Carrot Banana Sugar-free Muffins!

In trying to clean up my diet, I am cutting back on sugar. Sugar is so addicting it takes time to kick, so I am going easy on myself and looking for alternative ways to sweeten my life. My dilemma started with all the carrot fiber left over from juicing. What else can I do with it besides composting? I decided to cook up some carrot banana muffins and let the bananas be the sweetener. They turned out delicious and they are nutrient rich, so it's not a waste of calories or mindless eating!

Carrot Banana Muffins

2 cups spelt flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp Celtic sea salt

1 TB cinnamon

4 ripe bananas

1 duck egg (or 2 chicken)

1/4 cup almond milk (unsweetened)

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

1/8 cup flax seed, milled

3/4 cup carrots, shredded

1/2 cup walnuts

1. In a small bowl combine flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.

2. In a blender, combine bananas, egg, vinegar, oil, and almond milk

3. Transfer blender contents into the flour mixture

4. Fold in carrots, walnuts and flax seed

5. Spoon mixture into paper lined muffin tins or well-greased tins.

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes

Makes 10 Large muffins

Nutritional Tidbits:

Spelt is a cousin to wheat flour but has a nuttier and sweeter taste. You can substitute spelt flour for most recipes that call for whole wheat flour. If you are worried about heart disease, try using spelt flour in baking since it has more niacin than other whole grain flours. Niacin is essential in heart health and helps to reduce platelets from clumping together and causing blood clots. You can think of niacin as little hydroelectric power plants in your body! They help living cells generate energy from food.

If you are worried about the coconut oil in this recipe, or if all you've ever heard was to stay away from it, I have provided a link from Dr. Mercola below to show how trans fats are what's killing us and NOT saturated fats. It is only one source from many, explaining the new studies on heart disease. Coconut oil helps with supporting our thyroid and our heart. These are very well documented benefits and deserve to be studied further.

http://products.mercola.com/coconut-oil

Surprise! Coconut Oil Is Also Good For Your Heart...

FACT: Heart disease is the #1 cause of death in the U.S. And heart disease is often a silent killer. The first sign of cardiovascular disease is commonly a heart attack, and sadly, over one third of heart attacks are fatal.

And despite the propaganda, the truth is this: it is UNSATURATED fats that are primarily involved in heart disease, not the saturated fats, as you have been led to believe. As you saw earlier, countries that subsist on a coconut-based diet appear to enjoy good heart health.

The U.S. Department of Health and the FDA estimate that artificially hydrogenated trans-fats -- the type found in fast food, processed foods and your favorite pastries -- are ultimately responsible for a huge number of fatal heart attacks every year. These dangerous unsaturated fats are the ones you should ban from your diet, not naturally pure coconut oil, which is a better alternative because it contains very few fats with highly perishable double bonds -- and also has NO TRANS-FATS.

Plus, those commonly-used polyunsaturated fats encourage the formation of blood clots by increasing platelet stickiness. Coconut oil helps to promote normal platelet function.

(excerpt from his page)

As you can see, these muffins are nutritious and yummy! They allow the carrots and bananas to be the sweetener and are perfect for a quick morning breakfast. They are loaded with fruit, nuts and flax seed, which has 2600 mg of Omega-3 oils per serving!

You can always add a touch of honey to the muffins as you eat them, if you are still getting your sweet tooth under control. Over time, you will crave less and less sugar and find most baked goods too sweet for your liking. These muffins will become one of your favorites!

Happy Eating!

Dandelionheart