Paleo/GF/Refined Sugar Free...Coconut Flour Banana Muffins

As an avid baker, I'll be the first to admit that gluten free/grain free baked goods will never beat the texture of its "traditional" wheat predecessor.  BUT, that doesn't mean GF baked goods have to be horrible; it just means I have to work extra hard in finding those "diamond in the rough" recipes for you...you're welcome. ;-)

I've been playing around with the Paleo food lifestyle for the past week or so, and so far so good.  I'm not going to go in to any Paleo dogma right now as 1) I'm still not well versed in it, and 2) I'm soooo over debating ANYTHING right now, but I did come across this wholesome and easy recipe the other day I felt needed sharing.

If you're following a gluten free (GF) or Paleo lifestyle, give these banana muffins a go.  They are STUPID EASY, tasty, very moist, wholesome, refined sugar free, and grain free.  The recipe below is almost an exact replicate of this recipe, except I've halved it (yields 6 muffins), omitted the nutmeg suggestion as I thought it did NOT compliment the flavor, and added a touch of honey as I needed them a little sweeter.  Did I mention those are stupid easy?!?!?!  Here we go...

GF/Paleo Banana Muffins
(yields 6 or 7 muffins)

(mine were a little darker than this picture portrays)

Ingredients:

• 2 ripe bananas*
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup natural nut butter (almond, peanut, macademia, cashew...whatevs)
• 1 Tbs. coconut oil
• 1 Tbs. raw honey
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• good pinch of kosher or sea salt (about an 1/8 tsp.)
• 1/4 cup coconut flour* 
• 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. cinnamon (optional- add to flour mixture)

* with the addition of the honey and depending on banana size, you may find you want to add another teaspoon or two of coconut flour due to the extra moisture.  Coconut flour is a dense, lumpy flour, so all of our measurements will be slightly different, and your 1/4 cup measurement may already have the extra teaspoon mine may have lacked.  Just play with it if you feel your muffins need more structure.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F

Sift together coconut flour, baking soda and powder.

Add the remaining ingredients (first 7 in list above) in a blender.  Blend until it's completely homogeneous and looks like smoothie consistency.  While blender is still running (go to a lower setting), gradually add the flour mixture.  It will need some help blending as it thickens fast; use a spoon or flat spatula to help it along).  It should look like this:

Pour mixture evenly into 6, possibly 7, paper lined muffin cups.  Bake for appx. 20 min at 350F.  Cool for a bit in the pan, and then move muffins to a cooling rack.  They will contract some as most GF baked goods do.