Persimmon Apple Muffins

The smell filling the house this morning is autumnally divine 🙂 The combination of the sweet persimmon puree, mixed with the subtle spice flavor from the cinnamon, nutmeg and coriander create a wonderful home for the soft chunks of apples that easily melts in your mouth. Add to that the occasional date bite surprise and you got yourself a beautiful fall muffin treat, healthy enough for breakfast, sweet enough for dessert.

I just thawed my last bag of muffins this week, so I had been pondering what muffin flavor I was going to start with to work on filling up my freezer again. While I had a few other flavors in mind, when I looked at my fruit rack this morning and saw the abundance of ripe persimmons, there was no doubt that was going to be the flavor of the week 🙂

For this recipe, either persimmons will work, but I used the fuyu, the small squatty ones that can be eaten hard. I had some soft ones so I used those. If you have some super ripe hachiya, those will work great as well, but just make sure they are super ripe. These are the tear drop larger ones. Those are pretty much inedible unless they are fully soft to the point of almost falling appart in your hand. I learned this the very hands on way. 

While I am typing this, it is quiet in the house as the kids are busy eating all the muffins that are barely cool enough to grab, but I made sure to put a large batch in a box out of reach. It makes me happy that my kids love my cooking this much, yet at the same time, it’s hard to not have them eat all the baked goods in one day!

 

 

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour (I mixed spelt, rice and teff. Don’t use spelt if gluten free)
• 1 cup small oats (regular works fine)\
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground coriander
• 3/4 cup coconut sugar
• 4 large dates chopped really small (I used medjool because I love how juicy and thick they are)
• 2 ripe persimmons, pureed
• 1 small apple, chopped small
• 1 cup water (or more if you find your dough too dry depending on what flour you use)
• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
• 1/4 cup ground flax seeds soaked in 1/2 cup water

 

Steps:

• preheat oven to 350*F
• grind your flax seeds and put them in a small bowl in water, set aside
• mix first 9 ingredients in a large bowl
• blend the persimmons in order to make a puree
• add all the remaining (wet) ingredients in another bowl and mix well
• combine wet and dry ingredients
• grease muffin tins
• pour dough in tins and bake for about 10-12 minutes for mini muffins, probably around 18 minutes for larger ones, or until a toothpick comes out clean
• let cool in pan for about 5 minutes before transferring to cooling racks
• eat at will or store out of sight so you are not tempted to eat at will!!

 

Note this made about 56 mini muffins. I like to make mini muffins because it’s easier for the kids to handle and good to transport. Also, I make this many because I like to freeze some for later use so I can have an easy snack to grab, or a quick breakfast on the go.

 

 

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Banana Carrot Muffins

Simple and delicious. Nutritious and filling, these are the perfect little muffin to put in my kids snack bag, or as a quick grab-and-go breakfast. We just had our first week of school here and you know what that means?? Muffin time!! I find muffins to be so convenient during the school year as I can pack them with all kinds of nutritious foods and they come conveniently shaped in a ball that fits in all my kids hands! Making them an ideal food. And whether I choose to make them savory or sweet, I usually find a way to sneak in some veggies in there.

For my little 2nd graders first week I decided to make these simple-in-flavor banana carrot muffins. I made a huge batch and froze about 2 dozen for an easy last minute snack in the weeks to come, ad still had enough to feed all my kids all week.

One big baking batch saves me time in the long run.

I hope you try these and enjoy them as much as we did!

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour (I mixed teff, rice and coconut)
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4tsp nutmeg, (I would’ve used cinnamon but ran out)
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1 cup packed shredded carrots
• 1 cup packed mashed bananas
• 3/4 maple syrup
• 1 cup milk (I used almond
• 3 TBS ground flax soaked in 6 TBS water (flax “egg”)

Steps:

• preheat oven to 350*F
• soak the flax seeds in water
• In a large bowl combine the first 3 ingredients
• in a blender combine all the other ingredients and blend just enough to mix everything together
• combine dry and wet ingredients
• grease some mini muffin tins with coconut oil and fill them up
• bake for about 10 minutes for mini muffins, and about 18 minutes for larger muffins
• let cool in the pan for about 5 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack

Beetroot Chocolate Muffins

These muffins came out so nice. Naturally sweet, fluffy, and full of flavor. As I am working on filling up my freezer again, I am having fun coming up with new muffin recipes. My latest one happened because I really wanted to make a red muffin. I thought my daughter would love that and it was right around Valentines day so it seemed fitting. While the raw dough was a beautiful crimson color, the baked product lost all of its vibrance. But not it’s wonderful flavor! Beets are not only a great natural sweetener, they are also high in many nutrients (potassium, magnesium, vitamins A,B and C, beta carotene, iron, fiber….) I like to make sure my kids eat a good variety of foods, and sneaking in some vegetables in baked goods is a great way to do it. I don’t lie to them, I tell them what is in their food. Therefor they do not grow an aversion to most things because they get to experience them in really fun ways! Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour (I mixed rice and buckwheat)
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 cup carrots, shredded
• 1/2 cup beetroot, shredded
• 1/2 cup beet juice (I juiced mine fresh) *optional, I was using this mainly for color which got lost. but it also helped sweeten. If you are going to omit this, add water or milk instead and a little bit extra sweetener.
• 1 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup ground flax seeds soaked in 1/2 cup water for 20 minutes
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
• 2 TBS of shredded coconut for garnish

Steps:

• preheat oven to *325
• mix flax seed and water and let sit while doing the rest
• in a large bowl mix first 5 ingredients
• in a blender combine all the rest but chocolate chips and coconut, and blend just enough to get everything to blend together
• combine dry and wet ingredients
• add chocolate chips
• pour in greased mini muffin tins
• top with coconut
• bake for 10-12 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean
• let cool on a rack