We are celebrating our 8th birthday this October and no birthday goes without cake!
But to commemorate this year we are doing something different with one of our favourite ingredients: Superior Chaga.
Chaga (Inonotus obliquus) is a dense, dark conk of a mushroom that is typically found in birch forests of the northern hemisphere. This deep rust colour is largely due to the high amounts of melanin and terpenes that it contains.
It is renowned for its potent antioxidant activity in particular. This ability to lower free radical oxidative stress is particularly important to prevent degenerative diseases – benefitting organ health and skin appearance. It is renowned as an adaptogen, which can help our body to overcome stress. In particular, chaga mushroom is considered to be immunomodulatory – it helps us to maintain a resilient and balanced immune system. Plus, it decreases inflammation and has the ability to prevent insulin resistance.
Adaptogens helps us to cope with external stress in different ways and one of the reasons that they are considered to do this is because they’ve thrived under considerable stress themselves. Chaga is no different, the mushroom lives through temperature fluctuations that range by almost 40 degrees centigrade. To protect itself, the mushroom has a fibrous layer formed of a polysaccharide called chitin. This molecule prevents us from getting to the beneficial bio-active compounds that it contains.
Our ancestors knew this, and so in folkloric medicine the mushroom is typically extracted using hot water, alcohol, or fermentation. What makes Wunder Workshop’s Chaga mushroom superior is extraction – making this chaga mushroom powder even more bio-available and easy to use.
10g of raw, wild harvested mushroom is used to obtain 1g of Superior Chaga. This means that there are 10x the quantity of bio-active polysaccharides, flavanoids and terpenes available in each serving.
Whilst chaga is usually consumed as a tea, Superior Chaga can also be easily used in baking which is why we’ve created these amazing Chaga Muffins. This recipe is made for sharing and makes around 10 servings.
Ingredients:
- 125g spelt flour
- 125g wholemeal spelt flour
- 120g raw cane sugar or coconut sugar
- 4tsp of Superior Chaga
- 2tsp of Ceylon Cinnamon
- 1tsp of baking powder
- 100g coconut oil, melted
- 100ml (plant) milk, we used coconut milk
- 75g of dark cooking chocolate chips
- 1tsp of vanilla extract
- A pinch of salt.
Recipe instructions: (WATCH THE VIDEO HERE)
Pre-heat your oven to 180C/356F and prepare your muffin cups by spreading a little coconut oil around the surface.
In a large bowl, add and mix your dry ingredients: the flours, sugar, Ceylon Cinnamon, baking powder, salt and Superior Chaga.
In a separate bowl add your wet ingredients – the egg, coconut oil, (plant) milk and vanilla extract. Whisk this gently until completely mixed and a little fluffy.
Combine the wet and dry ingredients a mix together with a fork or whisk. The mixture will be sticky, but this is good! Finally, fold in your chocolate chips until evenly dispersed. Now, spoon the muffin batter into the muffin cups/baking tray – one tablespoon should be a good amount.
Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean from the middle of the muffin. Remove from your baking tray and leave to cool for at least 15 minutes before tucking in!
