Carrot Coconut Apricot Muffins, Grain/Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Sugar Free

The winter solstice has officially passed!  Hallelujah!  Even though its mostly symbolic, I still love knowing that everyday the sun will shine just a minute or two longer than the previous day.  Did you celebrate the solstice?  One of these days I'd love to do 108 Sun Salutations to mark the occasion.

However, this year to mark the solstice, I instead chose to make these incredibly sunny little bites of summery muffins.  Only a handful of ingredients, super healthy, and comes together in a flash.

Carrot Coconut Apricot Muffins (Sugar Free, Dairy Free, Grain, and Gluten Free)
7 ounces of creamed coconut, or coconut butter (it's the same thing.  Let's Do Organic sells 7 ounce boxes of creamed coconut, or use just shy of a half 16 oz jar of coconut butter, or make your own.)
2 4 oz containers of organic carrot baby food
45-50 drops of Sweet Leaf English Toffee Stevia (or your fave vanilla stevia)
2 eggs
pinch salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
2/3 cup chopped dried apricot

This couldn't be easier.  Mix everything together in a bowl.  (You will most likely need to melt your coconut butter in the microwave first.  Make sure you've cooled it a bit before you add in your eggs.)

You don't need any oil because the coconut butter already has a good deal of oil.  This will be a super wet batter, spoon into paper lined muffin tin and bake at 350 until the tops are starting to turn golden brown.

This is an easy, incredibly healthy and delicious muffin.  This recipe makes 8 muffins.  Double or triple the recipe, or make a cake instead!  You can't go wrong.

Enjoy! XoXoGFG

One Week In on Whole30- and Paleo Carrot & Sweet Potato Latkes

So easy and yummy!  Buy organic pre-cooked sausage and you'r dunzo!

I am cruising along on my Whole30.  It is only fractionally more difficult than my detox because cheese is totally off limits, as is peanut butter, a go-to for me.  But I have noticed much less intestinal upset lately and I feel less bloated for sure.  We'll see if that's just a coincidence or not as the month progresses.  I am starting to get a little irritated that even little bites of fruit are off limits, but those little bites of fruit, if eaten at the wrong time, wreak havoc on my blood sugars, so it's really for the best I avoid them altogether.  This week we've had sausage/shrimp with peppers (which could not be easier.  Roast some shrimp and cut up sausage in 380 degree oven for 20 minutes and serve over sauteed peppers and onions), chicken thighs with salad and cauli puree, and on a particularly lazy night of the week I had deli meat wrapped around a pickle.  Hey, no one said Whole30 was glamorous amirite?

But on to the real meat of this post.  Chanukah is HERE people.  And while I am not super into Chanukah or anything, it is a fun and festive time, especially with a munchkin, and while I am not ok with her devouring starch and gluten filled potato latkes, and traditional sugar cookies, I am just fine with her having some Paleo Carrot & Sweet Potato latkes prepared by yours truly, as well as some grain-free (not) sugar cookies (recipe coming soon).

Paleo Carrot & Sweet Potato Latkes (makes 18 good sized latkes)

3 medium sized sweet potatoes, peeled and grated (I used my grater attachment in the cuisi)
8-10 medium sized carrots, peeled and grated (I used my grater attachment in the cuisi)
4 eggs, beaten
4 tsp coconut flour
salt and pepper
EVOO for drizzling

This makes quite a large amount!  I decided to freeze half for next week and keep half for this weekend to bring to a party.  Halve the amount if you like, or just freeze the extras for munching.  Feel free to play with spices and herbs too.  I kept mine plain since I was making them primarily for S, who will no doubt be eating them slathered with applesauce.

Toss your grated carrot and sweet potato into a really huge, really large bowl.  In fact, you may need to divide this into bowls, like I did.  Pour in your beaten eggs, and sprinkle your coconut flour throughout, and toss in some salt and pepper.  I totally eyeballed the amount so you'll have to do this on your own, but I'd suggest at least a teaspoon of kosher salt and 1/4 teaspoon of pepper.  Stir stir stir!  You want the egg and flour very evenly distributed.  With a large serving spoon, spoon the mixture onto a parchment lined baking sheet, using the spoon to flatten and form into circles.  Once you're done, drizzle a healthy bit of EVOO over each pancake so they brown up nicely.  Conversely, if you want to be truly authentic with these bad boys, fry them up in a large saute pan.  This will not only take a hundred and ninety years, but you and your house will stink like nobody's business and you will likely never make latkes ever again.  Your choice!

Bake at 400 until golden brown.  If you're like me, you'll want the edges to burn a bit.  I love that extra crunch!  If you aren't eating these right away, you'll simply re-drizzle them with some EVOO and pop in the oven to crisp up, at 380ish or so.  Serve with applesauce, or sour cream if that's your thing, or nothing at all!

Happy Chanukah to my fellow MOT, and stay tuned for some easy and yummy (not) sugar cookies!