Outrageously Good Paleo Maple & Blueberry Cranberry Muffins

Good morning sweetpea's!

I promised some tasty treats and I is here to delivah! Hehheh

But first, a little bit of me.

My son has left for a month long trip to Indonesia, and as per his usual, he waited til the last minute to get stuff done. He did start early but faltered near the end. It came to packing and travel snacks; this is where we are polar opposites.

I am a planner and I like to be well ready, waaaaaay before hand. Like, packed suitcases 2 weeks before with lists, photocopies of important documents, snacks & food stuffs prepped for a quick throw it all together and bake it up the night before, and all meds/necessities Ziploc-ed and good to go. I even buy the book(s) I am going to read 2 weeks before and torture myself by keeping them in plain view, while not allowing myself to even have a sneak peak read. It makes the travel day extra fun to look forward to, along with the actual trip of course.

Not my son.

We had planned on pre-prep a week before, he said all was fine. Yeah right.

2 days before, I get a call with a need for help, suitcase, locks, Ziploc bags, face cloths, and drum roll please...

"Mom, do you have any yummy snacks for travelling? Like those muffin thingy's you were talking about?"

My son, 23 and still flying by the seat of his pants. He also trains a lot and lkes healthier and gf options.

Good thing I had just made myself a batch of muffins and had frozen cookie dough on hand-just in case. Turns out neither items made it to flight, apparently both were too tasty to resist. He even exchanged one of the muffins for a free java jolt from one of his friends who works at a coffee shop. She texted him a while later exclaiming they're "soooo good" tastiness.

I guess next time he'll plan better. Hahahaha hahahaha- whoo, that was a good one. ;)

This is my son and I, two days before take off:

We were having fun being silly, taking selfies or togethers? Meh. You get the point.

We caught up on life moments, cracked jokes, talked street food and safety stuff for travel. We were both excited for his first, long, far away, travel adventure. I prayed so hard for his safety and continue to do so, he landed safely and has begun to have fun. I need a vacation. Maybe baking travel muffins will kick-start my next get away. Sooner than later, I hope. Pb, we need to get this wagon train a movin'.

Okay, back to food.

Well, this Paleo muffin recipe is one I make the day before I get on a plane. There are no refined sugars, no soy, no dairy, and it is vegetarian. I like that it has loads of fiber, good fats, protein, and tastes outrageously good. I kid you not, whenever I go to Poppa Bear, these come on flight with me. Pb likes to munch on the remaining one's and looks forward to eating these nom nom's of delight. He always asks if I am bringing them with when I come see him.

They are not a light and fluffy, cake muffin, like you are used to. These are more compact, smaller, more dense, and nutritionally sound-also filling. They are a perfect travel food and have helped me when stuck places where allergy-free items are not available.

This recipe comes from my mother, she found a recipe somewhere, didn't like it, and gave it a great makeover.

Typical pastry Chef, I get it from her honestly.

I further tweaked the recipe, I reduced the eggs and upped the flax. These are not nut-free, they contain almonds, you can try with different nuts if you like.

Here goes, and as always there are pics to guide you down below.

PALEO MAPLE BLUEBERRY & CRANBERRY MUFFINS

Ingredients:

1 Cup Almond flour aka ground almonds

1/2 Cup Flax seed ground

2 Flax "eggs" (mix 1 Tbsp ground flax with 3 Tbsp water, mix & let sit for 5 minutes until gummy)

1/2 Cup Coconut flour

2 tsp Baking powder

2 Tbsp Walnut oil

2 Tbsp Coconut oil

2 Eggs

1/2 tsp Sea salt

3/4 Cup Maple syrup grade B

3/4 Cup Blueberries frozen

1/2 Cup Cranberries frozen and chopped in half (can add up to 3/4 Cup)

Method:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees F

-Keep fruit until very end, do not add until all else is mixed, use from frozen

-Line 12 muffin tins with paper liners

-In a bowl mix dry ingredients

-In a separate bowl mix wet ingredients

-Mix together until well combined, add in frozen fruit, stir until just incorporated.

-Drop by large scoopful into liners and once full, place in middle rack of preheated oven

-Bake for 20 minutes, turn tray halfway and bake for another 15-20 minutes.

-Only remove from oven when golden brown, allow to cool in tray.

-Remove from tray and enjoy!

-Store in an airtight container in fridge for up to 5 days, can freeze up to 2-3 weeks.

Mixing flax eggs to sit as I prep the dry and then wet ingredients.

I mix with a fork and quickly incorporate the frozen fruit, I don't want the dough to change to a blue colour so no over mixing. Which btw, is why people often end up with rock hard muffins in regular, gluten-filled baking. Over stirring toughens up gluten proteins and gives a dense hard brick muffin. Chef tip of the day ;)

These get a light golden brown on them, they are perfect when they look like the above pic on the left. It is as I stated before, a more dense, not high baking, empty calories, sugar laden fluff.

They are healthy but remember that these are high in good fats, and too much of anything is not a good thing.

Eat max 1 or 2 per day, you will be fine.