Gluten Free Keto Friendly Matcha Muffin

This gluten-free and keto friendly matcha muffin is perfect as a quick snack or breakfast. The dry ingredients can be mixed ahead and stored in a mason jar. All you need to do is combine the dry mix, an egg, and oil–then cook with microwave–voila, a delicious snack is ready to enjoy. This recipe is also fabulous when you want to make just one muffin. You can enjoy a freshly made muffin without heating up an oven. It’s easy, quick, convenient–and satisfying! The “matcha muffin mix” will make a great gift as well!

“Homemade Matcha Cake Mix”

This recipe was adapted from “Matcha Mug Cake”. It caught my eye not just because it uses Matcha, but also because the dry ingredients can be mixed ahead of time. Using a dry form of sweetener, such as Allulose, and Vanilla powder, the only wet ingredients you need are one egg and 1 Tbsp. oil. It makes this simple recipe even quicker to fix a satisfactory snack. The best part is you can use organic quality ingredients and no chemical additives. It’s healthier than a commercially available boxed cake mix.

What is Allulose?

First I tried this recipe with Maple syrup. It tasted fantastic! Matcha and Maple syrup taste great together–if you haven’t tried Matcha Latte made with Maple syrup, you should try it. Maple syrup is my first choice when it comes to sweetening Matcha. If I’m out of Maple syrup, I’d use Agave. This muffin recipe is keto friendly, so the original recipe suggested using Allulose, which was new to me, so I looked it up.

Allulose is an alternative sweetener that’s trending right now. Allulose is naturally present in small quantities in a variety of sweet foods, such as maple syrup, figs, and raisins. Allulose powder looks like sugar and tastes like sugar. However, Allulose is not recognized by the body as a carbohydrate and is not metabolized as energy, so it has a negligible amount of calories. Allulose has received Generally Recognized As Safe (GRAS) status from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 

But that doesn’t mean you can indulge this new sweetener in an infinite amount. As it is not the natural form, it is reasonable to assume consuming too much of it all the time would not be completely free from affecting our system.

I usually use dates, raisins, maple syrup, or agave as sweeteners when we cook. But when I saw an organic Allulose in our local grocery store, we decided to give it a try. The powder is pure white and tastes sweet without a bitter aftertaste like stevia. When I made the matcha muffin using Allulose, the muffin tasted fine, although I liked the taste of Maple syrup better.

Microwaving vs. Baking

My concern with using a microwave was it might make this muffin dry and tough. It wasn’t. I was pleasantly surprised by how light and bouncy the muffin was. I added sliced almonds to the original recipe to add a little bit of crunch.

The discovery that a microwave can cook a delicious, bouncy muffin was delightful. But then, I was curious if baking in an oven would make it even tastier. To my surprise, I found the texture of muffins cooked with microwave was more attractive–firmer and bouncier, compared to the baked counterpart.

Recipe notes:

1. Oil sets the flavor of this muffin. Usually, Matcha and coconut make a great flavor together, but as this recipe uses almond flour, the coconut oil was not a great choice. We recommend Grapeseed oil or Avocado oil for this recipe.

2. The original recipe included 1/8 tsp. salt in each muffin–we reduced the amount from the original recipe significantly, but still, it was too salty. We recommend no salt or just a tiny pinch if you would like to use salt.

3. If you would rather baking than cooking with a microwave, here are the baking instructions: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F,  spoon the batter into parchment-lined muffin tin. One muffin recipe makes one giant muffin or 2 small muffins like in the photo below. Bake for 15 minutes. Check doneness by inserting a toothpick into the center–if it comes out clean, it is done.

Homemade Gluten Free Keto Friendly Matcha Muffin Mix 

Combine the following ingredients thoroughly. Store the dry mixture in a pint Mason jar. Makes 5 muffins.

Ingredients:

•  3/4 cup + 2 Tbsp. Almond flour
• 1 Tbsp. + 2 tsp. Matcha (We used our organic Cha Ka matcha.)
• 3/4 tsp. Baking soda
• 1 + 1/4 tsp. Vanilla powder
• 1/2 cup + 2 Tbsp. Allulose

Gluten Free Keto Friendly Matcha Muffin

Ingredients:

• 6 Tbsp. Homemade Gluten Free Keto Friendly Matcha Muffin Mix (See the recipe above.)
• 1 Egg
• 1 Tbsp. Avocado oil, Grapeseed oil, or Melted Ghee
• 1 Tbsp. Sliced Almonds

1. In a small bowl, mix 1 egg and 1 Tbsp. avocado oil, grapeseed oil, or melted ghee.

2. Add 6 Tbsp. “Homemade Matcha Muffin Mix with Allulose” and mix until well combined.

3. Line a microwave-safe mug (6-8 oz size) if you wish. Pour the batter into the mug. Top with sliced almonds.

4. Place the mug in the center of the microwave. Cook on high power for 75 to 90 seconds. The muffins are done when a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

5. Enjoy as is, or top it with whipped coconut cream, if desired.

If you would like to use Maple syrup rather than Allulose…

If you prefer to use Maple syrup instead of Allulose, just omit Allulose when you make the muffin mix. And then, you’ll use the following ingredients to make a muffin:

• 3 Tbsp. + 2.5 tsp. Homemade Gluten Free Keto Friendly Matcha Muffin Mix (made without Allulose)
• 1 Egg
• 1 Tbsp. Avocado oil, Grapeseed oil, or Melted Ghee
• 1.5 Tbsp. Maple syrup
• 1 Tbsp. Sliced Almonds

Instructions:

Mix Maple syrup with egg and oil.  Add “Homemade Gluten Free Keto Friendly Matcha Muffin Mix (made without Allulose)” to the wet ingredients.  Then, follow the above instructions 3 – 5.

This muffin makes a great snack or breakfast served with Matcha Latte. Bon Appetit!