Fluffy and moist with a buttery crunch on top, these kinako muffins are truly the ultimate non-traditional way to enjoy kinako! There's also a surprise in the center but we'll get to that later...
Kinako is a roasted soybean flour, and one of my favorite ways to garnish mochi! I wrote a guest post for Cupcake Project all about kinako, so go read about the health benefits and different uses of kinako over there!
Having lived in Japan for pretty much all my life, I never even thought to look up the different uses for kinako. It's perfect on freshly pounded mochi. Why try to do anything else with it?
Turns out I was missing out. Big time.
Not only can I use it in my gluten-free baking, but there are so many ways to add its toasty, nutty flavor!
I use it almost every day in my morning oatmeal (a must-have for breastfeeding moms), and Tristan enjoys it sprinkled on his kefir with a handful of roasted nuts and a drizzle of honey.
I also want to try sprinkling some on french toast with butter, warm maple syrup, and maybe even some banana slices (are you drooling yet?). But I've yet to try a gluten-free bread recipe. Let me know if you have any recommendations!
I'm a gluten-free newbie, but I've been loving the 1 to 1 baking flour from Bob's Red Mill! You can just replace the flour in any recipe and it comes out perfectly! My local supermarket doesn't carry it, so I love ordering it online.
These fluffy kinako muffins are stuffed with kinako butter and topped with a crunchy kinako streusel. Yes, please!
You know what? Do yourself a favor and make a double batch of the kinako butter. It's a great nut butter alternative for anyone with nut allergies!
Go grab a bag of kinako and make these muffins! You can buy kinako at international grocery stores or buy it online.
Don't feel like kinako muffins? Try my blueberry muffins, apple muffins, cranberry orange muffins, or moose tracks muffins!
Kinako Muffins
Ingredients
Muffins
- 2 cups (250g) Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 baking flour
- ½ cup (56g) kinako
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ cup (170g) unsalted butter, softened
- 1 cup (200g) sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup (285g) greek yogurt
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Kinako butter
- 7 tablespoons (100g) unsalted butter, softened
- 10 tablespoons (70g) kinako
- 2-4 tablespoons honey
- 2 pinches salt
Streusel
- 3 tablespoons (42.5g) unsalted butter
- 2 tablespoons (14g) kinako
- ⅓ cup (41.7g) Bob's Red Mill 1 to 1 baking flour
- 3 tablespoons (37.5g) sugar
- 1 pinch salt
Instructions
Streusel
- Put all the ingredients into a bowl and using your hands, work the butter into the dry ingredients until it looks like pebbles. Set aside in the refrigerator.
Kinako butter
- Put all the ingredients into a bowl and stir together with a fork. Set aside in the refrigerator.
Muffins
- Preheat the oven to 410°F/210°C and line a muffin pan with paper liners.
- In a bowl, sift the gluten-free baking flour, kinako, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and set aside.
- In a large bowl, cream together the unsalted butter and sugar. Add the eggs one at a time, and then the greek yogurt and vanilla extract. Stir until combined.
- Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until combined.
- Fill each muffin well about halfway up, add a couple teaspoons of the kinako butter, and top with more muffin batter. Sprinkle each muffin with the streusel.
- Bake at 410°F/210°C for 5 minutes, then turn down the temperature to 374°F/190°C and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
- Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before taking them out onto a wire rack to cool completely.
frugal hausfrau says
What fun muffins! I LOVE that there's a surprise inside! I wasn't familiar with Kinako so it was fun to learn! Thanks for linking up to us at Fiesta Friday!
Mollie
Ai says
Thanks Mollie! Isn't it the best when there's a surprise inside? 😉
Angie | Fiesta Friday says
You really do learn something new everyday; I haven’t heard of kinako before. It seems a healthy ingredient to incorporate into your diet, so I’ll see if I can find it here. Your muffins are so scrumptious-looking! And LOVE the surprise inside!
Ai says
Thanks, Angie! Kinako is a staple where I am, but it seems like not many people have heard about it outside of Japan and Korea. Happy Fiesta Friday!!
Jessica says
I love kinako so I would love to try this recipe. Unfortunately, gluten free flour is expensive here so how do you suggest I adapt this recipe for normal plain flour?
Ai says
Isn't kinako fantastic?😋 You can use 2 cups of regular all-purpose flour instead!👍🏻
Ashley says
Hi Ai! Thanks for the recipe! Do you know if Kinako and other soy products are commonly genetically modified (GMO) in Japan, like they are in the US? I try to avoid GMOs but I love kinako and can’t find organic. Thanks!
Ai says
Any soy product I've bought from Japan always mentions that their soy isn't GMO. It usually says 遺伝子組換えでない next to soy in the ingredients list. I wouldn't be able to tell you which store you can find organic kinako where you live, but I just looked on Amazon and there was one brand of organic kinako on there!
Sarah says
Hi! Can I omit honey in the kinako butter?
Ai says
Hi Sarah! You could omit it, but it won't be sweet at all and it'll be quite a dry filling without the extra moisture from the honey. The muffin batter isn't that sweet either so I would suggest substituting it with maple syrup if you don't like honey.