These paleo hazelnut muffins have lots of nutty flavor and a great texture! Plus a review of Hotel Bavaria in Munich.
At the end of May, we travelled to Munich for a healthier baking class that I was giving. Since I had never been to Munich before, we made a trip out of it.
We stayed at Hotel Bavaria, which I found when searching for hotels with great breakfasts in Munich (priorities, right?). And then I saw that they’re the only hotel in Munich on Trip Advisor’s Top 25 Hotels in Germany list, so my choice was an easy one!
Before we get to the hazelnut muffin recipe, which was inspired by the German Nusskuchen (nut cake) we had at the hotel, I thought I’d share a bit about our experience there. My post about what to do and eat in Munich will be coming soon!
Other than the breakfast, one thing that really drew me to Hotel Bavaria is that it’s a family-run hotel with “only” 50 rooms. I’m finding that I much prefer smaller hotels to large, corporate chains where the atmosphere isn’t quite as cozy as I’d like.
The staff was super friendly, eager to help in any way they could and were knowledgeable about the area.
It’s located on a quiet street just about a 5-minute walk from the subway, which will get you to the very center of the city in about 5 minutes. Or you can walk, which takes about 20-25 minutes.
And if you’re coming in for Oktoberfest, you couldn’t ask for a better location! It’s a 3-minute walk from the fairgrounds. 3 minutes! After a day at Oktoberfest, I’m guessing you won’t want a long trip back to your hotel. ;)
The rooms are nicely laid out and have recently been renovated. I love the modern design! And everything was spotless.
The room had a balcony, a minibar, a safe, free wifi and of course a TV. One thing that we thought was really neat was that there was also an umbrella in the room. It wasn’t supposed to rain during our stay but of course it did, for a whole day, so we would have had to buy one otherwise.
The rates are also reasonable and if you’re from the US, I’m thinking you’ll be pleasantly surprised. When we were planning our December trip to the US, we were shocked at how expensive hotels are in US!
Electronics, electricity and gas are definitely more expensive here, but it seems like food and accommodations are much cheaper. So there you have it. Come to Germany and eat lots and stay in nice hotels for not that much money. ;)
The breakfast, which is included in the rate, was fantastic. It was definitely not your typical hotel breakfast.
There were loads of savory options. We were really impressed with the bacon. Look at how crisp it is! That’s the first time we’ve had crisp bacon at a hotel buffet breakfast and not the usual greasy stuff.
By the way, these pictures were taken over four mornings and we shared the bacon. :D Just saying so that you don’t think I ate like 14 pieces of bacon in one sitting.
If savory breakfast food isn’t your thing, you’ll still find plenty to eat! See those croissants in the back? They bring them out still warm and I ate an obscene amount of them.
All of these plates were put together by Mr. T, by the way. He had a fun time playing food stylist. He’s forced to do it since my plates of croissants and fruit aren’t nearly as interesting!
A+ to Hotel Bavaria on the fresh fruit selection. I eat so terribly on vacation so I was happy to be able to start my day with something healthful (along with 4 croissants and bacon).
And someone else was in bread heaven. We’ve stopped buying bread so Mr. T had a glorious carby feast.
They had seedy, dense and hearty German breads, rosemary bread and some regular white rolls for the folks who want something plainer.
There were several types of cereal, yogurt and even homemade musli.
Speaking of food – after a 6 1/2-hour train ride to Munich, we were relieved to find that there are lots of great restaurants within walking distance of the hotel. You’ll want to make sure to go to the Italian restaurant, Da Maria, which is only a 10-minute walk away.
It’s run by an older Italian couple and it feels like you’re in their living room. A part of the charm is watching them interact and bicker in Italian. But there’s also great food at excellent prices! Seriously. Huge plates of amazing pasta for 6.50 euros. We actually ate there two nights in a row because we knew it’d be hard to beat Da Maria.
But back to the hotel! You can eat in the breakfast room or on nice days, outside. We had breakfast at a different time every morning and it was never overcrowded.
They’ve also got a nice, cozy bar downstairs. We spent one morning down there while we worked and waited for the rain to pass.
We had a great trip overall and a large part of that was due to our experience at Hotel Bavaria. I urge you to check them out if you’re planning a trip to Munich! You can check them out here. Thanks to the hotel for hosting us!
And now for the recipe! One of the goodies we enjoyed at Hotel Bavaria was nut cake. Today’s version isn’t at all similar to the hotel’s but it’s no less delicious.
I made these muffins once a day for a week. I used the same exact ingredients and went by weight so there was no variation there. Despite that, they came out ever-so-slightly different every time.
Sometimes their texture was a bit like angel food cake and sometimes they were more like normal muffins. They were always great, though, so don’t be afraid to make them!
One time, the muffin tops collapsed just a tad (which you can see in the pictures). I’m guessing the variation has to do with exactly how much the egg whites are beaten. And the weather (really!).
They’ve got some almond extract in there, which I originally thought would be a weird combination, because… hazelnuts + almond extract? But it’s surprisingly tasty and I liked it better than the version I tried with vanilla.
I haven’t made these muffins with any other nut flours so if you want to experiment with that, I’d love to hear how it goes.
I really don’t recommend skipping on the chocolate chips. I tried a few muffins without and they just weren’t as exciting. Just don’t load too many chocolate chips on top or the tops will collapse.
And since someone will ask, the only sugar sub I’m confident will work is granulated sugar. Liquid subs almost definitely won’t work.
If you can, let the muffins sit for about 2 hours before serving. They’re a bit dry straight out of the oven but once they sit, they’re nice and moist and the flavor is better, too. I hope you’ll enjoy them!
Are you like me and love chocolate chip treats for breakfast? Then try this chocolate chip coffeecake – made with pancake mix, from Vegetarian Mamma!
Paleo Hazelnut Muffins (grain-free, gluten-free, dairy-free)
- Prep Time:
- Cook Time:
- Ready in:
- Yield: 12 muffins
Ingredients
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- 1/2 cup (100 grams – I really recommend weighing this) coconut sugar
- 3 1/2 teaspoons water
- 1 1/4 teaspoons almond extract
- 160 grams (this is about 1 cup + 9 1/2 tablespoons) hazelnut flour
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (85 grams) semi-sweet chocolate chips (make sure to use paleo-friendly chocolate chips, if necessary) + additional chocolate chips for sprinkling on top
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 325 °F (167 °C) and line a muffin pan with 12 liners.
- Place the egg whites in a medium glass mixing bowl and the egg yolks in a large mixing bowl (glass or plastic is fine). If you don't have a glass bowl for the egg whites, make sure your plastic mixing bowl is super clean and free of any oil residue as this can interfere with beating the egg whites.
- Beat the egg whites and 2 1/2 tablespoons (31 grams) coconut sugar at high speed until stiff peaks form (about 30-60 seconds). Keep the beaters in the mixer.
- In the bowl with the egg yolks, add the remaining 69 grams coconut sugar, water and almond extract. Beat for about 30-90 seconds at high speed or until thickened and lighter in color. Mix in the salt and then use a silicone spatula to fold in the hazelnut flour.
- Fold in the egg white mixture to the egg yolk mixture just until combined. Do not over mix but make sure it's thoroughly combined.
- Stir in the chocolate chips. Fill each liner almost all the way full and then sprinkle a few chocolate chips on top, if desired.
- Bake for 18-23 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean and the tops of the muffins no longer appear wet.
- Immediately remove the muffins from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack. Let sit for 2 hours before serving for best taste and texture.
- Cover and store at room temperature.
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28 comments on “Paleo Hazelnut Muffins + Hotel Bavaria Review” — Add one!
Hi – instead of all that coconut sugar in the hazelnut muffins – is there something else you can add for sweetness?
Another granulated sweetener might work but I haven’t tried it.
Hi Erin, I have a question – how are the chocolate chips you linked to Paleo-friendly if they are made with cane sugar? I prefer to avoid cane sugar if possible, do you know of any chocolate chips that are made without? Thanks!
Hi! I keep reading that they’re paleo (like on this site) but if you prefer to not use them, you could try these homemade chocolate chips. They sound really good!
Seriously. So good. Thank you for your creation!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you liked them. :) Thanks for your comment and sorry for my slow reply!
Recently came across a recipe for Paleo, egg free, and gluten free pancakes that were REALLY fluffy, and now I can’t find it. Does anyone have a recipe that might come close to it, also no bananas? It was just within the past week or so. Don’t remember if it was on facebook or whatever. When I make pancakes, they turn out sort of flat.
What an awesome trip for you. I really want to go now! Love all the photos and those muffins look amazing too!
Such a cute little hotel! I love the wallpaper behind the bed! I’m always scared to bake with nut flours but these might be what I need to push me over the edge!
Hey Erin,
Thanks for coming to Munich and teaching us all about healthy baking. I´m amazed at the variety of products out there. It was fun! Hope to see you back in Munich soon!
Hi Jamie! I hope to be back in Munich soon, too. ;) Can’t wait to get back together with the baking group for a sweets eating event! And I’m happy you feel like you learned something. I had so much more I wanted to say! Who knew 4 hours would go by SO quickly.
Ooh these look so good. I love using nut flour and currently am crushing hugely (get the pun?) on hazelnuts. Definitely going to try these as I know they will go down very well here at Feasting headquarters!
So pleased you had a lovely stay in Munich I went there many years ago and let’s just say I’d like to return to have a better experience!
Haha. Puns are always welcome here. :D I hope that you and your family will enjoy the muffins and that you get another chance in Munich. It was really nice. :)
You definitely had your priorities in order with a breakfast feast like that waiting for you in the morning! It seriously looks amazing and your trip sounds like so much fun! And so do these muffins! Anything with hazelnuts is a winner in my book!
Hi Erin,
These muffins look amazing. Love the fact that there’s not a huge list of ingredients.
I don’t use hazelnut flour for many recipes, so I’m excited to try this one and get some use out of my stock pile of it :)
Thanks!
Hi Christine! I also love the short ingredient list. Less to clean up. ;) I hope you’ll enjoy the muffins! I’d love to hear how it goes.
What a fun trip!! Loving all the breakfast shots! And these muffins look SO good! I’ll have to try using that hazelnut flour sometime!
Hi awesome recipe and stunning presentation of Bavaria Hotel… shared to face book and posted to my Pinterest and Tumblr blogs. Many thanks and good day
Thank you! So happy you liked it. Thanks for your comment. :)
You had me at hazelnuts! This looks like a fab trip, everything is on point!
What an incredible trip! All of your pictures look amazing with the food and the location. Looked fun fun fun!! And I can’t forget about those yummy looking muffins!!
I love the look of the rooms in that hotel! You made me want to take a trip to Germany. I agree that hotels are crazy expensive here in the US! Oh, these muffins have my love already. Yum!
I would love to visit Germany! That hotel looks awesome and I love the hearty breakfasts. When we went to Italy that was called “an american breakfast” and few and far between :P
Nice breakfast bar. Seems you all had a good trip.
These muffins do look wonderful. I just can’t justify buying hazelnut flour since I already have almond meal.
Well then stay tuned because I’ll be trying out some almond flour versions! ;)
I love baking with hazelnuts! It’s one of my favorite flavors, probably because it reminds me of the baked goods growing up in Germany. These muffins look fabulous as does Hotel Bavaria. And man, I miss those breads and cheeses!!
That looks like a beautiful hotel and the breakfast spread is fantastic! But oh my gosh, these muffins are what I’m craving.
You’re trip looks amazing and that hotel reminds me of the small boutique hotels I love in New York. (Probably much nicer with friendlier people, though.) :-) And your muffins looks spectacular. I’ll be making these this weekend for my sister!