Well Beard and Bonnet friends, it is almost Valentine's Day and while I don't make a big fuss about it I do like to do something special for Todd and the kids every year. Our festivities usually include making the kids cards for their friends at school, cooking everyone's favorite dinner, and a nice bottle of wine for Todd and I to share. This year I decided to swap it up a little and add a breakfast treat into the mix too. These sweet little raspberry kissed mini-muffins are quite possibly the cutest way to spread a little Valentine's love.
No need for over processed, artificially colored candy hearts with lame sayings on them this year. You can opt for a little delectable handmade for you with love sentiment instead! Sure it takes a little longer than running to the store and buying a bag of candy hearts, but it's SO worth the trouble when you see the smiles on your families faces as they spot these little muffins sporting snazzy little raspberry hearts on them.
Not only are these muffins SUPER cute, but they are really delicious too! You can't really go wrong with toasted almonds, honey butter, and a little twinge of raspberry.
Do you have a special treat that you make for your family on Valentine's Day?
Raspberry Kissed Mini-Muffins (Gluten Free)
- Yield: 4 dozen 1x
Ingredients
- 2 cups blanched almonds, lightly toasted
- ½ cup unsalted butter, 1 stick, cut into cubes
- ⅓ cup local honey
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ¼ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
- ¾ cup high quality all-purpose flour, sifted, I used Cup 4 Cup
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 5 large egg whites
- ½ cup fresh or thawed frozen raspberries, pureed and strained
Instructions
- Preheat a large, heavy bottomed pan, over medium-low heat. Pour the blanched almonds in the pan in a single layer. Toss frequently until fragrant and starting to toast slightly. Remove the almonds from the heat and allow them to cool completely. Transfer the almonds to a food processor fitted with the "S" blade and process until the toasted almonds are ground into small uniform pieces.
- In a small saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat, whisking frequently, until it is golden brown about 6-8 minutes. Carefully add the honey to the butter, whisking to combine completely. Remove from the heat; keep warm until needed
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line a mini-muffin pan with paper liners, set aside.
- In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment combine the ground almonds, both sugars, flour, and salt. Mix on low speed until combined. Add the egg whites one at a time on medium-high speed, beating after each addition, stopping to scrape the sides as needed. On low speed add the warm honey mixture in a thin stream; mix on high speed for about 45 seconds until completely incorporated.
- Spoon a tablespoon of batter into each muffin cup, filling them about ⅔ full. Then spoon a very small drop of raspberry puree along one side of the batter. Take a toothpick, wooden skewer, or tip of a pairing knife and insert it slightly into the batter just above the raspberry puree. Starting a centimeter above the raspberry puree gently draw a line through the middle of the puree all the way through the bottom to create a small heart shape. *it is important here to use only a small amount of pressure to draw the line trough the raspberry puree. Otherwise you will draw a line through the batter too and it will cause a split in your muffin when it bakes. You will have leftover puree, reserve it for touching up after baking.
- Bake the muffins in the preheated oven for 15-20 minutes, rotating the pan once, until the edges are golden brown. Transfer the muffins to a wire rack to cool for at least 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
If any of your raspberry hearts don't quite turn out or split during baking you can "paint" a little extra raspberry puree on the tops after they have completely cooled.
This recipe adapted from Martha Stewart's Cookies.
marquis @realrawkitchen says
so, so cute!! I love them 🙂
Meg says
Thanks so much Marquis!
stonepylon says
Wow - these look totally fab! Definitely trying these. Thanks.:)
Meg says
Thanks so much! I hope you enjoy them:)
Sherrie | With Food + Love says
I love mini ANYTHING.
These look ridiculously sweet + adorable.
XO SHERRIE
Meg says
Thanks so much Sherrie!!
Gina @ So Let's Hang Out says
So CUTE, Meg! Love these little things.
Meg says
Thanks Gina!!! The fruit bandit was all over those little muffins:)
Lexi @ Lexi's Clean Kitchen says
These are so so cute. Love them!