GFG Original Recipe- Grain-Free, Gluten-Free, Sugar-Free Pumpkin Pie Muffins!

I think all the talk recently about the pumpkin spice lattes at Starbucks got me thinking about pumpkin pie.  The latte does not interest me at all though.  Sounds pretty gross actually.  Anyways- I wanted to create a nice fall-ish recipe using pumpkin so devised this fun new recipe!  It is incredibly simple and tastes great!  Next time I'd probably add a little flax to it and maybe a pinch of ground ginger.  But try this out!


Pumpkin Pie Muffins
1 cup almond flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp pumpkin pie spice (add a bit more cinn/ginger if you like it spicy!)
2 eggs
1/4 cup oil (canola or coconut)
1 tsp vanilla
half can of pumpkin puree (about 7.5 ounces)
1/4 cup sweetener, like stevia in the raw

Preheat oven to 350 and grease a muffin tin.  Makes 12 muffins.

Combine almond flour, baking powder, salt, and spices and whisk to combine.  In a separate bowl, whisk eggs, then add oil, vanilla, and sugar.  Then add pumpkin and combine well.  Add dry to wet and make sure its thoroughly combined.  Drop batter into muffin tin using 1 tbsp scoop.  Bake 25-30 minutes and enjoy!

I also tried making homemade frozen yogurt in my ICE-21 and had great results using Trader Joe's non-fat Greek yogurt.  Not the european style- greek.  It's very very very thick.  Make sure your ice cream maker is turned on BEFORE you add the base or it won't turn.  Here is what I did:

one container of non-fat greek yogurt
zest and juice of one lemon
3 tablespoons stevia in the raw.  I made sure the mixture was thoroughly combined and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours.  The yogurt is very thick and creamy, although it did not have the tart flavor I was looking for.  Unfortunately, most commercial tart yogurt is made using citric acid, and lemon does not create the same tart flavor.  Rather, it tastes lemony.  Not a bad thing at all, just not what I was looking for.  Tart yogurt may not be something you can create at home, although I'll keep trying!  In the meantime, using non-fat greek yogurt is an excellent and extremely high-protein treat that can be sweetened and flavored in any number of ways.  Using stevia and fruit purees, you could really make any flavor you wanted!  If the flavor of greek yogurt isn't your thing- try using vanilla non-fat yogurt and straining it- then adding whatever flavors you like.  Or, just regular non-fat yogurt.  You must strain it first.  I've noticed that if your base is very watery- the mixture won't freeze well.  The mixture crystallizes and is much more icy than creamy. 

I'll post more later today- it's use what you have Sunday!  XoXoGFG