Apple Cinnamon Muffins with a Caramel Drizzle

Just as good as toffee apples, this lower carb count, apple cinnamon muffin recipe with the added bonus of a caramel drizzle, will bring you all the flavours you adore in a moist, sweet cake.

I love a toffee apple although I’m not too sure my teeth would agree! So instead I have taken those wonderful flavours and made them into a more tooth-friendly sweet and moist muffin. These apple cinnamon muffins are also gluten and refined sugar-free so they offer a lower overall carb count. They only come in at a 3g net carb count per muffin!

This muffin recipe isn’t too tricky to make but it is made easier by using a stand mixer or electric whisk. This equipment helps to create extra rise and lightness to the muffins which I find hard to achieve doing it manually.

But the real treat with these apple cinnamon muffins is the refined sugar-free caramel drizzle, which adds extra sweetness and moisture to these cakes.

How to make a refined sugar-free Caramel Sauce:

This refined sugar-free caramel drizzle took me a little practice to master. Inspired by the recent Great British Bake Off I decided I needed to give this a go. It was a little hairy on a few attempts but I hope that if you follow the steps in the recipe card, you too can achieve a wonderful refined sugar-free caramel sauce that is perfect for all sorts of toppings.

Top Tips:

Try not to stir the sauce and where possible just leave it to do its thing. I found the more I interfered the more problems I would have, particularly around crystallisation.

If you can’t be bothered to make your own caramel sauce the NKD Living Naked Fibre Syrup or Sukrin Gold Syrup (affiliate link) are brilliant substitutions. Both are sucralose based syrups and are the thickest we have found so far, making them a great replacement.

Note on sweeteners

In this recipe, I use a white sweetener which could be either xylitol or erythritol. Both are a 1:1 substitute for sugar and work brilliantly in cakes.

Although please note I have only attempted the Caramel Sauce using Xylitol

My preference is xylitol and my current favourites are NKD Living Natural Xylitol or Total Sweet Xylitol (affiliate links)

If you prefer to use different sweeteners like sucralose or stevia, remember to convert your quantity. Most brands have this information on their websites.

Don’t be afraid to experiment with different sweeteners and the quantities in sweet recipes. It may take a few attempts to find your preference as we all have a different palate.

What you will need for the Apple and Cinnamon Muffins with a Caramel Drizzle:

• Almond flour/ground almonds
  • Gluten-free and net carb count free
  • This flour adds a lovely nutty flavour and is a great no carb-count option for cakes and bakes
  • My favourites are Seba Garden Extra Fine Almond Flour or NKD Living Finely Ground Almonds (affiliate links)
• Baking powder
  • I use Gluten-free
  • Essential for adding air and lightness into your bakes
• Xanthum gum
  • a binding agent that really helps in all types of gluten free baking
• Eggs
  • A key component to any bake and should be free-range if you can
• Sweeteners
  • I used Xylitol but you could also use erythritol
  • My favourite produt at the moment is NKD Living Natural Xylitol (affiliate link)
  • see notes above on Sweeteners
• Greek youghurt
  • This helps to make these muffins super moist
• Apple
  • A great source of fiber and vitamin C
  • They are also have a low glycemic index which means the carbs enter the bloodstream more slowly, and so there is a lower risk of a blood sugar spike.
• Ground Cinnamon
  • Has a warm sweet flavour
  • Pairs beautifully with apple

For the refined sugar free Caramel:

• Sweetener
  • I use either NKD Living Natural Xylitol or Total Sweet Xylitol (affiliate links)
• Butter
  • adds the caramel flavour
• Double Cream
  • Adds teh creamy flavour to the caramel sauce

Diabetes Note

These apple cinnamon muffins with the added bonus of a caramel drizzle are gluten and refined sugar-free. The overall carb count is also dramatically lowered by switching out the traditional ingredients for almond flour and sugar alternatives instead.

We have found that by making some switches to reduce the carb count can ultimately help with overall blood glucose management.

Carb Counting

The overall carb count for a serving (one) apple cinnamon muffin with caramel drizzle based on the ingredients we would count is:

• Greek youghurt = 75g – 3.2g of carbs
• 3 Apples = approx 300g weighed with core – 30g of carbs

Now add all the carbs together – 3.2+30 = 33.2g

Finally divide this by the serving size, 12 – 33.2/12 = 2.8g of carb per serving

Please note I didn’t count for the double cream as the 3tbsp is under 1g of carbs and if you are only using a little of the caramel sauce the carb count becomes negligible.

Also, please note this carb count amount per portion is based on the standard ingredients listed above and may differ depending on what you use and how much you choose to eat.

Apple Cinnamon Muffins with a Caramel Drizzle

Just as good as a toffe apple, these this lower carb count, apple cinnamon muffins will bring you all the flavours you adore in a moist, sweet cake

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Course: Sweet treatsCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy

Cook Mode

Keep the screen of your device on

Servings

12

servings

Prep time

20

minutes

Cooking time

35

minutes

Total time

55

minutes

Ingredients

• 250 g almond flour

• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder (GF)

• 2 tsp ground cinnamon

• 4 large eggs, separated

• 150 g xylitol – see notes if using another sweetener

• 75 g greek yoghurt

• 3 medium apples, grated (approx 250g)

• For the refined sugar-free caramel drizzle

• 6 tbsp xylitol

• 3 tbsp water

• 20 g butter

• 3 tbsp double cream

Directions

• Preheat the oven to 180 C and line your muffin tins with 12 cases
• In a bowl mix together the almond flour, baking powder and ground cinnamon.
• In another bowl, using an electric whisk or stand mixer, whisk together the egg whites until light and fluffy. Set to one side.
• In another bowl or if using the stand mixer put the whisked egg whites into a separate bowl. Whisk together the egg yolks, sweetener and yoghurt until combined.
• Then slowly mix in the almond flour mixture until fully blended. Do not over whisk!
• Once combined fold in the egg whites, again being very careful not to over whisk as you want to keep as much air in as possible.
• Finally, gently fold in the grated apple with a spatula.
• Using 2 spoons, spoon the mixture evenly into your muffin cases.
• Bake for 30-35 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
• Leave to cool on a rack.
• For the refined sugar-free caramel drizzle
• In a heavy-bottomed pan add your water and then the xylitol on top
• On a medium heat leave the xylitol to dissolve and if needed just gently swirl the pan to cover any xylitol with the water
• leave it to bubble away for a few minutes resisting the urge to move or stir. The liquid will start to change colour very slightly but I could go by the smell as to when it needed to be removed from the heat.
• Now add the butter, return to the heat and gently swirl to ensure it has all melted and leave for another minute
• Finally, add the cream which should cause some bubbling and swirl to mix. Leave for another minute to bubble away
• You should now have a gorgeous light creamy caramel sauce that can be drizzled on your muffins once they have cooled.

Tips and Notes

• In this recipe, I use a white sweetener which could be either xylitol or erythritol. Both are a 1:1 substitute for sugar and work brilliantly in cakes.
• Only use xylitol if you are making the caramel sauce.
• Storage – These will keep fresh in a sealed container for a few days.
• Diabetes Note – These apple cinnamon muffins with caramel drizzle are gluten and refined sugar-free. They also have a lower carb count at only 3g of carbs per muffin!

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