Lemon Chickpea Muffins

Lemon and cardamom is a classic flavor pairing that make these muffins fragrant and delicious. Using pureed, canned chickpeas creates a very moist, tender muffin because the chickpea starch holds water so well. The addition of ground almonds to the batter contributes a hearty nuttiness as well as healthy fats. Pair these muffins with fresh fruit and yogurt for the occasional breakfast, or grab a muffin and a cup of tea or coffee for an afternoon snack.

Lemon Chickpea Muffins

Chickpea lemon cardamom muffin with coffee cup
Serves 12 muffins, or 28 mini muffins
Ingredients:
  • For batter
    • 1¾ cup (271 g) chickpeas from a 15 oz. can, drained and rinsed
    • 1 Tbsp. (12 g) lemon zest
    • 1 Tbsp. (12 g) orange zest
    • 2 Tbsp. (28 g) fresh lemon juice
    • 2 Tbsp. (28 g) fresh orange juice
    • ¼ cup (52 g) extra virgin olive oil
    • ¼ cup (45 g) granulated sugar
    • 2 egg yolks
    • ⅔ cup (80 g) whole wheat flour, sifted
    • 2 tsp. (8 g) baking powder
    • ½ tsp. (2 g) salt
    • ½ tsp. (2 g) ground cardamom
    • ⅓ cup (30 g) ground almonds
    • 2 egg whites
  • For topping
    • 1 Tbsp. (8 g) ground or slivered almonds
    • ¼ tsp. (1 g) ground cardamom
    • ½ tsp. (2 g) granulated sugar (optional)
Preparation:
  1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit. Line muffin tin with paper liners.
  2. Puree the chickpeas in a food processor until smooth.
  3. Add the lemon and orange zest, juice, olive oil, sugar, and egg yolks. Puree until smooth.
  4. Sift together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cardamom. Stir in the chickpea mixture, and then add the ground almonds.
  5. Whisk the egg whites until they hold semi-soft peaks. Fold the egg whites into the batter carefully, so not to deflate the egg whites.
  6. In a small bowl combine the ground or slivered almonds, sugar (optional), and cardamom. Set aside.
  7. Scoop batter into muffin tin. You can use a ⅓ cup to do this, but you’ll only need to add a generous ¼ cup of batter to each muffin cup. Sprinkle the muffin batter with some of the almond-cardamom mixture.
  8. Bake in the oven 12 to 13 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Nutrition information per serving (1 muffin, or 1/12 of recipe):

145 calories, 4 g protein, 16 g carbohydrate, 1 g fiber, 5 g sugar (4 g added sugar*), 195 mg sodium, 90 mg potassium, 7 g fat (1 g sat, 5 g mono, 1 g poly, 0 g trans), 25 mg cholesterol

*Includes optional ½ tsp. (2g) granulated sugar in topping

Recipe courtesy of The Culinary Institute of America

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