Teff Hazelnut Muffins

In our continuing experiments with whole grains we have opened a chapter into the world of Teff flour. Having never seen Teff before I will simply say this flour looks like dirt. Perhaps that is for when a flat crepe-like bread called injera made from Teff in Ethipoia falls on the ground you can’t tell that it has dirt on it. This muffin recipe is another recipe from Boyce’s Good to the Grain book that we highly recommend.

Following on Boyce’s general advice we will not be making these muffins only with Teff flour but with whole wheat and all purpose to support the texture and flavor. The addition of the Teff in this muffin mix provided a taste that is almost hard to describe. However, the use of browned butter hazelnuts may have provided quite a bit of the flavor beyond the Teff. We substituted apple sauce for yogurt for I did not check that I had all of my ingredients before making a decision to make these and made minor adjustments to the spices. The muffins were light in texture compared to a heavier carrot muffin and just melted in the mouth with delicious flavors. The hazelnuts provide a nice crunch and the spices provided a nice aroma in the kitchen as they came out of the oven. The effort was a bit more that a typical muffin recipe with the chopping of the nuts and butter preparation.

We enjoyed these muffins and can see many ways to expand beyond this base mixture. If you like nuts, the brown butter hazelnuts mixture could easily find its way into other recipes. Overall we rate these muffins as outstanding and worth a try especially if your near fresh hazelnuts from the Oregon coast.

Recipe

Butter or Pam for the tins

Brown Butter Hazelnuts
4 ounces (1 stick) unsalted butter
½ cup raw hazelnuts, skins on, chopped into
rough halves
½ teaspoon kosher salt

Topping
½ cup raw hazelnuts, skins on, finely chopped
¼ cup sugar
¼ all spice
½ teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated
½ teaspoon cinnamon

Dry mixture
1 cup whole-wheat flour
¾ cup teff flour
½ cup all-purpose flour
½ cup sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Wet mixture
1 cup buttermilk
½ cup apple sauce
2 eggs
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Rub butter into muffin tins
with a ¹⁄3-cup capacity alternating the tins for the muffins to spread if desired. (use two)

Place the butter, hazelnuts, and salt in a small heavy-bottomed pan and cook over medium heat, swirling the pan occasionally and watching until the edges of the nuts to turn golden brown. Remove the pan from the cooktop before the nuts get too brown. Pour them into a bowl to cool down.

In a small bowl, stir together the finely chopped hazelnuts, sugar, allspice, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Set aside for the topping.

Sift the dry ingredients into a large bowl, pouring back into the bowl any flour or other ingredients that may remain in the sifter.

In a medium bowl beat the egg and then add the remaining wet mix ingredients. Whisk the wet ingredients until thoroughly combined.

Pour the hazelnut butter over the dry ingredients followed by the buttermilk mixture. Using a spatula, mix together the wet and dry ingredients until blended.

Scoop the batter into 10 muffin cups, using a spoon or an ice-cream scoop. The batter should be mounded above the edges of the cups. Sprinkle the hazelnut topping evenly over the batter, gently pressing it into the batter so that it adheres. The nut will tend to slide off so push them into to the batter.

Bake for 22 to 26 minutes, rotating the pans halfway through (switch them if cooking with two pans on different levels). The muffins are ready to come out when they smell nutty, the hazelnuts are toasted, and the bottoms are golden in color. Remove the tins from the oven, twist each muffin out, and place it on its side in the cup to cool. These muffins are best eaten warm from the oven. They can also be kept in an airtight container for up to 2 days.

Adapted from Good to the Grain, Boyce