Keto Peach Muffins: A Deliciously Healthy Treat

For peach enthusiasts seeking a guilt-free indulgence, these keto peach muffins offer a symphony of flavors and textures. Moist, flavorful, and subtly sweet, they boast a delightful combination of cinnamon warmth and juicy peach pieces. Crafted with almond flour, cottage cheese, and eggs, these muffins are naturally gluten-free, low in carbs, and a good source of protein. They're also quick and easy to make, baking in under 25 minutes. These muffins are a great way to use fresh produce in the summer.

Why You'll Love These Muffins

• Keto-Friendly: Perfect for those following a ketogenic or low-carb lifestyle.
• Gluten-Free: Made with almond flour, making them suitable for those with gluten sensitivities.
• High in Protein: Thanks to the almond flour, eggs, and cottage cheese.
• Moist and Flavorful: The combination of ingredients creates a tender crumb and delicious peach flavor.
• Easy to Make: Simple steps and minimal ingredients make this recipe a breeze.
• Versatile: Enjoy them for breakfast, snack, or dessert.

Key Ingredients and Their Role

• Almond Flour: Provides a gluten-free base and a slightly nutty flavor. Be sure to use blanched, super-fine almond flour in this recipe.
• Peaches: The star ingredient, adding sweetness, moisture, and a burst of fruity flavor. Fresh homegrown peaches are so much more flavorful than frozen. Local homegrown peaches are the best if you can find them. But if you can't, look for freestone peaches (that means the pit will be easy to remove when you peel and dice the peaches). I find firm yellow peaches are the best type for baking grain-free muffins.
• Cottage Cheese: Adds moisture and a subtle tang, while also increasing the protein content.
• Eggs: Provide structure and richness to the muffins. For best results, use room-temperature eggs.
• Sugar-Free Sweetener: Allulose sweetener works best in this recipe, which is perfect for cake and muffins and doesn't have any aftertaste or cooling effect. But you can use another sweetener of choice like erythritol, monk fruit, stevia, etc.
• Cinnamon: Enhances the peach flavor and adds a warm, comforting touch.

Step-by-Step Instructions

Here are two slightly different versions of the recipe.

Recipe 1

1. Preparation: Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners.
2. Blend Cottage Cheese: In a food processor, blend the cottage cheese until it's completely smooth. This ensures a creamy texture in the final product.
3. Combine Dry Ingredients: In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the almond flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. This ensures that the baking powder is evenly distributed, leading to a consistent rise.
4. Combine Wet Ingredients: In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs. Stir in your chosen sweetener, vanilla extract, and the blended cottage cheese.
5. Combine Wet and Dry: Gradually add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients, mixing until just combined. Be careful not to overmix the batter, which may result in tougher muffins.
6. Prepare Peaches: Lightly dust the diced peaches with almond flour and toss to combine. This helps prevent the peaches from sinking to the bottom of the muffins during baking.
7. Fold in Peaches: Gently fold the peaches into the batter, ensuring they are evenly distributed.
8. Fill Muffin Cups: Spoon the batter evenly into each cupcake liner, filling each about ¾ of the way to the top.
9. Bake: Bake for approximately 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Since every oven heats differently, we recommend checking for doneness at 20 minutes.
10. Cool: Let the muffins cool in the pan for a few minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

Recipe 2

1. Preparation: Please read through the recipe, set out all ingredients. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F, 180 C.
2. Prepare Peaches: Cut an x on each peach end. Place in boiling water for one minute. Cool. Peel peaches and chop into small pieces. Set aside.
3. Combine Wet Ingredients: Beat eggs in mixer. Stream in oil. Add Swerve (or sweetener of choice). Add sour cream. Add vanilla.
4. Combine Wet and Dry: Add dry ingredients. Mix for about 20 seconds, using spatula, making sure to get all dry ingredients incorporated.
5. Fill Muffin Cups: Fill muffin tins. An ice cream scoop works well with this kind of batter, which will be thick. If you think it's too thick, you can thin it a little with the almond milk. Add chopped peaches to each muffin.
6. Crumble Topping: Melt butter. Add in almond flour, sweetener and cinnamon. Use hands to crumble. Top with crumble.
7. Bake: Bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 350 degrees F or 180 C or until just golden brown. (Convection bake may be less time and will take 15 to 20 minutes.)

Tips and Considerations for Perfect Muffins

• Don't Overmix: When combining the wet and dry ingredients, mix until just combined. Overmixing develops the gluten in the almond flour, leading to a tougher muffin.
• Check for Doneness: Since ovens vary, start checking for doneness around 20 minutes. A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean or with a few moist crumbs.
• Room Temperature Ingredients: While not essential, using room-temperature eggs can help the batter come together more smoothly.
• Peach Preparation: Dicing the peaches into small, even pieces ensures they distribute evenly throughout the muffins.
• Storage: Store in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 5-6 days. The cottage cheese helps keep them moist.

Variations and Additions

• Spice it Up: Add a pinch of nutmeg, cardamom, or ginger to the batter for a more complex flavor profile.
• Add Nuts: Fold in chopped pecans, walnuts, or almonds for added texture and flavor.
• Berries: Mix blueberries or blackberries, fruit that loves to mix with peaches.
• Chocolate Chips: Add sugar-free chocolate chips for a decadent twist.
• Lemon or Orange Zest: Incorporate citrus zest for a bright, fresh flavor.

Serving Suggestions

• Enjoy them warm with a pat of butter or a dollop of whipped cream.
• Pair them with a cup of coffee or tea for a satisfying breakfast or snack.
• Serve them as a light dessert after a keto-friendly meal.

Storage Instructions

• Room Temperature: Store in an airtight container for up to 2 days.
• Refrigerator: Keep in a sealed container for up to 5 to 6 days. They should stay moist and hold up well thanks to the cottage cheese.
• Freezer: For the freezer, I recommend flash-freezing first by spreading them out on a tray, not touching one another. Once they are hard, place them in a heavy duty freezer bag. This way they don’t stick together and you can grab one at a time more easily. They will last in the freezer for up to 2 months. To thaw, place individual muffins in the microwave on 30% power until warmed all the way through. If you used paper or foil liners, remove those before freezing! They don’t peel away as easily after thawing.

Frequently Asked Questions

• Can I use frozen peaches?While fresh peaches are preferred, you can use frozen peaches in a pinch. Be sure to thaw them completely and pat them dry to remove excess moisture. I've tried making these peach muffins with frozen peaches and they're just not the same.
• Can I substitute the almond flour?This recipe is specifically designed for almond flour. Coconut flour is not a suitable substitute without making significant changes to the recipe. No, this recipe is explicitly designed for and tested with almond flour. Coconut flour will not make a nice crumb topping, and you would have to change the entire recipe for the muffins to make them with coconut flour.
• What if I don't have cottage cheese?You can try substituting with ricotta cheese or full-fat Greek yogurt, but the texture may be slightly different.
• Can I use a different sweetener?Yes, any granular sweetener should be fine, but I do recommend brown sugar substitutes like Swerve as they bring out that peach cobbler flavor.

Keto Peach Cobbler Muffins

These delicious almond flour muffins are chockfull of juicy fresh peaches and have a delicious streusel crumb topping. It's the latest in a long line of delicious keto muffin recipes!

Streusel Topping

• In a medium bowl, whisk together the almond flour, Swerve Brown, and salt. Stir in the melted butter and toss until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Set aside.

Muffins

1. Preheat the oven to 350F and line 16 muffin cups with parchment or silicone liners.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together the sour cream, eggs, and the extracts until smooth. Stir in the almond flour, sweetener, protein powder, baking powder, and salt until well combined.
3. Stir in 1 1/2 cups of the peaches and spoon into the prepared muffins cups, filling about 3/4 full. Top each muffin with a few additonal pieces of peach, then sprinkle with the streusel mixture.
4. Bake 23 to 28 minutes, until golden brown and just firm to the touch. Remove and let cool completely.

Additional Tips

• Protein Powder: Protein powder helps make keto baked goods lighter and fluffier, as it helps replace the gluten, which is itself a protein. You can replace it with egg white protein, and some plant-based proteins may work as well. If you skip it altogether, your muffins will be more dense and more fragile. Collegen protein is not a good choice here, as it will make them gummy and hard to cook through.
• Berries: Yes, you can use another fruit here and berries are your best choice for low carb.

Healthy Peach Muffins (Non-Keto)

Learn how to make the best healthy peach muffins from scratch! They’re supremely moist and tender with the same texture as cupcakes, and they taste like my grandma’s famous peach pie… Even with no oil, refined flour or sugar!

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Coat 12 muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray. (If using liners, then line 12 muffin cups with paper liners, and coat the liners with cooking spray.)
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter and egg whites. Whisk in the almond extract, vanilla extract, and liquid stevia. Whisk in the cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Stir in the Greek yogurt. Stir in the vinegar. Stir in the milk.
3. Add the flour. Sprinkle the baking powder and baking soda on top of the flour (to avoid clumps and make sure the muffins bake evenly!). Stir until just incorporated. Gently fold in the peaches.
4. Divide the batter between the prepared paper liners. Bake at 350°F for 22-26 minutes or until the centers feel firm to the touch and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean or with a few crumbs attached.

Tips

• Do NOT use a hand-held or stand mixer to make this batter! Those tend to overmix this batter, which yields muffins that are tough, gummy, or dense.
• I highly recommend using the liquid stevia!
• The vinegar reacts with the baking soda to help your muffins rise and give them a more tender texture. You can’t taste the vinegar in the fully baked muffins - I promise!
• Both fresh peaches and peaches that have been canned in 100% juice will work. If using fresh, I typically recommend peeling them first. Frozen and thawed peaches should also work, if you thoroughly pat them dry of any excess moisture. For the best results, dice your peaches so they’re the same size as chocolate chips.
• If you’re using muffin or cupcake liners like I did in these photos, you must thoroughly coat them with cooking spray first. (If you skip them and just use a muffin pan, you still need to coat that with cooking spray too!) Low-fat batters, like with these healthy peach muffins, stick to liners and muffin pans like superglue.

Peach Ginger Paleo Muffins

These peach ginger paleo muffins are moist and tender, full of fruity, fresh peaches and earthy ginger. The best thing about these paleo muffins? They don’t taste like they’re paleo!

Read also: Easy Low-Carb Cheese Crackers

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350°. Line a muffin tin with 10 muffin liners.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients: almond flour, coconut flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and ground ginger.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients: eggs, coconut oil, honey, and vanilla extract.
4. Add the dry mixture to the wet mixture and whisk until no lumps remain. Gently fold in the grated carrots and diced peaches.
5. Scoop into prepared muffin tins, filling almost completely full. They will rise, but they will create lovely domed tops.
6. Bake 20-27 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Read also: Keto Calorie Counting: A Detailed Guide

Read also: Magnesium Supplements for Keto

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