Paleo Apple Muffins.

It is apple season and thanks to the generosity of our neighbors, we are loaded down with apples right now. We've been eating them and eating them and yesterday I decided we needed to get serious about using them up. So I decided to bake.

Always a good thing, in my book.

I was going to make a regular old apple cake. The same flour-and-sugar filled cake that I've made several times in the past. It is a favorite around here. But it is also -- as I mentioned -- filled with flour and sugar.

I don't eat those anymore and I am trying to get my boys to eat way less of them, too.

So, I figured I would try some paleo apple muffins.

I searched the good ol' Internet and came up with plenty of recipes. The only problem was that they all called for almond flour and, honestly, I wasn't feeling the almond flour yesterday. I wanted something different. Something nut-free.

The time was right to put on my creative baker hat and I fiddled around with a few recipes and came up with one that I love.

Mmmm . . . yummy . . .

My boys have gobbled these muffins up. Gobbled!

If you like apples and you like muffins, you need these in your life. Trust me.

Appley goodness. Let's get to it!

Paleo Apple Muffins
(makes one dozen)

Ingredients

5 eggs
1/2 cup melted coconut oil (I use Trader Joe's organic)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup coconut flour (I use Bob's Red Mill organic)
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 tbs cinnamon (don't be stingy!)
1/4 tsp nutmeg
3 medium/large apples, peeled and chopped

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a standard muffin tin.

Whisk together the wet ingredients.

Sift in dry ingredients all together. Whisk or mix until well combined. Mix in apples. 

Fill muffin tin with batter and bake for 35 to 40 minutes.

   
You'll end up with a dozen delicious muffins that look a little something like this:

Same picture! Two times!

Gobble them up!

OK, sure. These muffins have maple syrup in them. I know that isn't ideal but, really, you need to have a little sweetness in your life every now and then. Seriously. So, splurge on the maple syrup and treat yourself.

Try these! 

Then tell me what you think. 

I can't for a minute believe that my family and I are the only ones who love these!!

Happy baking!

Paleo brownies.

You need these in your life.

For real. These brownies are soooo good and when you eat them, you will swear that there is no way they are sugar-free/grain-free. And yet they are!

I found a recipe for these Magic Brownie Bars on the PaleoOMG site. They looked delicious and since I've been craving dessert, I had to try them. Still wanting to be basically sugar-free with my eating, and not having any coconut flour on hand, I had to change up the recipe a bit but it didn't matter. I've never had the original so I can't compare my version but I do think they are great and they don't miss the extra honey called for in the original recipe.

So . . . here's the recipe:

Ingredients

Brownie layer:
15 dried medjool dates, pitted
1/4 cup coconut manna (liquified)
1/4 cup unsweetened dark cocoa
2 tbs almond flour
3 eggs, whisked
1 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt

Coconut layer:
1-1/2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut
4 tbs coconut manna (liquified)
1 tbs honey
2 egg whites

Directions

Preheat the oven to 365 degrees (yup, that's 365).

Put dates in a food processor and process until they form a clump. Add coconut manna and cocoa and process until smooth.

Add remaining ingredients and process until combined and smooth.

Spread into an 8 x 8 pan lined with greased aluminum foil.

For the coconut layer, mix first 3 ingredients together in a bowl. Add well-whisked egg whites and stir to combine.

Pour topping over the brownie layer and spread to cover the whole surface.

Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool. Cut into bars and enjoy!

YUMMY!

And, OK, OK. They aren't 100% sugar free. But, look, there's only one measly tablespoon of honey in the whole batch. And when you think of that one tablespoon of honey spread across the entire pan of brownies . . . well, that means there's hardly any honey in any given bar. So, really, basically sugar free!

Yes, I am justifying the use of honey!

Try them out for yourself. And let me know what you think!

Have a great day, everyone!