Flourless Banana Collagen Muffins

I have been on a major baking kick lately, which is extremely unusual for me! Motivated by not being able to find the exact baked goods my body needs (yes, needs!) has brought me to get a little creative and branch out more into the baking world. The baked goods my body needs? Let me explain….

As much as I believe that food is medicine and healing through what we nourish ourselves with is essential, I also believe that at any given point regardless of what our diet is- enjoying delicious treats is a basic human right! I haven’t talked about it much because I am quasi-navigating it through pregnancy, but have been trying to get rid of a case of SIBO (small intestine bacterial overgrowth). While this is hard to battle while also growing a human inside of you, sticking to the diet as best I can is the safest way to address it at this point.

In short, the SIBO elimination protocol that I am (attempting to) follow requires cutting out sugar (except honey), grains and most grain free starchy foods. This makes most paleo baked goods off limits due to their use of root flours like cassava and potato. Thankfully there are ways to bake without those ingredients! I was inspired by the Detoxinista Pumpkin Bar recipe I also love to create a baked good that uses almond butter instead of any flours! I wanted something I could eat for breakfast that wasn’t too sweet (this recipe only uses 2 tbsp honey) and had enough protein to keep me full (each serving has 10 g collagen protein and 7+ g plant protein).

Spotty, browned bananas are a great alkalizing food that encourages good digestion!

Ingredients:

• 6 ripe spotty bananas

• 1 egg

• 2 c almond butter (salt, sugar and oil free is best)

• 1/2 tsp each spice: nutmeg, cinnamon, ginger

• 1 tsp vanilla extract (without added sugar is best)

• 1/2 tsp sea salt

• 1/2 tsp baking soda

• 2 tbsp honey (local is best)

• 6 scoops (60 g) Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides

• 1/2 c shredded raw coconut

• 12 pecan halves

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and put liners in a 12 muffin tin

• Peel and mash the bananas in a large bowl until an even consistency is reached

• Add remaining ingredients in order, stirring each in to form a batter

• Pour the batter into the muffin liners and top each muffin with a pecan half

• Bake for 25 minutes (checking at 20 minutes)- they usually begin to burn after 25

• Allow muffins to cool before removing from tin and enjoying (1 serving = 2 muffins, containing 17+ grams of protein!)

Enjoy them with a latte (see below!) for even more protein and a breakfast that keeps you satisfied all morning

Want to win a large (20 oz) container of Vital Proteins Collagen Peptides? Head on over to my instagram page for the rules to enter! Offer expires 4/11/19 at 10 pm EST!

Make with…

Unicorn Coconut Butter Macaroons

These coconut gluten and dairy free macaroons are a perfect light and fun flavorful treat to bring to any sort of Summer soiree. The fun pops of color are 100% natural and come from the fresh blueberries and strawberries that dye the coconutty goodness that make up the base of the cookies. These are a bit creamier than your traditional macaroons thanks to the coconut butter that helps hold them together. 

To save steps, rather than making the cookies two tone, you can either food process both berries together or just choose one kind. You can also eliminate the chocolate- they taste great plain as well! A few tricks I learned are: don't food process them too much, the ones with some little chunks of berry are really good, don't overcook- they are really good a little gooey, but set and make sure to dry the berries completely- you don't want any extra liquid making the batter watery. 

Try to buy berries organic since conventional strawberries contain some of the highest levels of pesticides in conventional produce

The color comes completely from the berries- which is shocking how hot pink they come out!

Swirling the two separate batters makes the swirl look, but save a step and use just one

Try making the cookies plain or with the extra step for chocolate lovers

Cut down on time spent on weekly grocery trips by having frequently used staples on hand!

Download my Kitchen Checklist Now!

Powered By ConvertKit

Ingredients:

Macaroons

• 5 cups coconut flakes

• 2 tbsp Artisana coconut butter

• 1 1/3 cup granulated sugar

• 4 egg whites

• 1/2 tsp almond flavor or extract

• 1/4 tsp sea salt

• 1/3 cup cut up strawberries

• 1/3 cup blueberries

Chocolate Dip

• 1 bag chocolate chips of choice- I like Enjoy Life soy/dairy free semisweet chocolate chunks

• 1 cup coconut flakes

Method:

Macaroons

• Preheat the oven to 325 degrees and line at least 2 sheet pans with parchment paper

• Add the coconut flakes and butter to the food processor and pulse until they have begun to blend together well

• Add the sugar and continue to pulse until well combined

• Add the almond flavor, salt and eggs. Pulse until well combined (see photo with white coconut batter and berry pieces on top)

• Now remove half of the coconut batter from the food processor and reserve. Add strawberries to the half that remains in the food processor. Pulse until the dough has strawberries evenly distributed. It is okay if there are some little bits- it is best a little chunky and not too smooth.

• Remove the finished strawberry batter and put aside in a bowl. Rinse and dry the food processor before adding the reserved second half of the batter.

• Add the blueberries and once again pulse until they are evenly distributed, however leaving chunks and not making it too smooth.

• Fill a tablespoon with half strawberry and half blueberry batter and use your finger to give it a little swirl as you plop each cookie onto the tray (see photo above)

• Bake the cookies for 15-20 minutes. Check after 15 to see if they are ready. You want them set but do not want the edges getting too crisp.

Chocolate Dip

• Once the macaroons have cooled all the way, you can prepare to do the chocolate dip.

• Melt chocolate over a double broiler or if you don't have one like me- bring a little bit of water to a boil in a saucepan and place some sort of heat safe bowl on top to melt the chocolate in!

• Be sure the bowl doesn't actually touch the boiling water. Help the chocolate melt by stirring.

• Once melted, dip the cookies into the chocolate then lay them on parchment paper. Sprinkle them with some coconut flakes.

• Allow the chocolate to harden and flakes to set, then enjoy or store in an airtight container at room temperature and enjoy later!

Coconut butter is the trick to making these creamier than usual macaroons

Dairy Free Coconut Almond Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is the perfect classic chocolate chip cookie but with coconut oil and almond butter swapped for the usual butter. I also used some of the sugar as powdered sugar, I did this the first time I made them when I was completely experimenting and baking with what I had in the house. I only had enough brown sugar for half so used powdered sugar as well and actually loved how they came out so have kept a variation of that in the recipe. However you can use all brown sugar if you prefer them more classic. They are a great indulgent option for those looking to eliminate or avoid dairy. They are also soy free- the chocolate chips are these allergen friendly mega chunks that I am obsessed with!

The recipe makes 25 small cookies. I like to bake half and save half in the freezer for baking later or eating straight out of the freezer!

Cookie dough is my weakness,,, I'm shocked that even with me eating some this still makes 25 cookies! You may get more!

All my baking gurus tell me to freeze dough before baking for optimal baking- it definitely is a good trick!

Don't forget to top the cookies with sea salt- so good!

Cut down on time spent on weekly grocery trips by having frequently used staples on hand!

Download my Kitchen Checklist Now!

Powered By ConvertKit

Ingredients:

• 1 cup brown sugar

• 1/2 cup powdered sugar

• 3/4 cup coconut oil

• 4 tbsp almond butter

• 1 egg

• 1 tsp vanilla

• 2 1/4 cup flour (I use a whole wheat/white blend of local flour for a little heartier consistency)

• 1 tsp baking soda

• 1 tsp salt

• 1 package chocolate chunks or broken up chocolate bar (see above for my favorite)

Method:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix the wet ingredients and sugars (everything except the flour, salt and baking powder) until they are thoroughly combined.

• Add remaining dry ingredients to a bowl and combine. Once combined add little by little and mix into the wet ingredients. Mix until you get a thick batter.

• Pour in chips and mix until evenly distributed in dough.

• Roll dough into tablespoon scooped balls and put in a large container to freeze. Freeze for at least 30 minutes.

• Remove dough from freezer and place onto two large parchment lined trays. Bake for 15 minutes sprinkling sea salt all over the cookies! about halfway through. Allow to finish baking and cool on trays. Time may vary based on ovens so watch until they look completely set and starting to brown around the edges just a bit.

Perfect with a cold glass of (cashew) milk