Roasted Strawberry-Chamomile Muffins

As a writer of recipes, I’m often asked about how to make ingredient substitutions for things I’ve created. Most often, the interest is in how to use one ingredient to closely replicate my results, with the added benefit of avoiding a food allergy or preference, and for the layman, there are lots of ways to do this (sometimes.) And I share these tips and tricks when they make themselves available.

But the more that I study and teach holistic nutrition, the more that I see that the answer is this: no two ingredients are “the same.” They don’t perform the same way, or give the same impact. And as a person who is creating recipes not just for their feel-good-flavors, but also for maximum nutritional impact, energetic amplification, and straight-up joy, it feels worth saying that if you change up the ingredients in something – anything – you have a COMPLETELY different product, that is not at all the same because everything everything EVERYTHING has it’s own unique qualities. And observing these qualities, and honoring them, is what Ayurvedic medicine is all about.

The downside of substitution

The recipe for these Roasted Strawberry-Rose Muffins is a perfect example. You could absolutely mix up the flours that I’ve selected here, say, employing straight-up all-purpose flour instead of the astringent, nourishing, and detoxifying spring-friendly flours I’ve put in the recipe. The muffins would “work;” they would rise, and taste delicious, just like mine. But they would have a COMPLETELY different impact on your body and being. Because all-purpose flour has completely different qualities than almonds, sorghum and quinoa. Firstly, all-purpose flour is typically wheat-based, and wheat is sweet, moisture-building, and nutrifying. These are wonderful qualities, but they are less beneficial for our bodies in the spring when our systems are striving to offload extra moisture and lighten up for the season ahead.

Conversely, almond, sorghum and quinoa flours are astringent and sweet in nature, meaning that they still nutrify, but they also HELP our bodies to off-load extra moisture, and are more easily digestible for our sensitive systems as the weather warms. And that is why they appear in this recipe.

These flavor queues sound abstract, but flavors are the only way that our bodies have of determining the nutritional and energetic values of the foods we eat (contrary to what we may believe from a nutritionist, our bodies can’t actually decipher a nutrition label. They don’t give a f*ck about calories or macros. They want FLAVOR.) By dropping the astringent flavors of these flours, we completely change the nutritional benefit of the muffins, making them a food that isn’t facilitating what our bodies need in season, and instead hindering it. (Whomp whomp.)

That said, I really hope you make these muffins because they are SO good, so easy, and worth picking up a couple of bags of special flour to make it happen.

End rant – these MUFFINS!

Snacks are infinitely important in a house with a newborn; for feeding yourself, for fueling ridiculously early mornings and late nights, and also offering up some kind of treat to those kind enough to deliver meals, flowers, gifts and other random acts of kindness to your doorstep when you haven’t changed your clothes in two days. These Roasted Strawberry-Rose Muffins are a peek of spring through the chilly weather, a very welcome offering to place on the table with a little jar of ghee, and no one complains (no matter what flours you use!) when you get to enjoy a few tender, light bites in a sun-drenched kitchen together.