Gluten-Free Whole Grain Banana Muffins with Pecans and Dark Chocolate

Beauteous, scrumptious, aromatic muffins!

*sigh*... I love these muffins. All the flavors and textures mingle and mesh to form the perfect wholesome, comfort treat. They smell AH-mazing. And they seem to be a hit with health-eaters, comfort-foodies and sweet-toothed alike. And unlike most gluten-free baked goods, these babies are moist enough to enjoy at room temperature. But, if you'd like to warm them up with some buttah, I certainly won't stand in your way ;)

Makes 18 standard muffins or 1 large loaf pan.

Ingredients: 

6 Tbsp unsalted grassfed butter, melted

3 extra large eggs

2 cups (~5 med) very ripe bananas, mashed

1/4 cup sour cream

1 tsp vanilla

1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar

1/2 tsp, packed, orange zest

260g (2 cups) Pamela's Baking Mix

65g (1/2 cup) sorghum flour

2 Tbsp ground flax (optional)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp Himalayan or other unrefined salt (1/4 tsp if using salted butter)

1/2 rounded tsp pumpkin pie spice (or 1/2 tsp cinnamon + 1/8 tsp cloves)

1/4 cup coconut palm sugar

1/2 cup pecans, chopped

1/4 cup dark chocolate chips
LOVE! (makes everything better, especially these muffins)

Feel free to warm it up with some butter :)

Directions:
 
Preheat oven to 350°F. Thoroughly grease a large loaf pan or 1 1/2 muffin tins (my next batch, I'll adjust amounts to make 2 full muffins & post results). I like to use coconut oil.

Add orange zest to hot melted butter and set aside.

In a large mixing bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients - except chocolate chips and pecans.

In a separate bowl, whip eggs until frothy and then whisk in vanilla, sour cream, vinegar and banana, then zest-butter. 

With a wooden spoon or stiff spatula, combine dry and wet ingredients until fully incorporated. The lack of gluten will prevent them from getting tough from overmixing. Stir in pecans and chocolate chips.

Pour evenly into prepared pan(s) and, if you're making muffins, fill unused cups with 1/2 an inch of water. Bake muffins for 35 minutes, loaf 45 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean and they are a nice deep golden brown on top.

Enjoy :)

Storage Tip:

• As with most GF baked goods, these muffins don't love the fridge. And while you can soften them back up by wrapping in a damp paper towel and microwaving for a few seconds, they won't be the same wonderful texture they were before. So, I'd recommend letting them cool completely, then storing them in an airtight tupperware at room temperature for up to 3 days (2 in hot summer) and then freeze the leftovers, if there are any ;) To defrost, either place a paper towel in the tupperware, close the lid and leave at room temp overnight, or wrap muffins individually in paper towel and microwave on low (90 secs on power level 3 works for me), then crisp up their structure by popping them in the toaster oven for a minute.

Orange Maple Yam Corn Muffins (gluten-free)

Mouthwateringly cute with a sprinkling of buttery pecans

I got the idea for these from a recipe the HeartMath kitchen used to make years ago. Thinly sliced yams tossed with melted butter, orange juice and maple syrup, baked until the juices caramelized in the most unbelievable way. My mouth is literally watering just thinking about that dish! So I thought, I should make that into a muffin! Et voilà!