Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins

This recipe has been much anticipated by all. Myself included. Tis Pumpkin Season ya'll!! So get excited. There's just something about Sept 1st. It's pumpkins and fall colors. But in Texas it's also still hotter than Hades. But alas, we still swap our closets over to flannel and cute booties and sip our Pumpkin Spice Latte's while sweating profusely. It's just what we do. Post Labor day means-- we really get serious about Fall. And how could I forget...FOOTBALL. In Texas football is everything. Especially in small town USA. I have a dear friend who moved to Utah a couple years ago. She's been posting on IG about cooler sweater wearing weather. And I am pretty green with envy. Sweater weather-- what's that like? Hurry cooler temps-- We are ready!

So here we are. September. And it's time for Pumpkin everything. Last year I stumbled upon this Chocolate Pumpkin Bread and new instantly that I would, indeed be making this treat a lot. In muffin form, of course. Mostly because I am way too impatient to wait the 40-50 minutes the bread requires. It quickly became a family favorite, loved by all and requested quite often. So this year, I knew what my go-to pumpkin muffin would be. But I had to change things up a bit with the recipe. This summer I took part in a nutrition program called #shred10. It was life changing. You know that saying, "Abs are made in the kitchen..." Well, they aren't lying. Whoever "They" are. Food and nutrition is foundational when it comes to fitness. You can workout till the cow's come home, but without proper fuel your efforts are in vain. Bummer, right? So I got really serious about my nutrition and joined 10 other ladies to rock this thing called #shred10. It was 10 days. 1 weekend. And it transformed my health journey. I thought I had tapped out-- I worked out regularly and ate clean 90% of the time. So that was as good as it was going to get. I was very happy with my weight. I could honestly careless what that scale says. #worthmorethananumber I just want to be freaking strong. And fit. And HEALTHY. And this challenge was just what I needed. Bye toxins. Hello, muscles. Let's just say more than just fat was shredded. But that's a whole other blog post. Stay tuned for that one.

You might be asking yourself...What does this have to do with Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins?

Well, everything. I knew if I wanted to enjoy chocolate pumpkin muffins while #shredding I would need to tweak this recipe quite a bit. So that's what I did. And now they are #shredapproved  Even if you are not shredding, you'll still want in on this recipe because simply put-- it's freaking good.

It's like a muffin and brownie had a baby. #nuffsaid

Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins 
Makes about 12-15 muffins
1/4 Cup Coconut Oil
1/3 Cup Unsweetened Apple Sauce (room temp or warmed a little)
2/3 Cup Honey
2 Eggs
1 Tsp Vanilla
1/2 Cup Organic Pumpkin Puree (Canned)
1 Heaping Cup Oat Flour (directions on this below)
2/3 Cup Cocoa Powder
1 Tsp Salt
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1 Tsp Baking Powder
3 Tablespoons Unsweetened Almond Milk
A Splash of Apple Cider Vinegar
Hand full (or two) of Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Chips (dairy and gluten free)

Preheat your oven to 350. Line or grease your cupcake pan.

First, you need to make your oat flour if you don't have any on hand. I just take gluten free rolled oats and pulse in my blender until turned into a powder form AKA Oat Flour. Yes, it's that easy and quick.  

In a large mixing bowl, mix coconut oil and apple sauce together well. Add honey. Then add the eggs, pumpkin, and vanilla. Mix until all are combined. In a small bowl mix the almond milk and a splash of apple cider vinegar. Set aside. In a separate mixing bowl, mix together the dry ingredients: Oat flour, Cocoa, Salt, Baking Soda, Powder. Then slowly mix your dry ingredients into your wet. And then fold in your almond milk mixture until well incorporated. Lastly, throw in your chips and gently fold into mixture. Fill your cupcake liners about 2/3 of the way. Cook at 350 for about 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Then remove from oven, but let sit in the pan for about 5-7 minutes. Remove to a baking rack and let cool.

I can't tell you how long these will keep because they literally last less than 24 hours at my house before being devoured. Make more than one batch. Trust me.

Shred on, my friends. And if you are not shredding-- You should. Give me a holler. I'll hook you up.

Carrot Coconut Muffins (Dairy Free)

Today is the very first day of school round these parts. I have a few emotions (ok maybe more than a few) going on right now. I am excited because HOLLER!!!! It's quiet and I can sit down and blog without anyone bugging me. I mean this is kind of HUGE. The other major emotion is: Sadness- Time needs to slow down. Macy, my baby, is in Kindergarten. Wahhh. And you know, all the other emotions in between.

So what's a mom to do. Blog, duh. And make muffins, of course. In the Back to School Prep these past few weeks I have been on a muffin binge. Make all the muffins. Eat all the muffins. Enough said.

From one momma to another, I have to give you my BIG secret for back to school Prep (let's just call it BTSP). It's my freezer. Yep, that's it. My handy dandy (giant) deep freeze. You guys, muffins freeze great. And then they thaw fabulously in your child's lunchbox before lunch or snack. Or grab and thaw (in the microwave) for a quick healthy breakfast. I mean, it's genius. So I gather my favorite clean eating muffin recipes and bake. Then cool. Then store in my freezer. Need a muffin? No problem. Go to freezer and done. Why yes, you could go to the store. But if you are like me, then you want to know what is going into your kids bodies on a daily basis. #ImaJPmom Which is why you go to great lengths to prepare homemade healthy foods for your babes as often as you can.

I was at the grocery store a few weeks ago and noticed a batch of perfectly packaged muffins labeled Carrot Coconut. Immediately I thought, "YUM." And then I thought, "I could make those!" So home I went to bake. And this is what I came up with.

Carrot Coconut Muffins
2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour
1 Tsp Baking Powder
1 Tsp Baking Soda
1/2 Tsp Salt
1 (heaping) Tsp Cinnamon
1/4 Tsp Ginger
1/4 Tsp Nutmeg
1/2 Cup Organic Maple Syrup
2 Tsp Vanilla
4 Tbsp Coconut Oil
2 Eggs
2 1/2 Cups Shredded Carrots
1 Med-Lg Apple Shredded
1/3 Cup Unsweetened Almond Milk
1/4 Cup Shredded Unsweetened Coconut

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Spray your muffin tin with olive oil or coconut oil to keep the muffins from sticking. In a medium bowl mix together whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and salt. In a separate bowl, beat maple syrup, vanilla, oil, and eggs together until mixed well. Pour in almond milk and mix again. Then fold in carrots and apple. Add the flour mix into your wet mix. Fold in the coconut. Fill muffin tins 3/4 of the way and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on wire rack and then ENJOY! 

I should also say, if you think these are good freshly baked. Just wait until the flavors marry over night! So good! 

Once they are completely cool I will place on a cookie sheet and set in my deep freeze to freeze for about an hour or (depending on if I remember or not) two. I do this so the muffins don't stick together. Once they are frozen a little, I will then toss into a labeled freezer bag.

Happy Baking, my friends!

P.S. If you are wondering what the hek #ImaJPmom means... Hit me up at rebeka.beavers@yahoo.com and I'll give you the deets.  

Banana Muffin Lovin'

Well, hi there folks. So sorry for being MIA through the holiday season. Something happens the day after Thanksgiving and stuff just gets CRAZY! Like someone hits fast forward and we all run around like ants, whose pile just got lit on fire. Hmmmm Is that too graphic?

Maybe graphic, but so true.

So I hope you and your's had a fabulous holiday season!! I know my little family had a blast. I just wish I could have hit pause. I would have liked to enjoy it a tad longer. Tree is down and the decorations are put semi-neatly away. Towards the end I just get frantic and start throwing things in tubs. The tear down is not half as fun as the putting up. And then it's the post holiday cleaning...and depression. Oh, January...BOOOOOO

J/K

I actually really love January. It's new beginnings. And my birthday is in February. So ya know, things are looking pretty good for me.

January also means getting rid of that holiday bloat. Man, I love me some holiday treats. Who doesn't? But with the new year comes, control. Getting back on top of my food and exercise. Don't get me wrong I worked out and ate "good for me" foods throughout the month of December. But I also indulged my sweet tooth...and maybe...just maybe...I over did it...a little on the goodies?

It's just so much easier to make good choices when the peppermint bark leaves my house. And cue the Juice Plus Complete shakes: YES! YES! YES! They are so crazy good and even crazier good for me. I also, regret to inform you that it is indeed flu season. Yes, I said the "F" word. So we gotta step up our health game and start giving our bodies the good stuff. More fruits and veggies. Less crap. Easy enough right?

So this recipe is more good and less crap. Viruses like to feed off of sugar and dairy. It's a scientific fact. While I don't believe in cutting out entire food groups completely. (It's about balance, people!) I do think detoxing and letting your body work its magic is a must! For the month of January I am sugar detoxing. Yep, that's right. No processed sugars. Also, I am cutting out dairy and most wheat. I am using a liver detox drink made from amazingly healthy ingredients that I bought at my health food store. And making sure I get my Juice Plus+ capsules and shakes in every single day. I am flushing my system of the funk and fueling it with premium gasoline, baby! If you want some info on my detox drink and/or Juice Plus+ you can email me at rebeka.beavers@yahoo.com and check out my JP+ website by clicking HERE!

And now for the moment you've been waiting for...

Complete Banana Muffins
(Flourless and Dairy FREE) 
3/4 Cup Organic Rolled Oats
2/3 Cup Juice Plus+ Vanilla Complete Protein
1 Local or Organic Egg
2-3 Organic Very Ripe Bananas (mashed in the peel)
1/4 Cup Almond Butter
2 TBSP Local Honey
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
1 Tsp Baking Soda
A Pinch Of Salt
1 Tsp Cinnamon

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease your muffin pan.
Add 1/2 a cup of oats to your blender or food processor. Pulse 3-5 times breaking up the oats a bit. Then add all of the ingredients. Mashing your banana in the peel with your hands makes a difference. (I always do this when working with bananas in baking. The banana flavor is so much better and the moistness is over the top!) Blend all of the ingredients together until nice and creamy. There will be some texture to the batter. And that is okay. Blending should take less than 5 minutes. REALLY! Fill your muffin tins about 3/4 of the way. Pop in the oven for 12-15 minutes. These will be way moist if you used 3 bananas. When the timer is done your toothpick might not come out completely clean. There may be a tad bit of batter that comes out on the toothpick. This is what you want. Pull them out and let me sit for at least 10-15 minutes to cool in pan. Then remove very carefully to cooling rack. Store in airtight container for about a week. But they won't last that long. Trust me.

This is the only picture I could get! These babies went fast.
Olaf was pretty excited about Banana Muffins too. 

These are incredible. My kids and husband were in awe that something quite healthy could be so tasty. But ya better believe it, my friends!

Happy Banana Mushing!