Apple & Black Elderberry Muffin Crumble Tops

This is a great Breakfast muffin or snack for morning tea. This recipe contains Black Elderberries so it is filled with beneficial immune properties well known to support GAPS conditions.

Black Elderberry bushes have been found in many parts of the world and grow very well as a native bush right here in Australia. The Australian Elder Berry bush can grow as high as 4 – 6 metres and begin to bloom in late spring with small white flowers followed by small green berries which ripen to a rich black dark purple colour.

Both the berries and the flowers are edible if harvested and prepared correctly. Full of good immune building properties, they are highly recommended to be used in your GAPS daily juicing (about 1 – 2 tablespoons is ideal). You can harvest them during summer and cook and freeze enough for the winter. The flowers also hold great immune properties and can be used in salads and tea.

BLACK ELDERBERRY FACTS

Recent studies in 2009 have shown how Black elderberry extract has shown to be at least 68.37% effective against the H1N1 strain otherwise known as Swine Flu Pandemic strain.
Studies have shown how Black elderberry extract has been found to be effective against the H5N1 strain of Avian Flu (Zakay-Rones et al 1995).
Black Elderberries are rich in anthocyanins which are a type of flavonoid – anthocyanins are antioxidants that may protect cells from free radicals and support your body’s immune system.

There has been quite a bit of debate on the topic of whether the elderberry is poisonous and I have researched this further to find that the stems, leaves and seeds are in-fact poisonous and can make you very ill and this is why it is important to only consume the flowers and berries but the berries need to be properly prepared to neutralise the seeds.
The best approach is to steam or cook the berries upon harvest first, let them cool and then freeze them for later juicing.  Alternatively you can cook the berries in cakes just as we are in this recipe which will remove the potential glycosides present in the elderberry seeds that are said to cause potential side affects and illness. Whilst I am still not completely convinced on whether the berries are poisonous, it is best to prepare your food to suit our human digestion requirements and stay on the safe side. I have been consuming black elderberries for over ten years and can not say I, or my family can report any of the so called side affects.

Black Elderberry has a very long history of culinary and medicinal uses and once you know which parts of the plant to use, and how to prepare the berries for consumption, the rest is a piece of cake.

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Apple & Black Elderberry Muffin Crumble Tops
These delicious treats are suitable from Stage 6 on wards.
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Prep Time 20 Minutes
Cook Time 25-30 Minutes
Servings
Muffins
Ingredients
Mini Muffin Ingredients
Topping
Prep Time 20 Minutes
Cook Time 25-30 Minutes
Servings
Muffins
Ingredients
Mini Muffin Ingredients
Topping
Votes: 0
Rating: 0
You:
Rate this recipe!
Instructions
  1. Peal and cut 4-5 apples into squares and stew them with a tablespoon of water. When cooked remove half a cup of the stewed apples to make the apple crumble topping. (put the remaining stewed apples aside).
  2. Add the half a cup of stewed apple squares to the remaining crumble mixture and mix together and set aside.
  3. Preheat oven to 150 degrees Celsius
  4. With the remaining stewed apple (which will be approximately 1 - 1.5 cups of stewed apples) mash and mix until the apple mixtures is a smooth pure texture.
  5. In a new bowl, add the almond flour, eggs, apple pure, honey, coconut oil and vanilla extract and mix with a hand held electric beater or thermomix. When well combined, add the bicarbonate of soda and lemon juice and mix again for a further 20 seconds or so. This will aid as a raising agent.
  6. Add the elderberries to the cake mixture and stir them in with a wooden spoon.
  7. Pour the mixture into muffin papers placed into a muffin tin.
  8. When the mixture is settled in the muffin papers, add the prepared topping ingredients on top and place into the preheated oven.
  9. Muffins will take approximately 25-30 minutes to cook. Keep an eye on them as almond flour is easy to burn (Don’t cook them in too high temperatures).
  10. Remove from the oven when cooked and allow to cool on a cooling tray. Serve with yoghurt, kefir or sourcream
Recipe Notes

Clinical Notes As with all stages of the GAPS diet, baked goods should only make up a small percentage of the diet and that the focus should be on healing nourishing foods, broths and juices.