Paleo Carrot Cake Muffins

 Mmm...I came across this blog and recipe in my obsession on Pinterest. Over the last month, I have been wanting to be more adventurous with my baking Paleo treats. Although this recipe doesn't call for coconut flour, I experimented with making my own coconut flour by grinding coconut flakes into a powder (I made coconut shrimp from Everyday Paleo....delish). Anyways back to the carrot muffins. I love it when I have all of the ingredients on hand and I needed to use my carrots and an extra ripe banana so this recipe was great for me. The recipe only makes between 12 and 15 muffins and they disappeared rather quickly. I got suggestions that raisins would be a great addition to the muffins. I am excited to try out more Paleo baking treats :)

Ingredients: 
1 1/2 cups almond flour1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 tablespoon cinnamon/pumpkin pie spice
3 eggs
2 tablespoons coconut oil
1 ripe banana, mashed
2 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 cups carrots, grated
1/2 cup pecans, chopped


Directions:
1. Combine dry ingredients (almond flour, salt, cinnamon, and baking soda ) In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients (eggs, banana, oil, and honey).

2. Add the carrots to the wet ingredients and be sure that everything is thoroughly mixed.

3. Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix all ingredients with a mixer (Oh how I LOVE my Kitchen Aid)

4. Using a 1/4 cup measuring cup,  scoop batter into lined cupcake pan and sprinkle with cinnamon or pumpkin pie spice (my absolute favorite ingredient)

5. Bake in a 325 degree oven for 20-25 minutes. Let cool for 5-10 minutes.

Enjoy :)

No Bake Paleo Cookies

 Surprise! Surprise! I was browsing around on Pinterest and found these delicious looking cookies!!  It looked easy enough and the ingredients seemed tasty.  I finally had the chance to try them out today and they are definitely just as good as they look! It was nice that they were "no-bake" because it has still been pretty darn hot lately and the last thing I wanted was to have my oven on in the middle of the afternoon. I was a little unsure about the olive oil in the cookies but I went ahead with following the recipe as it was the first time. Later I did read some of the comments on the original recipe that also suggested using half olive oil and half coconut oil and using other types of nuts, so maybe next time I will experiment with the ingredients a little more.

No Bake Paleo Cookies

Ingredients:

• 1 cup coconut flakes
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1/2 cup almond butter
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/3 cup olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon cinnamon

Directions:



1. Heat chocolate chips, oil, honey, and almond butter in a sauce pan on medium heat. Melt the chocolate chips until they are a smooth consistency.  

 

2. Turn off the heat and add cinnamon, nuts and coconut. Be sure to coat everything in the chocolate.

3. Drop a spoonful on a parchment lined cookie sheet. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes or until hardened.

Enjoy :)