Last weekend while in Palm Springs, I went fig picking, and ended up with a beautiful basket of figs. It didn’t take much time for me to come up with the recipe for these caramelized fig and walnut muffins which highlights the sweet nature of the fruit paired with the earthiness of walnuts and oats. These decadent tasting muffins are made with oat flour and Greek yogurt so you can indulge without feeling bad. It doesn’t get better than that!
Ingredients
- 1 cup diced figs (about 7 or 8 figs)
- 2 tbs salted butter
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 cup oat flour (I just grind down rolled oats in the blender)
- ½ cup all purpose flour
- 1 ¼ tsp baking powder
- 1/3 cup canola or other flavorless oil
- 1/3 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
- 1 tsp vanilla bean paste (sub with 1.5 tsp vanilla extract)
- ½ cup roughly chopped walnuts
- 1 egg
To make these caramelized fig and walnut muffins, the first step is to caramelize the figs. Place butter, brown sugar, and figs in a nonstick sauté pan, stirring them around so the butter melts and the sugar begins to caramelize. Sauté on medium heat for 5-10 minutes until the mixture is brown and bubbly, and the figs are soft. Set aside to cool.
Next, in a separate bowl, mix wet ingredients, (egg, oil, yogurt, and vanilla bean paste). Once the fig mixture has cooled for about 5 minutes, mix it into the wet ingredients until everything is combined. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients including walnuts, and add the dry into the wet in 3 batches, mixing until everything is just combined. Do not overmix, but make sure that all of the dry ingredients are moist.
Line a muffin tin with paper liners, and scoop muffin batter out equally between all the sections. For consistency and ease, I use an ice cream scoop to evenly divide the batter into each liner.
This recipe makes 12 muffins.
Bake at 400 degrees for 18-20 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean.
Serve these caramelized fig and walnut muffins on their own, with a pad of butter, or with a scoop of peanut butter for a protein packed snack. Enjoy!
