Paleo-friendly Pumpkin cocoa muffins

The recipe is courtesy of www.paleoplan.com.  I did make some changes (in red) to customise it because that’s how I roll.  I also added an ingredient.  Makes 12 small muffins.

 

• 1½ cups almond meal/flour
• 3/4 cup canned pumpkin (or cook and puree pumpkin yourself)
• 3 large eggs
• 1 tsp baking powder I used 2 tsp GF baking powder instead of 1 tsp. each of baking powder/soda
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon I used 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1½ tsp pumpkin pie spice  I used 1 tsp. cinnamon, 1/2 tsp. ginger, 1/2 tsp. nutmeg 
• 1/8 tsp sea salt Pink Himalayan Sea salt
• 1/4 cup raw honey (optional) I did
• 2 tsp almond butter   MaraNatha Dark Chocolate Almond Spread
• 1/2 cup shredded coconut
• 1 Tbsp. raw, unsweetened, fair-trade cocoa powder
• 1 Tbs sliced almonds I omitted this

1. Preheat oven to 350℉.
2. Coat muffin tins with coconut oil (or use paper muffin cups and add 1/2 tsp melted coconut oil to batter).
3. Mix all ingredients in a stand mixer and pour evenly into tins.
4. Bake for 25 minutes on the middle rack.
5. Sprinkle almonds on top immediately after taking them out of the oven. (I didn’t do this)

These muffins are actually pretty good, and even easier to make. They weren’t at all sweet, and you can really taste the pumpkin and the pumpkin spices.   The coconut adds a nice flavour too.  I will definitely be making these again very soon, but I found so many other paleo friendly cookies and muffins that I want to try out too.  I think next time I am going to make the muffins a little larger, so maybe only 6 muffins. 

Nutritional analysis….per serving….

153 calories

12 grams of carbs

11 grams of fat

5 grams of protein

Low-fat Chocolicious Brownie muffins

VEGAN + DAIRY-FREE

What can I say about this post other than …. hmm hmm chocolaty good.  I haven’t consumed any treats in such a long time and then I came across a recipe (I can’t remember where though) that featured So Delicious Coconut milk as one of ingredients.  And guess who happened to have an open carton in the fridge… I just had to use it up before it went bad…how could I not? 

Take a look at these bad boys…and they are relatively healthy too. I customized the recipe to my own preference to make them a little more healthy than the original version. Next time I am also going to attempt a gluten-free version of these muffins, but for now, they will have to do with being vegan + dairy-free. I wish I could remember where the original version came from…doh!

Ingredients

• 2 cups Spelt Flour
• 3/4 cup pure cocoa powder
• 1 1/2 Tbsp. baking powder (gluten-free and aluminum free)
• 3/4 cup pure maple syrup
• 1/2 cup 100% pure pumpkin purée
• 1/4 cup raw agave syrup
• 1/2 cup strong brewed espresso
• 1/2 cup So Delicious Vanilla Cocunut milk
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract ( I put in a tad more since I love the flavour)
• 2 Tbsp.  olive oil
• 1 handful of organic semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions

• Yield:  12 muffins
• Preheat the oven to 350F.
• In a large bowl, sift together the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder.
• In a medium bowl, whisk maple syrup, pumpkin purée, agave syrup, coffee, coconut milk and vanilla.
• Fold the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  Add the chocolate chips. 
• Spoon the batter into greased muffin tins about 3/4 full. 
• Bake for 28 minutes or until a toothpick comes out nearly clean.

You will notice the batter is quite stiff and the muffins are very dense, just like a brownie. 

 

They definitely have the consistency of a brownie.

Careful to not over bake them as I think they may get too dry.  They taste great and have a slight coffee aroma.  What I loved about these is that they do not contain one ounce of refined sugar or flour and only 2 Tbsp. of olive oil for the entire recipe.  Doesn’t get much better than that.

Hope you enjoy them as much as I did. But remember, eat in moderation!

Bea

xoxo