
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoons flaxseed meal heaped
- 1/4 cup tapioca flour
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- Generous pinch of salt
- 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 175° C / 350° F (conventional oven). Grease a medium muffin tray (6 casings) with a little coconut oil.
- Using your hands, squeeze grated zucchini to remove as much of the juice as possible. Add the flesh to a mixing bowl.
- Add sun-dried tomatoes, garlic and pumpkin seeds to a food processor. Process until ground and incorporated. Transfer to the bowl with the grated zucchini.
- Add eggs, flaxseed meal, tapioca, onion powder, salt and baking powder to the mix and combine together very well.
- Divide the mixture between 5 or 6 muffin casings (depending on the size) and place in the oven, middle shelf. Bake for 30-35 minutes. Remove and set aside to cool completely before removing from the tray.
- These muffins can be stored in an air-tight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Just made these and I must say they are delicious! A good recipe for those who want to start off the day with something sweet or sugary. They make a quick breakfast and are convenient for eating on-the-go. These gluten-free, dairy-free, even sugar-free muffins are also fantastic for a snack or served with dinner, especially if you miss having bread with your meal. Thanks Irena!
Could you provide an approximate weight for the sun dried tomatoes? I am just wondering how much to put in as I have sun dried tomato strips. Thanks
Maybe a handful.
These are great. I usually replace the flour and use brown rice instead, which has more fibre, protein and less refined carbohydrates.
Hey, so glad to see you have the time to visit the site and leave a comment, and try the muffins 😉
On a serious note though, the 1/4 cup (4 tbsp) of safe tapioca starch is used for binding, so even if you use brown rice to bulk it up, you might still need some form of flour/starch to bind…maybe not, you’ll have to give it a go. The 1/4 cup of brown rice will add an extra 1 gram of fibre and 1.5 grams of protein to the muffins – #Winning!
Hiya I. Made these today and turned out great. Would you mind if I mention your page and recipe on my blog please?
That’s absolutely fine as long as you link back to the original recipe 🙂
Hi I’ve got leaky gut and have to avoid seeds can I leave these out? Thanks
Hey Lindsey, I would say this is not the best recipe to leave out the seeds because they are what forms the batter. I would look at Paleo Mom’s website or Autoimmune Paleo website for some muffin recipes that are leaky gut friendly.
These muffins are absolutely delicious !! It makes me so excited again to make Paleo friendly muffins !
Love the recipe it seems tasty but can i skip the coconut oil ?
I am sure you can make them with olive oil instead.
I just want to say that it’s a amazing food.
Could you use coconut flour with this recipe?
Yes, you definitely can 🙂 I would use less of it though, as it’s very moisture absorbent.
Hi,
Any tips on making this egg free?
Thanks
These are fantastic! Although I had bacon to use so put that in instead of sun dried tomatoes. I also fried the bacon and the garlic before adding it
It’s rare that I have a recipe flop! But these didn’t cook all the way through for me . . . the middle just won’t set:( I’m thinking I used too many sun-dried tomatoes . . . I used a 273 ml jar in oil and figured four pieces would make one hole tomato, so I ended up using the entire jar. Do you mean 6 sun-dried tomato pieces (I did rinse and drain them)? Thanks:) LH
My daughter made these last night. Wow, they looked amazing and were so tasty. thanks for sharing
Thanks, Heather. Glad you both enjoyed these muffins 🙂
How to handle an oven that will not go down to 175*???
175 Celsius, you mean? Most ovens should be fine to go to 175 C, are you thinking Fs? That would be 345 F.
Would it be ok if I skipped the sun dried tomatoes?
Yes, you can add extra ham or some olives.