Almond Butter Banana Muffins from Clean Eating Magazine

My newest favorite magazine is Clean Eating. I love that they embrace easy, budget-friendly, vegetarian and gluten-free recipes. Also featured in the magazine are the eating fads of right now including Paleo and Whole30. As a health coach, it is important for me to stay current on the latest diet trends and to be able to report back to my clients actual recipes that I have tried.

When I saw this recipe for Almond Butter Banana Muffins by Pamela Salzman, I immediately pulled out the ingredients and got to work. I have dedicated the first 45 days of 2018 to be SUGAR-FREE! My addiction to sugar got really out of hand over the holidays and I felt within my soul the need to do a detox. 

I can clearly see that my sugar addiction is all in the mind. My mind makes excuses for needing something sweet, I put parameters and rules around having a dessert much like I did with alcohol when I was drinking. With 5 years of sobriety under my belt, I can see the mental thoughts for what they are, addiction. It's quite the tug of war going on in my head. Why do I need that sweet treat? What void is it filling? Am I avoiding something, numbing my emotions or am I just bored? I am just over the one week mark into the 45-day challenge and feeling a bit scattered mentally, the sure signs of an actual addiction. My mind continues to try and justify the need for dessert.

For some people when they are cutting refined sugar from their diets it's helpful to find recipes of things that they would normally like to eat so that they don't feel like they are being deprived. When our mind moves into deprivation mode our chances of success drop drastically. These Almond Butter Banana Muffins are going to do the trick! 

I didn't have hemp seeds in my cabinet so I substituted with sunflower seeds and sprinkled the top of each muffin with additional cinnamon. They are delicious! Easy to make, gluten-free and only sweetened with maple syrup. Go ahead and try them, you'll be amazed how delicious this grain-free muffin tastes.     

Here is a link to the recipe, which is also featured below:
https://www.cleaneatingmag.com/recipes/almond-butter-and-banana-muffins-recipe

Ingredients:

• 1 cup creamy unsalted almond butter (raw or roasted)

• 1 cup ripe mashed bananas (2 to 3 bananas)

• 2 large eggs

• ¼ cup pure maple syrup

• 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

• 1 tsp each baking soda and ground cinnamon

• ¼ tsp sea salt

• Pinch ground nutmeg

Optional toppings:

• hemp seeds
  banana chunks
  sliced almonds

1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with 10 paper liners.2. To a food processor, add all ingredients except hempseeds and blend until smooth and well combined. Remove blade and stir in ¼ cup hempseeds with a spoon.3. Pour batter evenly into prepared muffin liners, filling each cup to just below the top, and sprinkle with optional toppings of your choice. Bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until just set and a toothpick, comes out clean with dry crumbs. Transfer to a rack to cool completely. Keep refrigerated up to 5 days.