Maple Almond Banana Muffins with Cinnamon Cardamom Butter

Each muffin is light, moist, and super sweet. The salty cardamon spice butter only adds to their deliciousness. These muffins are sure to be a hit for a work snack or enjoyed as a mid-day treat. !   Makes 16

Ingredients

4 medium overly-ripe bananas, for flavour – mashed (about 1 .25 cups mashed)
.25 c melted coconut oil
.25 c pure maple syrup
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 c superfine almond flour
1 c GF oat flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1.5 tsp baking powder
.5 tsp bicarb
.5 tsp kosher salt
1 c walnuts (optional)

Cinnamon cardamom Butter:
1 stick (8 Tab) salted butter, at room temperature
.25 c maple syrup or honey
.5 tsp vanilla extract
1 tsp cinnamon
.25 tsp cardamom
sea salt

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Line 16 muffin tins with paper liners.

2. In a bowl, stir together the mashed bananas, coconut oil, maple syrup, eggs & vanilla until combined. Add the almond flour, oat flour, baking powder, bicarb, cinnamon and salt: mix until just combined. Fold in the walnuts.

3. Divide the batter among the prepared muffin tins. Bake for 20-22 minutes, until just set.
4. To make the butter, beat everything together until creamy. Serve generously with warm muffins. Enjoy!

 

Chewy Chocolate Chunk Honey Sesame Cookies

Every bite has chewy edges with soft, chocolatey centres, making these cookies extra yummy!
They are super easy to make and healthier too. 
Makes 12


.5 c salted butter at room temp (ghee and add salt?)
.5 c honey
1 large egg
2 tsp vanilla extract
1.5 c white whole wheat flour – try spelt instead of plain flour for denseness – or rye
.5 tsp cinnamon (opt)
.75 tsp bicarb
.5 tsp salt
1.5 c chopped chocolate chunks or chips
.33 c sesame seeds, toasted

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Toast the sesame seeds.
2. Add the butter to a skillet set over medium heat; cook until the butter begins to brown*,
about 3-4 mins. Remove from heat, transfer to a heatproof bowl. Let cool for 5 minutes or so.
(* Let the butter cook until it bubbles up and foams on top. This is when I turn the heat off and continue to allow the butter to cook in the pan. Little brown bits will form on the bottom of the pan. Those are the nutty little bits that will make your recipes extra delicious).

3. To the browned butter add the honey, egg & vanilla, mixing until smooth. Add flour, cinnamon (if using), bicarb and salt and mix til just combined. Mix in the chocolate and sesame seeds. Dough may be too wet to roll yet so let it sit and chill 10 mins to stiffen it: don’t neglect this step!

4.  Roll dough into tablespoon-sized balls, place 2 inches apart on the prepared baking sheet. Gently flatten the dough down. Bake for 8 minutes. Remove from the oven, rotate, and tap the baking sheet on your counter 1-2 times to flatten them (don’t omit this).
Bake another 2-3 mins til cookies are just beginning to set on the edges.

5. Let the cookies cool on the baking sheet. They will continue to cook slightly as they sit there.  Eat warm (highly recommend) or let cool and store in an airtight container for up to 4 days.

NOTES:  your cookies will come out flat and chewy with very wrinkled edges and pockets of melted chocolate. They will require no chilling and take less than thirty minutes altogether. They’re even pretty healthy too! Hopefully, you’ll love these and be making them year-round!

– dough can be made up the night before.

– they are more cake-like than we were led to believe.