Cardamom Peach Muffins

 

There's nothing like baking up a batch of warm, cardamom-scented muffins to ease the mind and the soul.  Measuring, mixing, pouring.  It all seems so methodical and calming.  It was good to see dirty bowls in my sink and cooling muffins on the counter.  All is right with the world. 

These muffins were a sort of farewell to summer and a welcome to fall.  I used some late summer peaches that will surely stop trickling into markets soon, and spiced up the muffins with a good bit of warming cardamom.  The scent of cardamom always seems to be reminiscent of cooler temperatures, steamy mugs of tea, and leaves strewn across the ground. 

This recipe was inspired by Kim Boyce's Good to the Grain which is a must for your cookbook collection.  It is a wonderful book filled with endless inspiration so don't be surprised if there are other posts in the future that mention it.  Kim suggests eating these muffins right away, and I completely agree.  But, if you can't eat them all the day you make them, keep them in an airtight container on the counter or in the fridge for up to 2 days. 

Cardamom Peach Muffins
notes: If you aren't able to find peaches, any other stone fruit would work just as well.  Or, if you are in a bind, you can use thawed and drained frozen peaches.  Make sure your cardamom is somewhat fresh or else you won't get the same lovely flavor from it.  If you don't have whole cardamom for the peaches, you can either omit it altogether, or use a pinch of ground cardamom.  Recipe slightly adapted from Good to the Grain. 

for the peaches
1 large or 2 small ripe but firm peaches, sliced 1/4" thick
1 tbsp coconut oil
1 tbsp pure maple syrup (honey or agave would work, too)
3-4 cardamom pods (optional)

for the muffins
1 cup oat flour
3/4 cup white spelt flour
1/2 cup whole spelt flour
1/2 cup natural cane sugar or coconut sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp ground cardamom

6 tbsp coconut oil, melted (plus more for greasing the tins)
3/4 cup almond milk (or coconut milk)
1/2 cup plain yogurt (I tend to use the coconut milk yogurt)
4 tbsp unsweetened applesauce

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and grease a 12 cup (or larger) muffin tin with coconut oil.  To make the peaches, combine the coconut oil, maple syrup, and cardamom pods in a sauce pan over medium heat.  Stir to combine and cook until the syrup mixture starts to bubble.  When it bubbles, add the peaches and gently toss them to coat them in the syrup.  Remove the peaches from the heat and set aside.

Sift all of the dry ingredients into a bowl and whisk to combine.  In a separate bowl, whisk together all of the wet ingredients until smooth and combined.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry and gently stir with a spatula until the batter just comes together.  When filling my tins, I only filled them up about 2/3 of the way so as not to get huge muffins tops, but if you would prefer larger muffin tops, space the muffins out in your tin (a 24 cup tin would be handy) and mound the batter up slightly over the top.  Once you have filled the tins, place 2 slices of peaches on each top, gently pressing them into the batter a bit.  You can spoon a bit of the leftover syrup over the peaches if you want.  Bake the muffins on the middle rack for about 25-27 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through the baking time.  The muffins will be ready when the bottoms are golden and the edges of the peaches are caramelized.  Cool the muffins in the tin until you can comfortably remove them, then cool completely on a rack.  Makes 9-12 muffins depending on how full you fill the tins.