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Here in Salzburg, Austria, fall has a smell: roasting chestnuts. When the first chestnut vendors fire up their little ovens in the old town, we know the season has truly arrived. You warm your hands on a small paper bag and peel the hot chestnuts as you stroll. Today we’re bringing that cozy feeling into your kitchen with moist chestnut muffins made with freshly milled spelt, a recipe from our family in Salzburg.
They’re quick to make, not too sweet and wonderfully nutty. Perfect for an afternoon snack, a lazy Sunday breakfast or a holiday brunch table.
In Austria, the chestnut stand is a classic part of the colder months. As soon as the days get shorter, the Maronibrater, the chestnut roasters, are back in their spots around town, and their scent keeps us company well into winter. At home in Hallein, just outside Salzburg, it’s almost a little ritual: whoever goes into town brings home a bag of chestnuts.
Maroni, as we call them, are sweet chestnuts, the fruit of the sweet chestnut tree. Many of the chestnuts sold in Austria come from the south, for example from Italy, and in Austria the trees grow mainly in milder regions such as Styria. Roasted, they taste mild and slightly sweet; cooked and puréed, they turn creamy and smooth. And it’s exactly this purée that makes our muffins so moist. In the US, chestnuts are a holiday favorite too, so these muffins fit right in between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Spelt and chestnuts make a lovely pair. Freshly milled spelt has a mild, slightly nutty flavor, and the whole kernel, including germ and bran, ends up in your flour. The chestnut purée adds a gentle sweetness and keeps the muffins soft even the next day.
A little tip from our kitchen: freshly milled whole grain flour absorbs a bit more liquid than store-bought all-purpose flour. So let the batter rest for a few minutes before baking. That gives the flour time to hydrate, and your muffins turn out especially tender.
Important: the chestnuts themselves don’t go into your grain mill. The mill is made for dry grain. You can buy chestnut purée ready-made or make it easily in a pot with an immersion blender.
Makes 12 muffins. You’ll need a standard 12-cup muffin pan and paper liners. All in all, you’ll be done in about 45 minutes. With fresh-milled flour, a kitchen scale gives you the most reliable results, so we’ve added grams for each ingredient.
Look for unsweetened chestnut purée in well-stocked grocery stores, European or Italian specialty shops, or online. Around the holidays, many stores also carry vacuum-packed roasted and peeled chestnuts. If you’d rather make the purée yourself: score about 10 oz (300 g) fresh chestnuts with an X on the rounded side and simmer them in water for about 20 to 30 minutes until soft. Peel them while still warm, including the thin brown inner skin, and purée them with a splash of milk.
Preheat your oven to 350 °F (180 °C), conventional setting. Mill the spelt berries finely and whisk the flour in a bowl with the baking powder, salt and cinnamon. You’ll notice right away how wonderful fresh flour smells.
In a second bowl, whisk the chestnut purée with the eggs, brown sugar, oil and milk until smooth. Add the flour mixture and stir just until combined. If you like, fold in the chopped chestnuts now. Let the batter rest for 10 minutes.
Line the muffin pan with paper liners and spoon in the batter, filling each cup about two-thirds full. If you like, top each muffin with a small piece of chestnut.
Bake on the middle rack for 20 to 25 minutes until golden brown. Test with a toothpick: if it comes out clean, they’re done. Let them rest in the pan for a few minutes, then cool on a wire rack.
Our tip: stored airtight, the muffins stay moist for two to three days. They also freeze beautifully, so you’ll always have a little fall treat on hand.
For decoration, or just for snacking, you can roast chestnuts in your oven too. Score each one with an X on the rounded side so it doesn’t burst, and lay them cut side up on a baking sheet. At about 400 °F (200 °C) they need around 20 to 25 minutes, until the shells split open. An ovenproof dish of water in the oven keeps them nice and moist. Afterwards, wrap them in a kitchen towel for a few minutes and they’ll be easier to peel. With a mug of tea alongside, your kitchen will feel almost like Salzburg’s old town in the fall.
Looking for more fall baking? Try our pumpkin bread with freshly ground spelt.
For us, the best part of fall baking is when the freshly milled spelt trickles into the bowl and, a little later, the whole kitchen smells of chestnuts and cinnamon. With your Salzburg grain mill you mill your flour exactly when you need it, as fine as your recipe calls for. You’ll find our mills and flakers, made for North American households, at natural-grainmills.us.
Give it a try, and let us know how you liked these chestnut muffins. We’d love to hear from you!
