Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Muffins

Mmmm...Peanut Butter & Chocolate Chip Muffins!!!

The original recipe comes from Averie Sunshine's amazing website where she shares many gluten-free recipes.  She also made mini muffins and I used a regular sized muffin pan. I found the picture on Pinterest and I had to try this recipe.

 

As soon as my bananas got ripe enough I tried this and Lord knows I am so happy that I did. Although my pictures turned out sort of darker than I would have liked, the taste was amazing! The best thing about this recipe is that it is incredible easy to follow and almost fool proof! I must add that the fact that I can throw all of the ingredients into the blender makes this a winner for me because I blend EVERYTHING!

 

Ingredients

1 ripe banana
8 tablespoons of all-natural, organic peanut butter
1 tablespoon of all-natural vanilla
1/4 teaspoon  of baking soda
dash of salt
1 organic, cage-free egg
3 tablespoons of all-natural, grade A maple syrup (raw honey or agave will work)
1/2 cup of semi-sweet, gluten-dairy-soy free chocolate chips

Directions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Place all of the ingredients, except for the chocolate chips, into the blender. 
Blend until smooth.
Scoop the mixture into a medium mixing bowl and pour in the chocolate chips.
Stir with a spoon the mixture to thoroughly distribute the chocolate chips throughout.
Prepare muffin pan with liners.
Scoop one heaping spoonful of the mixture into each of the cavities of the pan.
They should be filled to 3/4 of the way full.
Bake for 14 to 16 minutes, or until the tops are springy and a toothpick comes out clean.

If making mini muffins, bake at the same temperature but for no more than 10 minutes.

 

Below is a picture of how the mixture looked before I baked them.

These were so delicious and they are packed with protein! I was full for nearly half a day after eating two muffins, blackberries, and drinking a glass of orange juice. I had to almost shove the second muffin down my throat because the first was so filling. Once I make these again I will definitely post an updated picture...one that is brighter and easier on the eye lol. But trust me, the man of the house gave these two thumbs up and that's good enough for me.

 

Eventually I want to try these using Almond Butter because I use that a lot more than peanut butter. I will have to play around with the ingredients to figure out how to account for the separation in the almond butter though.

 

As far as the sweetness...of course bananas are natural sweeteners and the maple syrup was divine! :) 

Flourless Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Flourless Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies

Trust me...you will not miss the flour in these!

So I made these just on a whelm. I did not even think they would be as great as they were. I definitely did not think that my fiancee would think that they were delicious. In this house I should have doubled the recipe. 

First let me start by saying, being gluten, dairy, and soy free has been difficult. While it's true I could eat fruits and vegetables all day, but what about those indulgences that we want every no and then? Well, I had to indulge and I am so happy that I stumbled upon this recipe. I did end up tweaking it a bit based on what I like.

Ingredients

 1/3 cup coconut oil (I used Earth Balance - natural buttery spread)

1 1/2 cups certified gluten-free rolled oats

1/2 cut coconut sugar (granulated sugar is fine)

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1/8 tsp sea salt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 egg
2/3 cup mini chocolate chips

*finely chopped raisins

*finely chopped dried cranberries

*2/3 cup finely chopped nuts

*combination of all these ingredients that equals no more than 2/3 cup total (optional) 

Instructions

• Melt the butter and set aside to cool slightly. Place oats in a medium-sized bowl. Stir in both sugars and the salt and blend to break up any lumps.

• In a medium-sized bowl, whisk together the melted butter, vanilla extract, and egg. Stir this egg mixture into the oat mixture and add chocolate chips or raisins (if used), mixing with your hands or a large wooden spoon to work in the ingredients. Form into a large ball of dough.

• Chill the dough about 30 minutes.Preheat oven to 350ºF. 
•  Meanwhile, prepare a baking sheet by lining with parchment paper.

• Chilled dough will still be somewhat soft. Form the dough into 1-inch balls (or lumps; don’t stress) and place on the baking sheet about 2 inches apart. Flatten each ball down very slightly.
•  Bake for 10 to 13 minutes or until the edges are nicely browned (but not too brown; mine actually are too brown in these photos) and the tops of the cookies are medium golden in color. 
• Cool well on the baking sheet (about 10 minutes) before attempting to remove, using a spatula.

I was so happy when I finished these because my fiancee gave them two thumbs up. He eats everything and was a little hesitant about them because of the gf - df - sf guidelines that this recipe follows, but he loved them!