Almond Meal Muffins (yes, gluten free)

My friend Sheila and I have been teaching together for the last few years and I know that she is a naturalist at heart. She has an amazing blog www.loveandwildhoney.com.

You’ll find tons of great recipes and advice for preventing the flu, fermenting your veggies, and creating delicious cuisine on a budget!

She was kind enough to let me share this recipe with you. Did I mention the muffins are gluten free!

Enjoy!!!

The above muffin is perfect for autumn. In addition to meeting the above fall requirements, it can be eaten while running out the door and bumbling down the steps, tucked into lunchbags for those you love, taken on a crisp autumn walk or eaten with a glass of creamy raw milk for an after-dinner treat.

In addition to being tasty as all get-up, this muffin has not any flour, my dears. YES, no flour. So, in my mind, this means guilt-free! My celiac students and friends, this one is for you! In addition, this almond muffin is guaranteed to be full of protein (almond meal, eggs), potassium (bananas), antioxidants (small serving of dark chocolate) and the healthier type of fat that keeps your belly full and satiated.
From working with nut meals I have learned that whole nut meal makes a heartier muffin. Conversely, a blanched nut meal usually comes out a bit more delicate. Brands vary in grind as well. If you grind your own, you obviously have control. At this point, I do not have a food processor so I buy pre-packaged meal, choosing courseness based on my desire for a finer or heartier muffin.
Oh and yes, yes, yes! Store your leftover almond nut meal in the fridge or freezer. Nuts go rancid, especially after being ground.
Enjoy, relax and breathe in the change of seasons.

All tucked in and snuggly.

Chocolate-Banana Almond Flour Muffins

Adapted from a recipe at Honest Fare
Ingredients:

2 1/4 cups of almond meal or almond flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice, or a mix of cinnamon, ginger, allspice and clove in diminishing proportions
3 medium bananas + another for slicing on top
2 eggs (I recommend pastured. Get them from a farmer, please!)
1/3 cup honey or sugar (In all honesty, I prefer a mix of both.)
1 tsp vanilla
pinch sea salt
a handful of dark chocolate chips or a few chocolate discs
Coconut oil, light olive or butter for greasing (I prefer coconut for its flavor.)

Instructions:
1. Preheat your oven to 300. Grease your muffin pan.
2. Sift together, or mix well with a fork(if you are lazy like me), the dry ingredients: almond meal, baking powder, salt, spices.
3. Using an electric mixer or a really fast hand, whisk together bananas, eggs and honey/sugar until fluffy.
4. Fold in dry ingredients.
5. Fill a muffin pan with batter. Fill most of way as they will not rise too much.
6. Tuck 2-4 chocolate chips in each muffin. Just a little goes a long way in this muffin.
7. If you slice bananas and place on top now they will look like the picture below. You may wish to wait until they have cooked halfway and they will look closer to above pic.
8. Bake 30-35 minutes until a toothpick (or chopstick) comes out clean. These WILL cook a bit while cooling. Go easy on them.
9. Makes 12 little treats.

Enjoy with some kefired vanilla coconut cream as I did with these (see first pic). Alternatively, if you are feeling crazy, make a batch substituting hazelnut meal and more ginger as I did just above and below.