Gluten Free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

I’ve been trying a lot of new things this week.

Between dinner, baking, working out, and crocheting, I’ve been one busy momma!

And not only am I baking delicious treats, as usual, I’m trying gluten free treats! It just makes me feel so good to make something that EVERYONE can eat. Even those with celiacs. And since this gluten intolerance has been becoming more of an issue lately, I want to contribute to that side of the eating spectrum as well.

I’ve had the muffins ‘pinned’ for a while and decided to make them for a playgroup that I attended this week. Since we do have some allergies in the group, I try to make things that everyone can enjoy. Kid friendly and mommy friendly 🙂

I do have to say, I was probably just as excited to use my muffin cups that I bought from the Wilton Tent Sale with Beth.
I’ve been waiting for the perfect time to use these. And this morning it just felt right. I still have a bunch left, so you may see them in future posts as well 🙂

Gluten Free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins (adapted from Dessert Stalker as found on Multiply Delicious)
Yield: 12-18 muffins or 30-35 mini muffins (this is a total guess!)

6 eggs
1/3 cup coconut milk
1 Tbsp honey
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
3/4 cup coconut flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup ripe mashed bananas (about 3 small bananas)
1/2 cup chocolate chips and a few extra for sprinkling on top

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line muffin pan with paper liners. (I made 24 mini muffins before using my cool baking cups, but I didn’t have enough liners, so I sprayed the pan, but they did NOT come out well, so I really suggest you use liners)

In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, coconut milk, honey, salt, and vanilla.
Combine coconut flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon in a sifter and sift into egg mixture. Whisk together until there are no more lumps. Stir in melted coconut oil. Fold in bananas and chocolate chips. Batter will be thick.

Spoon batter into prepare muffin pans.

Bake for 15-18 minutes or until muffins are golden.
Cook for about 10 minutes and Enjoy!

Aren’t these cups beautiful?

A Mouthful…of Words and Cookies!

 

While trying to think of a name for this post, I started typing out what this cookies could be called.

Oatmeal Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookies.

Woo! I’m almost out of breath after saying that one! And let’s face it, it’s hard to say… a ‘mouthful’, if I may.

I came across this recipe on Facebook. One of new favorite blogger, Sally, posted it. (I have to tell you, everything she makes looks amazing!)

So, one day I saw these in my news feed and knew that they needed to be in oven baking, like right now!

You may have already figured out that I love love LOVE pumpkin. Fall is my favorite time of year and I just love to bake! (it’s not great for my waistline, but my hubby loves me anyway 😉 )

These are super easy to make and generally  healthy as well. Only a 1/2 cup of sugar total. No butter. No oil.
But don’t let the healthiness scare you off, they’re really yummy!

Oatmeal Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cranberry Cookies (adapted from Sally’s Baking Addiction)
Yield: about 2 dozen

1/2 cup canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 cup milk chocolate chips
1/2 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

In a small bowl, whisk together pumpkin, egg, and vanilla until well combined.
In another bowl, mix together, flour, oats, sugars, baking powder and soda, and spices.
Fold together wet and dry ingredients until just combined.
Fold in chocolate chips and cranberries.

Place spoon-fulls of dough onto prepared cookies sheet.
Bake for 12-14 minutes or until lightly browned.
Let cool for a couple minutes before transferring to a cooling rack.
Enjoy!

 

 

Clean Eating Zucchini Bread

I’ve been on a kick with bread-y things lately, although I’m not sure why, since carbs have not been agreeing with me.lately. Every time I eat a slice of whole wheat toast a burger on a bun, I get really bloated and feel terrible for a few hours or more. I don’t think I am going to end up with celiacs, like my mother-in-law, but I think its from eating so many healthy carbs, my body doesn’t know how to digest bread carbs. (At least, that’s what I’m telling myself) I am not saying that this recipe isn’t healthy. It is. It’s clean, and its really really yummy, so I still eat, just in small increments. One slice at a time and with some protein, like Greek yogurt or cottage cheese, and it seems to be fine. I also feel better feeding this to my family since its not chocked full of sugar and other ingredients that aren’t good for them.
My sister was the one that originally told me of this recipe, since we are both following a clean eating food plan, and she found it on one of my favorite websites, The Gracious Pantry. It is full of clean recipes for everything! I know I’ve mentioned it before, but I can’t emphasize enough, how much I love looking around at all the yummy recipes. I also fond tons of stuff on Pinterest. I have my own Clean Eating board, so when I want to find something, I know just where to go!
Now that I’ve completely gone off on a bunny trail… Kill da wabbit, kill da wabbit… (Sorry, I couldn’t resist singing that one)
A slight note on the zucchini, I like to buy really big zucchini, chop it in really small pieces and freeze it. Thanks to my sister and her wonderful garden, I was able to get 3 large zucchini to freeze! Once they are that big, zucchini doesn’t taste the greatest just sliced and fried or baked. So here I sit with at least 16 cups of chopped zucchini and so much baking I want to do!
Bring it on!

Clean Eating Zucchini Bread (adapted from The Gracious Pantry)
Yield: One 9×5 loaf
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
2/3 cup honey
1 generous cup grated zucchini
2 tbsp. unsweetened apple sauce
2 tbsp. olive oil
1 whole egg
1 egg white
1 tbsp. fresh lemon zest
3/4 cup plain, non-fat Greek yogurt
Chocolate Chips (optional)

In a medium to large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and nutmeg. In a slightly larger bowl, whisk together honey, zucchini, applesauce, olive oil, egg, egg white, lemon zest and yogurt. Using a wooden spoon, mix the flour mixture into the wet mixture. Stir well.

If you choose to add chocolate chips, now is the time. By adding them, the bread is no longer considered ‘clean’, but it’s darn close. So I added some. However, when I cut into the bread, I noticed all the chocolate chips had sunk to the bottom of the loaf. So if you want to avoid this, don’t add them or just sprinkle on top after you’ve poured the batter into the bread pan.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9×5 loaf pan. Pour batter into pan.

Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

Cookie Dough Bites

Since making my healthy chocolate chip cookies, I’ve also made some not so healthy extremely bad for you also delicious, but filled with a few more calories, than the chickpea cookies. It’s a little recipe I found on Pinterest, but was originally from here. I made these for a girls night and there were a hit! I will tell you right off, if you are looking for something healthy..this it NOT it. But boy are these good!

One great about these is they are easy to whip up and you don’t have to drizzle with chocolate. They are good plain or you could dip them in chocolate as well. Either way, they are delicious and you need to try them out.

Warning: These cookie dough bites are very addictive and you will not want to stop eating them.

Disclaimer: I am not responsible for any ‘unexplained weight gain’ after you make these 🙂

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Cookie Dough Bites (adapted from DisneyFamily.com)

1 cup (2 sticks) salted butter, softened
1 1/2 cups light brown sugar, packed
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour (I used whole wheat pasty flour, because it’s what I keep on hand, but you could use all purpose or any type of normal baking flour, I’m sure)
6oz chocolate chips (I used milk chocolate. You could use mini, dark chocolate, or any other flavor you’d like)

Directions:
Cream butter and sugar together. Add the vanilla and flour and mix well. You can use your hands if it gets to be tough to stir. (I didn’t, but you could use a stand mixer as well) Fold in the chocolate chips.

Line a  cookie sheet with parchment paper or wax paper (I do this for easy clean up). Roll the dough into approximately 1 inch balls and place on cookies sheet. Place in freezer for about 15 minutes or in the fridge for about 30 minutes, or until they are not sticky anymore.

If you want to add the drizzled chocolate, just melt some extra chocolate chips and go at it!

Enjoy!!!

Chickpea Chocolate Chip Cookies

I know what you’re thinking. Chickpeas…in a cookie. That sounds gross. Well, let me tell you, it is ANYTHING but gross. It is amazing! If you are looking for a healthy alternative to your favorite cookie in the whole world, your search stops here.

Now, don’t get me wrong. These don’t taste exactly the same the buttery, sugar-filled deliciousness of normal chocolate chip cookies. But, these are clean and gluten free, and packed with protein, thanks to the beans. It’s kind of like eating a ball of dough every time you eat one. They’re pretty great.

My hubby was not as convinced. He thinks that anything with beans in it is automatically gross. Well, he can just eat the sugary cookies and get over it…wait, I rarely make them anymore…lol

Also, a big shout out to Janelle for letting me borrow her food processor! Thanks Friend!!!!

Chickpea Chocolate Chip Cookies (adapted from Maria’s Eat-Clean Journey)

1 can chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1/2 cup nut butter (I used my DIY Almond Butter, but you can use peanut butter too)

1/4 cup honey

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a food processor, combine all ingredients except the chocolate chips, until perfectly smooth. Either fold in the chocolate chips with a spatula, or throw them in and pulse a few times to incorporate them in all the dough. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Place tablespoons of dough onto cookies sheet and bake for 10-15 minutes or until the cookies are golden in color.