Banana Muffins + Bonus Recipe

So. Things have been pretty fantastic lately.

I moved into a fancy, new single-girl cave that also happens to be right in the center of my social universe (location, location, location!). And even though it has been freezing, I'm doing my best to learn my new neighborhood.

I've walked my reusable bags to the grocery store (which totally counts as a workout, by the way). I've met friends out for drinks and sushi and other-more-different drinks. All without getting lost or catching frostbite. Last night I pushed the limits of my new land navigation skills and headed to a concert outside my immediate five block radius (winning!).

And then, this morning, when I woke up with the slightest-touch of a hangover, I was so happy to find a dozen paleo banana muffins all boxed up on my kitchen counter. I baked them as a birthday treat for one of my co-workers (he won't miss one, right? or two?), and I hadn't even thought about how great they would be as hangover-food!

OK. That's a lie. Maybe I secretly thought about it a little bit. But I mean. If you can't/won't/don't eat normal hangover-food, what else are you supposed to do?

Banana Muffins

Such a pretty little life-saver.

Ingredients

3 eggs

2 large bananas, mashed

1/2 cup tapioca flour (starch)

1/2 cup coconut flour

1/2 cup grass fed butter, softened

2 tablespoons raw honey (optional but recommended)

2 tablespoons dark rum (or pineapple juice)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon vanilla extract 

1/4 teaspoon salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, combine dry ingredients (coconut flour, tapioca starch, baking powder, and salt). Make sure everything is evenly distributed throughout the mixture.

In a medium bowl, cream together butter, eggs and honey (if desired). Add rum, vanilla, and mashed banana. Whisk to combine.

Slowly add dry ingredients to the banana mixture. Whisk to fully combine.

Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups. Bake at 350 degrees until the edges are brown, the center is firm, and the muffins pass the toothpick test. About 30 to 35 minutes.

Bonus recipe: Banana Chocolate Chip Cupcakes

Artistic, right?

Even before I ditched wheat, I often complained about store-bought muffins and popular muffin recipes (yes, I know I'm the worst). If you add frozen blueberries to your vanilla cupcake batter, does that make it health food?! Or appropriate for breakfast? But! If it's acceptable to turn cupcakes into "muffins" why not turn muffins into cupcakes? Just add 1 cup dark chocolate chips to the batter, and frost with dark chocolate icing. Voila!

This recipe re-make was such a hit, the CrossFit boys didn't believe they were Paleo. We can debate the finer points of that definition later. Bottom line: these cupcakes are processed-sugar free, grain-free, and delicious. Enjoy.