Happy New Year, friends! I trust you had a lovely holiday. I, for one, enjoyed the break from routine and just doing nothing, really. Well, I hung out with my family and saw friends. I attended & hosted a party or two. Generally speaking, though, I relaxed! With temperatures around zero or single digits, I'm having a bit of trouble getting into gear! Here it is January 8th and I've only now returned to work. It's all good though. My January calendar is fairly full. I'm about to start working with a new client on her brand new business logo (my favorite!), I've got new customizable, pre-made logos about to launch and I continue to prepare yummy, whole food, for my crew at home. This brings me to today's topic: Muffins!
As you may know, if you're a regular visitor to my journal, I am a grain-free observer. I will have corn now and again (organic only), but all the other grains don't agree with me. So I'm getting creative in the kitchen when it comes to baked goods. Here's my latest recipe based on several flourless muffin recipes, but with my own twist. For example, I love adding extra eggs, vanilla and hazelnut meal whenever possible. This recipe is no acceptation.
Ingredients:
- 1 large ripe banana
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 cup creamy organic peanut butter (I prefer using regular organic peanut butter when baking rather than homemade peanut butter. The homemade type tends to be too runny for baking in my opinion.)
- 3 tablespoons organic maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon madagascar vanilla (please use the real stuff)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1/3 cup fine ground hazelnut meal/flour
- 1/4 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400˚F.
- Using your stand mixer or hand mixer, combine all ingredients but the chocolate chips, and mix/whisk on medium low speed. Add the peanut butter once you've added all the other ingredients to insure it doesn't clump and stick to the bottom of your bowl.
- When you've got your batter well combined, fold in your mini chocolate chips until incorporated.
- Pour into your muffin papers. I like using the larger variety, which makes muffin-tops.
- Bake for 17 minutes if you're using the larger papers. Your baking time will vary based on the size of muffin papers you use.
- Enjoy warm, fresh from the oven with a bit of butter on top. You can also keep them in an airtight container for 4-5 days, but honestly... who can keep from eating muffins that long?
I'm guessing you have all the ingredients in your kitchen right now, though maybe not the hazelnut meal/flour. If you don't have the hazelnut meal... go get some! It's a delicious addition to your baking. Especially if you're embracing the grain-free or gluten free lifestyle! Give this recipe a try. And if you do, please let me know, in the comments, how you like them!
Cheers!
-Patti