I've been misbehaving lately. While I didn't set out to do so, it's been my lack of planning that caused me to do it. All right, I'll fess up...I've been lurking around in the dark, sneaking those little bite size candy bars. It's shameful and I get mad at myself for it but I really can not stop doing it for some reason. Then I had a few days off from work and I decided to stay home instead of going to my parent's place which I normally do every weekend. I was going to spend this time cooking and getting stuff in order for the garage/moving sale that my sister and I are having. I came to the conclusion that I should prepare some "sweets" so that I have a good alternative to the mini candy bars. After all, the top paleo tips I live by and suggest to people is to be prepared and plan ahead. I decided to make some muffins. Back when I was using
Paleo Plan to guide my life (it really helped me succeed in becoming paleo) I made a Carrot Walnut Muffin from their site that is really delicious. I made a batch of those and then decided to make up a new recipe so that I could incorporate the Enjoy Life chocolate chips (non-dairy, no soy) that I bought. I've always been against baking and eating sweets on Paleo. I didn't want to replace all my prior bad habits with Paleo friendly versions. But, look to the depths that I had plunged. I was sneaking around in the dark, swiping mini candy bars and hunkering over my desk while I covertly as possible stuffed them in my mouth. I needed to have something to turn to if I wanted. So, I used the Carrot Walnut Muffin recipe as a guide to my new creation and I'm am so jazzed about it because it's really tasty! Ladies and Gentlemen, I present....the KING!
NO, NO, NO!!
Not that Elvis.....this one
This will get you rockin'! My sister told me to put some peanut butter with my bananas (bless her heart, she doesn't know peanuts are legumes) but I told her I could do better. I had some almond butter in the fridge so I decided to make a muffin that the Paleo Elvis living in that other dimension would love. I kicked it up notched just like Emeril would with the chocolate chips...BAM!! Now I can aim to misbehave and not feel guilty about it!
The Elvis
2 C. almond meal
2 t. baking soda
1 t. salt
1 C. pitted dates
3/4 C. almond butter
3 eggs
3 bananas*
1 T. vanilla
1/2 to 1C Enjoy Life chocolate chips (depending on your love of chocolate)
Combine the almond meal, baking soda and salt in a mixing bowl.
In a food processor combine the dates, almond butter, eggs, bananas and vanilla.
Add the wet mixture to the dry ingredients along with the chocolate chips. Fold to incorporate the ingredients.
Fill each cup of a greased muffin tin with the batter and bake at 350 degrees for 23-25 minutes.
* My base recipe calls for 3 bananas but I only had 2 left so I went with it. The next time I am gong to use 3 bananas and see what I think. (I've tried it with 3 bananas and it's perfect! Recipe updated to reflect that.) Also the base recipe calls for a 1/4 C. of coconut oil which I completely forgot to add. I'm not really sure that I want to add that the next time. Perhaps I'll increase the bananas then the next batch I'll decide on the coconut oil. (They continue to turn out just fine without adding coconut oil so I'm not going to worry about adding that in future batches.) I'll post any updates here and tweak the recipe where necessary.
