Cranberry Lemon Muffins (Secretly Healthy!)

This recipe might sound a little crazy, but trust me, it works.

The secret ingredient? Coconut flour!

Now, when I first was playing around with this recipe, I was a bit skeptical. I had tried cooking with coconut flour before, and I hated it. The gritty texture, the dry outcome...yuck. But then this recipe converted me.

Seemingly strange ingredient ratios, odd-looking batter, but an AMAZING end product!

This exact recipe I'm going to show you won me a first place ribbon at the Virginia State Fair, and I am honored to now pass it down to you.

It's gluten-free, grain-free, and can be dairy-free if you so choose.

It is NOT vegan, though. It has a lot (and I repeat A LOT) of eggs in it, and they cannot be replaced with flax-eggs. I tried that once, and it resulted in very flat, sunken, sad little blob-like muffins. I have not tried other egg-replacers, but I wouldn't recommend trying since eggs play so big of a role in these muffins.

Step 1: Ingredients and Tools

Ingredients:

3/4 cup coconut flour (lightly scooped into the measuring cup)

3/4 tsp baking powder

2 lemons

9 eggs (yes, really)

1/2 cup sugar

3/4 tsp salt

3/4 tsp pure vanilla extract

1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp milk of choice (I used coconut milk here, but regular milk works as well)

1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp melted coconut oil (or melted butter)

2/3 cup dried cranberries, plus more for sprinkling on top (you could also use a different dried or fresh fruit, such as blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, raisins, or even chocolate chips!)

Tools:

Measuring cups and spoons

2 large mixing bowls

A fine grater or zester

A whisk

A sifter

Step 2: Preheat Oven and Sift the Coconut Flour

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (205 degrees C).

Dump 3/4 cup coconut flour into the sifter and shake it back and forth to sift into a large mixing bowl.

Step 3: Whisk in the Baking Powder

Add the 3/4 tsp baking powder to the coconut flour and whisk well to combine.

Step 4: Zest and Juice the Lemons

Wash and dry 2 lemons. Zest both on a fine grater, being careful not to grate too far into the skin. You don't want the white part in your muffins, because it is the bitter pith part of the lemon, and it will give them a nasty bitterness instead of the pleasant pop of lemony flavor you want. It's better to grate too little than it is to grate too deeply.

Juice one of the lemons and squeeze into a bowl. Fish out the lemon seeds (you don't want any "surprises" in the muffins!).

Step 5: Wet Ingredients

Crack all nine eggs into a bowl and beat them.

Add in all the other ingredients:

Lemon zest and juice, 1/2 cup sugar, 3/4 tsp salt, 3/4 tsp pure vanilla extract, 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp milk of choice, and 1/4 cup + 2 Tbsp melted coconut oil.

Whisk it all together well.

Step 6: Add Wet to Dry

Dump in the egg mixture into the flour mixture and whisk until just combined. Don't overmix, as that could result in flat muffins due to overreacted baking powder. Nice and easy.