Grain-free blueberry muffins

My aunt gave me this recipe some years ago, and I pull the photo copy out every so often when I want a muffin. Today I got home from yoga class and I wanted one with my coffee while the snow was falling!

The recipe was originally to make 1 large (enough for 2) muffin in a mug in the microwave. Apparently that is a thing?! This recipe would be VERY fast if you do that - 5 minutes tops. I don't have a microwave, so I just make 2 muffins in the oven, or I double the recipe and make 4 to have for a few days.

I always make these with either banana or squash/pumpkin puree, 1/4 t stevia and frozen blueberries and a few walnuts. It is not particularly sweet that way, so add more sweetener if you want a sweet tasting muffin. You can use whatever dried or frozen fruit that you want, and skip the nuts. I've also used a whole banana, or a half, and been fairly relaxed about the coconut oil measurement and it always turns out tasty.

Muffins (makes 1 mug muffin, or 2 regular muffins)
2 T melted coconut oil
1/2 or whole ripe banana (or applesauce or squash puree)
1/4 c ground flax seeds
2 T chia seeds
1 egg
1 t cinnamon
1 t baking powder
1/4+ tsp stevia, or a glug of maple syrup, etc
dried or frozen fruit (raisins, cherries, blueberries, ginger, etc)
nuts (pecans or walnuts)
opt: 1 T shredded coconut

1) Mash banana in a bowl, and mix in melted coconut oil, flax and chia. It will firm up a bit as the coconut oil cools and the flax bulks up the liquid.
2) Add egg, cinnamon, baking powder, any sweetener, fruit and nuts. Stir well. *If it is too soupy, add shredded coconut.
3) Pour batter into mug, if microwaving, or into 2 ramekins or muffin cups if baking.
Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes, or microwave for 2 1/2 to 3 minutes. Done when the muffin is firm.

When done flip over onto a plate. They always come out easily from a ramekin - I have not tried it in a muffin tin!

Grain-free Carrot Muffins

I don't eat a lot of paleo baked goods - but for whatever reason this one has made it into my repeat repertoire. This is a recipe from my neighbor that I adapted just slightly - these muffins are just plain delicious; they are moist and dense, and are perfect with some morning tea.




Grain-Free Carrot Muffins makes 12
2 eggs, separated
1 more egg
1/4 c softened butter or ghee
1/4 cup thick coconut milk/cream
1/4 c honey (or less, or sub stevia)
2 1/2 c almond meal
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
2 tsp lemon zest
1-2 c grated carrots
1/4 c raisins
1/4+ c walnuts
1/4 c unsweetened shredded coconut

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
2. Beat egg whites until stiff. Add egg and yolks, ghee, honey, almond meal, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and lemon zest. Mix together. Add carrots, nuts, raisins and coconut.
3. Bake for 30-40 minutes. These are good warm out of the oven, or chilled. I kept the extras in the fridge in a covered container, and they easily last 1-2 weeks.

Paleo Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

I am not sure what came over me, but I really wanted to make some lemon tasting muffins this weekend. I've been on a bit of a splurge of gluten free goodies the past week, mostly facilitated by going out to various places for my birthday.

Muffins! Yum! These turned out great - they were light and fluffy - and were simple, with stuff I happened to have around. I want to experiment a bit with this recipe to make grain free lemon pancakes, and top them with blueberries or raspberries.

I followed the original recipe very closely, just reducing the honey and adding a few drops of stevia. I also just made a half batch (with 2 large eggs). My half made 4 muffins, not 6, but I filled the muffin cups fairly full.

Paleo Lemon Poppyseed Muffins (makes 9-12 muffins)
1/2 cup + 1 tbs of coconut flour
5 eggs
1 tbs of vanilla
1/4 cup of melted coconut oil
2 medium sized lemons juiced
1/3 cup honey (or 1/4 c honey plus some stevia)
1/2 tsp of baking soda
Zest from 2 lemons
2 tbs of poppyseeds (you could also use chia seeds if you can not find poppyseeds)

1. In a large bowl mix together the eggs, vanilla, and lemon juice. Melt the coconut oil and honey together and pour into the egg mixture.  Mix everything together.
2. In a separate bowl mix together all the dry ingredients.  Slowly stir them into the wet ingredients. The batter will thicken after a minute or two, and will get sort of puffy looking. This is good!
3. Fill each (greased) muffin tin (or lined muffin pan) with about 1/4 cup of batter
4. Bake for 22 minutes. Let cool a couple of minutes, and eat!

Blueberry Millet Muffins - GF

I don't even know what to say about these muffins other than they are SO delicious! The millet gives them a really nice crunchiness, and the blueberries and lemon zest are a perfect sweet-sunshine taste. The original recipe is from the blog Kitchen Therapy - a GF blog with all kinds of good looking things. She offers two versions of the recipe, one with buttermilk, and one that is vegan and uses a fermented rice beverage called amazake. The recipe below is my modified version of hers with dried blueberries and lemon rind, and a little less sugar. See hers linked here for the vegan version.

Yields 12 muffins (or 6 popover sized ones!)
1 c. buttermilk
1 egg
1/3 c. oil
1/2 c. sugar (or 1/4 c. sugar plus 2 stevia packets for less sugar)
3/4 c. millet flour (grind millet in coffee grinder)
3/4 c. Bob's GF flour
2/3 c. millet seeds
2 T. ground flax seed (grind flax seeds in coffee grinder)
1 1/2 t. xanthan gum
1 t. baking powder
1/4 t. baking soda
1/4 t. salt
1/3 c. dried blueberries
zest of 1 lemon

In a small bowl, whisk together wet ingredients and sugar. In a large bowl, thoroughly mix the dry ingredients (everything else). Stir wet and dry together and let sit for 5 minutes for xanthan gum and flax to absorb moisture and help muffins to rise better. Butter/grease muffin tin or use muffin paper liners, and fill 3/4 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes at 425.