Jul 14 2010
RECIPE: The Best Soaked Muffins Ever!
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My kids love pumpkin muffins, well, any muffin really. I make them often because of all the frozen pumpkin and squash that I have in my freezer from the fall. I receive such a great assortment of pumpkins and squashes from my CSA share and I guess I just don’t know what else to do with it all other than to roast, puree, and freeze it for muffins and pie!
Since I started preparing all my grains the “Nourishing Traditions” way, I have had to experiment a little with soaking recipes for muffins and such. There are several recipes floating about, but with a few adjustments, I think I have devised a pretty good soaked muffin recipe.
Are you new to eating traditional? Wonder why I am soaking the batter for these muffins? Whole grains need to be fermented by the way of sour soaking, sourdough, or sprouting in order to improve digestion, and increase nutrient absorption. All grains contain anti-nutrients, and something called phytic acid. Phytic acid (or phytates) act as mineral blockers. Traditional people all over the world knew the importance of properly preparing their grains prior to ingesting them.
In Nourishing Traditions, Sally Fallon states:
All grains contain phytic acid (an organic acid in which phosphorus is bound) in the outer layer or bran. Untreated phytic acid can combine with calcium, magnesium, coper, iron and especially zinc in the intestinal tract and block their absorption. This is why a diet high in unfermented whole grains may lead to serious mineral deficiencies and bone loss… Soaking allows enzymes, lactobacilli and other helpful organisms to break down and neutralize phytic acid… Soaking in warm water also neutralizes enzyme inhibitors, present in all seeds, and encourages the production of numerous beneficial enzymes. The action of these enzymes also increases the amounts of many vitamins, especially B vitamins… During the process of soaking and fermenting, gluten and other difficult-to-digest proteins are partially broken down into simpler components that are more readily available for absorption.
Remember, you will need to plan ahead when making these soaked, and nutritious muffins. If you want to enjoy them for breakfast, start the batter soaking the day before.
On to the recipe. Here’s what you’ll need:
- 2 cups of whole grain flour, preferably freshly ground (I used whole wheat)
- 3/4 cup sour dairy, such as buttermilk, yogurt, kefir, or clabber (could also use water + 2 TBS lemon juice, whey, or apple cider vinegar)
- 1/2 cup melted butter or coconut oil (lard or tallow might be ok too)
- I cup pureed pumpkin, squash, sweet potato, carrot, mashed banana or applesauce
- 2/3 cup sucanat or granulated palm sugar
- 2 eggs, pastured or free-range organic
- 1/4 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp sea salt
- 1/4 tsp cloves
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- Optional add-ins: 1/2 cup raisons, dried cranberries, chopped dates, chocolate chips or crispy nuts
1. In a glass bowl, combine the flour, dairy, and melted butter together. Cover with a clean dish towel or plate and allow this mixture to soak at least 8 hours, or even better, 24. The longer it soaks, the greater the reduction of phytic acid. It is also important that you place this mixture somewhere warm. A good place is your oven with just the light on, or a dehydrator set on low. A cold counter top in the winter is not going to reduce any phytates. You need warmth.
2. Once the batter has had a good soak, add in the rest of the ingredients. You will have to give it all a very good stir. Forget what you have learned about making muffins in the past. It’s not going to work here… but it doesn’t matter, they’re still going to turn out fine! I think I may have even used my electric mixer to get everything incorporated really well, that’s ok! Fold in your add-ins at the end, if using.
3. Pour into greased muffin tins (preferably not aluminum or non-stick — stoneware is good). Bake in a 325 degree oven for about 30-35 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean and your house smelling wonderful. That’s how I know something is ready, it smells done! This recipe makes me about 16 regular sized muffins.
4. Allow to cool for a few minutes and be sure to serve with plenty of raw pastured butter. Cream cheese would be good too… Add a tall glass of cold raw milk and you’ve got yourself a decent breakfast or afternoon snack!
Enjoy, and let me know what you think!
I am sharing this post and participating in Tuesday Twister and Real Food Wednesdays! 
These are delicious! Thanks for sharing!
Thanks Jessica, yes, we love them too! It’s hard to find a soaked recipe that turns out well, but this is one of them!
Hey Christine,
First, I must say that these look divine! What do you think about what Ramiel says about soaking? I believe his position is that only soured/fermented grains remove the phytic acid. Have you heard/read some more about this?
Thanks pretty lady,
Tara
I LOVE making “veggie” muffins! I love my sprouted flour for it because it lends such a tender texture, but supposing I didn’t have sprouted flour (or had friends who didn’t, most don’t) this would be great. Thanks!
Hi Christine,
It was great chatting with you today! I’m so excited to have found someone I can learn from firsthand who is doing the stuff I have been dreaming about! Hip hip hooray! Thanks for all the info and I look forward to chatting again with you:)
Christa
You too Christa, I love talking about food, especially traditional foods! We will definitely be chatting again!
I’ve been fiddling with muffin recipes to make them soaked and was so happy to find one already written for soaking. Thanks.
Hi! I found your site from Katie’s soaked grain e-book! I’m in there too – the breakfast brownies!
I was wondering if you’ve tried this recipe with banana or if that was just a suggestion. I haven’t had success with a soaked banana bread/muffin recipe yet, but I’m hopeful that this one might work!
Hi Joanna, yes, this recipe works great with banana (and added chocolate chips!). What I do is just mash really well or puree the banana and use a measuring cup so that it is equivalent to the same amount of pumpkin. Depending on the size of banana used, it could be different from time to time, that is why I use a measuring cup after mashing. Let me know how it turns out if you try it!
Thank you so much for sharing your tasty recipe. My second batch is in the oven as I type this.
I’d declare them “delish” even if I didn’t know they were also nutritious! I appreciate your willingness to share your knowledge with others. God bless you.
Oh my goodness, these are perfect!
They are light, fluffy and moist. This was my first attempt at a soaked muffin recipe and I’m so happy it turned out so well!
My kids love them too.
I am so glad they turned out good for you Jessica! I don’t think you’ll find a more fool proof soaked muffin than this recipe!
Hi Christine,
I came here following a link from Cheeseslave on Facebook. I love the look of this recipe! I have just tracked down some tinned pumpkin in the UK. I am about to soak my spelt and I have a couple of questions; firstly can I use a liquid sugar like maple or honey? Also can I use less of my sugar option? I am coming off a primal type diet in favour of WAPF and I am scared of sugar! Many thanks in advance for your help.
Charlotte
Hi Charlotte! I have not tested the recipe with liquid sweeteners, because they tend to be more expensive than the solid sweeteners. If you want to try, I would suggest reducing the liquid portion of the recipe. For example, you cancut back on the fat, egg, fruit/veggie purée or buttermilk. And, you can cut down on the sweetness to your liking as well. If you are familiar with making muffins, as long as you get the texture of the batter right with your substitutions, they should turn out fine! Please report back how they turn out!
Hello again! Thanks so much for your kind reply. I’m reporting back as requested!
I made the following changes / variations:
* I used Doves organic wholemeal spelt flour and soaked for about 27 hours
* When soaking I added just the adiculated water (I used whey), no butter, because I was concerned that they addition of butter at this stage may mean that flour particles would be coated in fat and therefore not benefit from the whey action. I added the specified qty of butter in at the pumpkin mixing stage.
* I used 1/2 cup of local raw ‘runny’ honey instead of a solid sugar. I tried 1/3 cup and tasted at the raw stage but it wasn’t sweet enough
* I used 2 medium free range eggs (normally I’d use large)
* I added about 1/4/ tsp ground ginger also
I must confess that I have only attempted muffins once before and they were dreadful. I know what cake batter should look like but no idea for muffins. It was wetter than cake batter. Also, I made to make these in small fairy cake / bun cases because due to afore mentioned muffin cluelessness I didn’t have anything bigger! So I adjusted the time to 25mins.
They are SO YUMMY! Not too sweet (yay!) and a lovely moist ‘muffin’ texture! The honey combined with the subtle spelt and pumpkin flavours tasted really wholesome. I enjoyed mine topped with organic cream cheese and a sprinkle of cinnamon for breakfast. Divine.
Only real problem I had was that they didn’t rise properly like yours… mine rose to the top of the case and were only slightly domed. I don’t know if that’s because the mixture was too wet or I did something else wrong. Oh well! I’ll definitely make them again!
I am so glad they turned out good with the changes you made Charlotte! Did you cut down on the total liquid you used in the recipe overall? I suspect your muffins didn’t rise as much because of the extra liquid, which tends to make the batter heavier. You can also experiment by adding in a little extra baking powder or baking soda.
These were good muffins! I used a cup of banana squash puree I had frozen for a pie. I used 1/3 cup xylitol and 1/3 cup maple syrup instead of sugar and I was happy with the set up and sweetness. Will totally use this recipe, forever! Thank you so very very much for sharing:)
I’m so glad they turned out well for you Allison. Thanks for letting me know!