Crispy on the outside and soft on the inside, these AIP English Muffins have a wonderful texture! The inside is chewy but not gummy and the bottom get’s a lovely crunch. This paleo and allergen free recipe can double as a bread roll or burger bun too!
Why This Recipe Works
Oh bread… you make my heart sing. A warm piece of good bread can really make or break a dish. This recipe offers a fantastic grain-free, egg-free, nut-free option for when you need that doughy goodness. The green plantain lends a natural sweetness to the bread, while the tiger nut flour gives that traditional English muffin grainy finish. Now, how well your AIP breads turn out depend on how well you follow instructions and your skill level. Baking takes practice! Don’t give up. I am REALLY happy with how this recipe turned out. Even though I was actually aiming for a burger bun, and these AIP English Muffins can definitely moonlight as a bun or roll, their texture is very English Muffin. A toasty exterior with a hole-y and soft inside. Very delicious!
Grab Your Ingredients
When it comes to AIP baking it’s important to stick to the ingredients listed. We’re making English muffins without grains, eggs, nuts, or dairy. Plantains are involved. It’s going to get weird. AIP baking is the epitome of food science and science is specific. Cooking is art, baking is science. Stick to the script.
If you’re going to make AIP English Muffins be sure to have the following on hand.
- A very green plantain, a yellow plantain will be too sweet. I love using whole ingredients in baking and plantains, specifically green ones have a lot of benefits like prebiotic starch.
- Arrowroot starch, this adds stretch to the dough.
- Tigernut flour for body and texture.
- Pastured beef gelatin for nutrition and consistency.
- Apple cider vinegar also aids in rising.
- AIP baking powder which consists of equal parts cream of tartar, baking soda, and arrowroot starch sifted together. You can find my recipe here to do it yourself or purchase THIS paleo, AIP baking powder
Step By Step AIP English Muffins
- You want to start by mixing the vinegar with the coconut cream (coconut milk) and setting it aside. This will make a buttermilk. Then, whisk together the dry ingredients.
- Once those things are done, blend the plantain with the buttermilk and olive oil.
- Next, fold the wet mix into the dry mix. Use a spatula to scrape all the of the plantain mix into the bowl with the flour mix and tilt the bowl with one hand while you fold with the other.
- When the mix is fully incorporated, meaning there are no more pockets of dry flour left, let it rest for 10 minutes in a warm place in the kitchen (by the pre-heated oven is good).
- After 10 minutes you will notice the mix firmed up into a dough and got a little fluffy. Touch it with your finger, you will notice it’s a little sticky.
- Then Add 2 tablespoons of arrowroot starch to the mix and fold in, it get a nice stretchy dough consistency.
- After this texture is achieved, with dusted hands grab some and roll it in to a ball and place on a lightly oiled sheet pan.
- Bake for 30 to 40 minutes at 350F on the middle rack.
- The AIP English Muffins will be lightly golden and firm to the touch when done.
Tips and Tricks
I want you to be successful making this recipe, I want that for all my recipes. Creating these recipes takes a lot of time and I feel a great responsibility to my readers. Thus, it is important to me that you don’t waste your time or your money. So here are my tips and tricks for AIP English Muffin success:
- Make sure to measure all your ingredients out ahead of time. This is called mise en place (meez ahn plahs) is a French term for setting up before you cook. It will help things go smoothly and frankly make it more fun.
- Pick the right plantain. You want a big one that is light green, not yellow or blackening.
- Go slow! Don’t rush, there are no time restraints on this recipe.
- If you don’t have a high-powered blender, use your food processor to blend up the plantain.
- Always sift your flours before using in grain-free baking.
- Let the breads cool before cutting them open!
Bread Options on the Autoimmune Protocol
AIP bread can be elusive. You need to set realistic expectations. It’s not going to exactly like the wheat version. However, a lot of AIP bread creations get really close. I’ve heard this AIP Sourdough by Eat Beautiful is great and I think it looks legit. I have AIP Plantain Tortillas and an AIP Plantain Flatbread recipe! Also check out my AIP Crispy Waffles, so crispy!
Frequently Asked Questions
Tapioca starch might not hold up with the apple cider vinegar in the recipe. Arrowroot has the benefit that acids don’t break it down.
Unfortunately no, it’s not the same. Using the whole plantain is imperative for this recipe.
The produce sections at Wegman’s, Safeway, and Whole Foods where I am now, Alexandria, VA carry plantains. Latin markets will always have them on hand too!
They are quite big, yes, you can easily make 6 or 8 mini AIP English Muffins. Bake time will vary. Watch them. When they are lightly golden and firm to the touch, they’re ready.
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AIP English Muffins (grain free, egg free, nut free)
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 40 minutes
- Total Time: 50 minutes
- Yield: 4 English Muffins 1x
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: AIP
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
AIP English Muffins with a nice crusty outisde and soft inside!
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup full-fat canned coconut cream or milk (shake well)
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons AIP baking powder
- 1/2 cup tigernut flour
- 1/2 cup arrowroot starch, plus 2 tablespoons
- 1 tablespoon gelatin
- 1/2 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 large green plantain
- 2 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil (more for brushing)
Instructions
- Add the vinegar to the coconut cream and set aside. Preheat the oven to 350F and lightly oil a sheet pan or line with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl whisk together the tigernut, arrowroot, gelatin, baking powder and salt.
- In a. blender puree the green plantain with the coconut milk mix and olive oil. Use a spatula to scrape that mix into the bowl with the flour.
- Fold, do mot mix. Tilt the bowl with one hand and use the other to wield the spatula, folding the flour mix into the plantain mix until fully incorporated.
- Let the dough sit for 10 minutes to thicken, set it in a warm area of the kitchen. Once it’s thickened up it will look nice and fluffly, but still feel a little sticky. Add in 2 tablespoons more arrowroot starch and use the spatula to fold it to a pliable dough, gently. Don’t over mix.
- Use dusted hands to shape 4-6 balls. Place them on the sheet pan, set 3 inches apart as they will spread.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes (depending on oven or bun size). When the English muffins are a nice golden color and very firm to the touch remove them from the oven.
- Let them cool completely before cutting open or the center will be gooey.
- Enjoy! Great with salted palm oil shortening and salt smeared on top. Store in an airtight container on the counter for 3 days.
Recipe Notes:
- Stirring and mixing both denote a more vigorous action. Folding is usually used for items where something has previously been whipped (such as egg whites or cream) or where tenderness is desired and thus less mixing is advisable (muffins & biscuits). Source
- READ THE TIPS AND TRICKS AND THE FAQ’s SECTION!
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 bun
- Calories: 315.1
- Fat: 17.1g
- Carbohydrates: 37.7g
- Fiber: 3.5g
- Protein: 3g
Sonia Gomez says
Can I use tapioca flour instead of arrowroot ?
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
I have not tried it but I think it will work
Gloria Brooks says
Question? Can these muffins be frozen?
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
Yes!
Dominique says
Delicious! Great texture and taste. Thank you for creating and sharing!
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
Thank you for your comment and review!
TJ Lammers says
I LOVE THESE ENGLISH MUFFINS!!!!!
It took me a while to learn how AIP ingredients work.
My Question is regarding the Calories/fat/carbs/fiber/protein amounts.
It states ONE bun = 435 calories
17.1g fat
61g carbs
5.5g fiber
4g protein
It seems high in the calorie number and also the carb number.
Please correct me if I’m wrong.
I need to know to enter into my CarbManager App.
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
You’re right, I had double the amount of plantain in Cronometer where I calculated the macros. It’s still not a low calorie or a low carb food though 🙂 You can make them smaller, and make 6 or 8 out of the dough for a lower carb portion.
Roni Grimmett says
I’ve made these probably 10 times. You said, baking is a science, don’t mess with the recipe. I’ve proved this true by trying multiple different variations that did not work, lol. They were tasty at least, all but 1 time. I can say don’t use an egg instead of gelatin, the extra 2 tablespoons of arrowroot starch are necessary, don’t double the recipe (just go ahead and make 2 batches), make sure to mise en place, just in case you didn’t realize you don’t have enough of 1 ingredient, don’t use a plantain and 1/2 even if it’s a small one, don’t use a yellow or brown plantain. Also, they rise beautifully in a convection oven. Thank you for this wonderful recipe, and all the other wonderful recipes I’ve been trying 😊
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
Roni! Love your test kitchen notes. This one definitely is a must-follow as is, but just works, and great tip about the convection!
William Smith says
These are fantastic. My mom and I have been AIP since January 1st, and this is the first bread I’ve made that she REALLY enjoyed! (I actually made the AIP sourdough you mentioned but she didnt like it as much as I did) I’ve made these twice now, and they came out wonderfully both times.
Just a quick question: Any idea what would happen if you were to stick this batter in a loaf pan? My mom and I are curious, and if that’s something you haven’t tried yet, I’m willing to give it a try and let you know what happens. lol
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
Thank you so much, William. I have not tried baking it in a loaf, I don’t think it will rise enough but if you try it pls let me know
Liz says
Any gram weight suggestion for the plantain? “Large” is very subjective and my experience with AIP baking has proven that you need to be exact with measuring. I’m hesitant to try this not knowing how much plantain I should be using.
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
I don’t have a weight on the plantain, but thats why the recipe calls for more arrowroot as needed – watch the video it will give you a sense of the batter consistency
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
Agar Agar might work, but I haven’t tested it with that. Vital Proteins makes a marine gelatine.
Madelyn says
Thank you so much for this!!! I was about to give up baking any kind of bread for AIP but this recipe saved the day!! I just got done baking them and already ate 1 and 1/2! Thank you so much!!I have hope again!
Claire says
Wow. !!! Amazing texture & flavor! Thank you for sharing your talents!
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
Yeayyy!! Glad you enjoyed them Claire!
Claire says
For anyone who’s interested, I’ve made this recipe a bunch of times & have experimented with pan & batter temperature and, although they’re delicious even as spread out blobs lol;), today I got them to rise & hold their shape! I put the coconut milk mixture & the lightly oiled baking pan in the fridge until I was ready to use them – perfect! I put the plantains in the fridge yesterday to keep them from ripening, so they were cold, too…
Laura B says
Cristina, I’ve made these every week and love them but mine always came out too flat to slice…until last week I used a single layer cookie sheet instead of a double layered one. Yes! They were perfect in every way! Thought I’d share in case anyone else had that issue. Thanks again!
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
Ah I never thought to specify that in recipe! Thanks for your comment!
Laura B says
I’m really enjoying getting to eat healthy sandwiches again with your AIP English Muffins!
Cristina, thank you so much for all your hard work developing your recipes…I’ve made these 3 times since you posted the recipe 3 weeks ago! Yum!
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
I’m so thrilled to hear that Laura! Thank you
Shirl says
The nutritional info is telling me 435 calories and 61g of carbs for ONE bun. That seems quite a lot. Is this correct?
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
If you make 4 buns, yes that’s what Cronometer said. This is AIP not low carb, anything with starchy flour is going to be really high carb. If you make 8 buns out of the recipe it will cut that in half. The 4 buns are very big, so you can definitely make them smaller.
Moulin Patel says
This recipe was amazing! I baked them for 40 minutes and they came out perfect! Could hardly believe that they were aip. Definitely going to make them again!
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
Thank you so much Moulin for coming by to leave a review. I appreciate it and I am trilled you loved them so!
Marie says
is there any substitute for the plantain? I have a sensitivity to bananas so Im not sure if I would be able to tolerate the plantain…
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
I haven’t tested out anything else. Maybe some cooked and cooled yuca, but again, I can’t be sure.
kat says
These look very yummy.. is the bake time 30 or 40 minutes? there are 2 different times listed
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
It’s 30-40 minutes. Oven temps vary, it also depends on how big you make them. If you make them smaller, which you can, because they’re quite large, getting 6-7 out of the batch, if you get 4-5 out of the recipe closer you’ll probably need to bake them all 40 min. They will be very golden and very hard to the touch on the outside when done. Let them cool completely before cutting open
kat says
Thank You 🙂
REK981 says
WOW! These look amazing! Will add them to my list for my next AIP reset. Thank you!!
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
We’ve really enjoyed them this AIP reset!
Patricia says
wow, these look so good…..and I cannot have eggs, so super good ! But, I cannot get plantains where I Iive. Will a very GREEN banana work?
Cristina Curp, FNTP says
Green bananas might work, but I can’t confirm that, as I haven’t tested it.