Banana Nut Muffins - Paleo Style!

Funny story: My husband said to me on Tuesday night, "Did you know that it was National Celiac Awareness Day today?" I responded that I was aware, and asked him if he knew that. He said he did now, and I asked how he found out. He said he read it on Failbook, which is a website dedicated to sharing people's failures (it's rather hilarious, but can be crude). His statement cracked me up for some reason. We rely on social media to keep up to date on our friends' birthdays, the news, pretty much everything!

Anyway, things are going pretty well these days. Extremely busy, but it is what it is. Luke's writing up a storm, trying to get applications and essays in to 7 business programs, as well as working full-time and juggling a full load at school. Work is keeping me on my feet as well. I feel like when I'm at home, I do nothing but cook and wash dishes thanks to our paleo lifestyle, but other than that, the diet is going great! Been working out more too, which has been fun! Plus, the sun is back, for the next few days at least, and that makes me happy :)

I wanted to share a recipe that has literally saved me since my husband joined me in this paleo venture. I don't seem to have a hard time finding things to eat...but I really enjoy vegetables. Unlike my husband, whose repertoire of favorable veggies is rather sparse. So, in attempts to keep him fed, and from getting burned out on salads, chicken with (fill in the veggie blank), and bunless burgers, I have tried to find filling, satisfying snacks for him to enjoy. 

This recipe is gold.

We both love banana bread, and I really appreciate that this form of said food can be enjoyed without all the non-paleo ingredients, such as sugar, wheat, etc. It's an easy recipe to make, makes a lot, and the muffins are delicious when warmed with a bit of melted butter on top. 

Paleo Banana Nut Muffins

Adapted from the recipe in "The Gluten Free Almond Flour Cookbook" by Elana Amsterdam

3 c blanched almond flour

1/4 tsp salt

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

2 tbsp olive oil

3 large eggs

4-5 very ripe bananas

1 c chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 12-18 muffin cups with liners.

Put the bananas into a bowl. Using a hand mixer, mash up the bananas. Add the oil and eggs, and blend until the mixture is smooth. Add the flour, salt and soda. Mix well. Add the walnuts, and combine. 

Spoon the batter into the muffin cups. Bake for 35 minutes, or until the muffins are golden brown. Check with a toothpick if desired. Let muffins cool in the pan for about half an hour, then serve.

*Note: The original recipe says that this recipe makes a dozen muffins. I don't know if I just have a small muffin pan, but I've gotten 15-18 muffins every time I've made it. 

These muffins freeze well, and travel well. They are great warm, but are just as good at room temperature. 

Enjoy!

What have you been eating lately?

I don't know if anyone really even cares...but I'm gonna share anyway :)

I know a lot of people go through phases of eating patterns. Some of it has to do with the seasons (soups in winter, salads in summer), some has to do with what's available at the store/in the garden. Some of it has to do with what's easy, fast, and/or good.

Even though I haven't been posting a lot of recipes, obviously I have been eating over the past few months. So I thought I'd share a bit of what's been entertaining my dinner plate lately.

I've been trying to eat a lot more fresh foods, ie, veggies. I've been planning a lot more meals around what leafy goodness will be highlighting the meal. It's been a challenge at times, but a lot of fun too. Makes my husband laugh when I come home and make a plateful of kale chips...but have no other ideas of what I'm going to eat for dinner.

Green smoothies have been more prevalent in my daily routine. I'm a big breakfast person, and need lots of fuel to get through the mornings, especially after hitting up the therapy. Most days I'll eat eggs and muffins, or toast w/ hazelnut butter awesomeness.

New love affair.

And yes, I have been known to sneak spoonfuls of this stuff. You might be surprised at the number of spoons lounging around my house right now. Unless you'd tried this butter. Then you'd understand.

After eating breakfast, I'll cram some berries/banana/orange/apple/avocado, almond milk, spinach and chia seeds into my Vita-Mix, liquefy, and pour it all into my favorite starbucks cup, just in time to dash out the door.

On the weekends, I've also indulged in smoothie experiments, such as the chocolate-almond smoothie (easy on the banana, add a handful or two of spinach). I have even got the hubs to drink a couple dreaded green smoothies (added some peanut butter to his). I'm trying to see just how much green stuff I can cram into a smoothie without making it taste like a salad :)

I've been experimenting lately with this great new sugar substitute: Stevia! Look at this fantastic haul that I won from Iris over at The Daily Dietribe!

I'm totally digging the vanilla liquid stevia! It's amazing in chia seed pudding! Which is something else I've been eating a lot of lately. Chia seeds. I love 'em! In smoothies, in puddings, added to hot cereal. More to come on chia seeds...

This chocolate chia pudding recipe has been a staple for me lately. It's soooo good! I was recently given some cacao powder, which I'm enjoying, and have been adding it to this pudding in place of cocoa.

Mayan superfood! Yay!

I also love making the chia seed pudding cacao-free, and adding extra vanilla. Topped with some buckwheaties and berries - trust me, it's the perfect afternoon delight!

Also been eating my favorite staples: avocados, kale (new favorite: kale salad - shred up some kale, drizzle with EVOO, sprinkle w/ S&P, then "massage" everything into the kale for a couple minutes), my favorite GF bread, quinoa, and sweet potatoes.

So, that's about it. I'd love to hear what everyone else is eating!

Pumpkin Chai Cranberry Muffins

I know we’re well on our way to summer, and this is more of an autumn/winter recipe. But silly me, I’ve neglected posting it for you all. I literally ate these muffins daily last fall. They are so delicious! Give them a try when you’re in the mood for something wonderfully moist, slightly spicy and reminiscent of a thanksgiving feast. And don’t put off making them for a year like I did! You’ll regret it if you do!

This was originally a bread recipe, but the first time I went to make it, I was too impatient to want to wait for bread to bake, so I converted it to muffins. It makes between 15-18 muffins. I've tried it as a bread, and for some reason, it just wasn't as good. So I definitely recommend the muffin version!
Sadly, I do not have a picture for these, but visit Karina’s post to get a great visual!

Pumpkin Chai Muffins with Cranberries
(adapted from this recipe by the GF goddess)

1 c canned pumpkin
½ c light olive oil
3/4-1 c light brown sugar or ½-2/3 c agave nectar
2 tsp vanilla extract
2 eggs, at room temperature
1/3-1/2 c apple cider or orange juice
1 ½ c gluten free flour blend (equal parts buckwheat/sorghum/tapioca work great!)
1 tsp baking soda
1 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground allspice or cardamom
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp ground cloves or more ginger

Add-ins
¾ c fresh/frozen cranberries
½ c raisins
½ c chopped pecans/walnuts/almonds
½ c chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Grease or line muffin cups.
Combine wet ingredients. On top of that, pour in the dry ingredients. Mix the dry ingredients together, then stir into the wet ingredients. Mix until smooth. Use extra liquid or flour to thicken or moisten if needed.
Stir in your add-ins. I preferred mine with the cranberries, nuts and sometimes with chocolate.
Scoop batter into muffin cups, and bake for about 30 minutes. Test with a toothpick or knife.
Remove from muffin pan, and cool on a wire rack.

Best served warm.
These freeze very well.

Quick note: I've found, in general that Karina's recipes are a little more sugary than I like, being hypoglycemic, and needing something somewhat hearty for breakfast. I started with the smaller suggested amount of sugar, and thought they turned out great. But if you like your muffins a bit sweeter, feel free to add the full amount.
I've also had great success subbing applesauce for half of the oil. Try that sometime, it's great and good for you!

Cinnamon Roll Muffins

This post is soooooo long overdue! These are what I ate on Christmas morning, and I was so excited to share them with all my blogging friends...yet, here we are, weeks later, and I'm just getting to it. :(

Anyway, this recipe is great! Found it on Elana's amazing site (got her cookbook for Christmas by the way, and I LOVE it!!). Tweaked a couple things based on what I had in the house.

Cinnamon Roll Muffins
Original recipe here

Muffin Ingredients
1 c blanched almond flour
2 tbsp sorghum flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 c salt
1/4 c olive oil
1/4 c agave nectar
3 eggs
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Topping Ingredients
2 tbsp sugar (approx.)
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 tbsp olive oil

Make muffins: Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line muffin tins w/ cups. Mix together wet ingredients. Add in dry ingredients, and blend well. Scoop 1/4 c mix into each cup (Elana's directions state this, and I added more to each muffin, but they ended up being a little thick, so I recommend this as well).
Make topping: Mix together all ingredients in a small bowl.
Scoop topping onto muffins.
Bake for 8-12 minutes.
Cool, then serve.
(I can't remember how many this made, but I'm assuming if you only put 1/4 c in each tin, you get at least a dozen)

The directions recommend topping the muffins w/ cream cheese frosting, and I'm sure to experience the full cinnamon roll effect, you would need to do this. However, I loved these just the way they were, with a nice hot cup of tea.

Enjoy, and a happy new year to all!

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Yes, I've been on a roll tonight. It's been awhile since I posted new recipes, and then BAM! Overload. Sorry about that. Been a bit preoccupied.
I worked almost 100 hours this pay period. I've been catching up on several weeks worth of Heroes, House and Dollhouse. I've been emerged in the sixth Harry Potter book, which I'm listening to again. I've been pretending to take care of the house. And I've been trying to figure out what's wrong with what I'm eating these days. I've been busy.
I think I figured it out! The latest culprit in my stomach's attempted murder mystery. ONIONS! I made this huge batch of veggie stock a couple weeks ago, and used it to make several fabulous soup/stew recipes (which I shall post soon).
No matter which of these great recipes I ate, I was very sick! Frustratingly so. So I ate every ingredient I could think of that was common in the recipes, sort of a reverse elimination diet...and came to the conclusion that it is probably the onions. I've never really been a huge onion eater, per se, but I do enjoy the flavor. So, we'll give onion powder a try in a couple weeks, see if that will be an adequate substitute.
But, I've deviated from my original subject. These delectable creations!



They are divine! Again, I must praise Karina! Although, I do rather enjoy her photos of the "jumbo" muffins. I don't have a jumbo muffin pan. I think these are still pretty good, for being regular-sized.
Original recipe here.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Makes about 1 dozen

3 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed (I used 2 bananas + about 1/4 c applesauce)
1/4 c light olive oil
1 c light brown sugar (I actually only used 1/2 cup)
2 tsp vanilla extract (make sure it's gluten free!)
1 egg
1/2 c sorghum flour
1 c Featherlight flour mix*
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 c mini chocolate chips (Enjoy Life brand are great for those avoiding dairy), or 1/2 c chopped nuts, or 1/2 c dried fruit

Combine wet ingredients in a large bowl. Make sure there are no big banana chunks (that's really gross if you get a bite of that!). Mix dry ingredients together in a separate bowl. Add dry ingredients to the wet ones. Beat until smooth. Add a couple tbsp of milk/non-milk substitute if needed. Add the chocolate chips/nuts/fruit.
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spoon into greased or lined muffin cups. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Use a toothpick or a butter knife to check (should come out clean).
Cool muffins for a few minutes in the pan, then transfer to a wire rack.
Best served warm. Can be easily reheated in the microwave (and throw in the toaster oven for a minute afterward if you like).

The banana flavor in these was not overwhelming, like you get in banana bread. It may have been the chocolate. Whatever it was, they were moist, flavorful, and delicious!
Next time, I might decrease the chocolate chips to about 1/3 cup, and add some finely chopped pecans (enough to make up the difference to 1/2 cup). Or maybe mix dried cranberries and chocolate chips...mmm! These were good, but not too dessert-ish. I would recommend halving the sugar like I did if you want them for a breakfast. They were on the verge of being too sugary for me. But not quite ;)
Now, if you want a dessert muffin/cupcake, try these. They taste pretty similar.

Blackberry Muffins with Streusel Topping

These muffins are simply delectable. I found fresh blackberries on sale at the health food store the other day, and bought up a few. I made some muffins a couple summers ago with fresh blackberries, and remember loving them, but couldn't remember what recipe I had used. So, I rummaged through all my cookbooks and came up with this one. It's from my new favorite "1000 Gluten Free Recipes" by Carol Fenster, and the original recipe calls for raspberries and lemon zest. I subbed the blackberries in, and used lemon juice instead of zest (since I didn't have any lemons).
I brought these in to share w/ everyone at work, and the girls asked me for the recipe. Now I have to figure out how it would be converted to a gluten-full recipe :P



Blackberry Muffins w/ Streusel Topping

2 large eggs, at room temp
1/2 c milk
1/3 c canola oil (I just used applesauce)
2 tsp grated lemon zest (I used lemon juice)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 c sorghum flour blend*
1/4 c tapioca starch or sorghum flour blend (I used almond meal instead to give texture)
3/4 c packed brown sugar (I didn't have any brown, so used white sugar instead)
1 tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1 c (6 oz) fresh blackberries, rinsed and patted dry

Streusel Topping:
1/4 c sorghum flour blend*
1/4 c GF cereal (the recipe suggests Perky's nutty flax/rice cereals, which are a lot like grapenuts, and I like, but I only had rice chex on hand, so I crushed that up and used instead)
1/4 c packed brown sugar (again, I used white, as I was out of brown)
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp salt
1/8 c (1/4 stick) unsalted butter/buttery spread (I used Earth Balance)

To make muffins:
Place a rack in the middle of the oven, preheat to 375 F. Grease or line a 12-cup muffin pan.
In a medium bowl, beat the eggs. Add the milk, oil, lemon, and vanilla, and beat until batter is smooth and thickened slightly.
In a small bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients, except the berries. Gradually mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, until batter is smooth. Gently stir in the berries. I left my berries whole, but I really like having some berry in every bite, so next time, I might cut my berries in half (they were really big). Spoon batter into muffin tins. Sprinkle 1/2 tbsp streusel topping onto each muffin, and press into batter gently.
Bake for 20-25 minutes or until muffin tops are firm. Cool in the pan for 10 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Best when served warm. Reheat wonderfully in the microwave or toaster oven.

To make the topping:
In a medium bowl, mix together the first five ingredients until blended. Cut in the butter, and using your fingers, blend until well mixed and butter is in pea-sized pieces.

*Sorghum flour blend
1 1/2 c sorghum flour
1 1/2 c potato starch/cornstarch
1 c tapioca flour

Makes 12-15 muffins, depending on size (the picture below is of mini-muffins).

Gluten and Dairy Free Apple Cinnamon Muffins

These rock! I found the recipe on Karina's site.

I made the recipe mostly the same, just reduced the oil to 1/4 c (and used EVOO rather than light), and I used Martinelli's sparkling apple cider in place of apple juice (Luke drank it for dinner before I could claim it). The buckwheat was not very noticeable to me. They tasted similar to what I remember of a bran muffin, but lighter and airier. I was very tired last night when I pulled out the last batch, so I put some of them away when not completely cooled >< They were a bit soggy this morning, but 15 seconds in the microwave, followed by 3-4 minutes in the toaster oven, and they were good as new!

Gluten/Dairy Free Apple Cinnamon Muffins

1 cup applesauce
1/3 cup olive oil
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp vanilla
Egg replacer for 2 large eggs
4 tbsp apple juice (or sparkling cider)
3/4 cup buckwheat flour
1/2 cup sorghum flour
1/4 cup tapioca starch
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
2 tbsp Acacia fiber (optional)
1 1/2 cups chopped apples
1/2 c chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F.
Beat wet ingredients plus sugar together in a mixing bowl.
Pour dry ingredients on top of wet, then mix until well combined.
Stir in apples and nuts.
Spoon into greased/lined muffin cups
Bake for 20-25 minutes (mine needed 24 minutes), until firm and dark golden. Test w/ a knife to see if done.
Remove from pan, and cool on a wire rack.

The original recipe says this makes 12 muffins. I didn't know how full to fill the pan, so I ended up getting 18 muffins out of this. It might help if I had a full 12-cup muffin pan...

Enjoy!!!