Monday's Menu:

Print the Paleo Pecan Pie Muffin recipe here!

Hello & happy Monday everyone! I hope we're all kicking off to a wonderful week ahead. Did you have a nice weekend? Mine was rather busy but fun as we celebrated some friends' birthdays. I'll have a dessert recipe to share with you soon that I made for the gathering Friday night. In the mean time, I'm excited to share this tasty and sweet "muffin" recipe with you today. I have some thoughts to share about the term "Paleo" first, so if you're in a hurry you can scroll down to the recipe.

Before I get started I'd like to acknowledge that I actually debated with myself as to WHY these are called muffins when they're soooo sweet and taste like a straight up piece of pecan pie. Why is this not called a cupcake? What's the difference between a cupcake and a muffin? Not much of a difference really...a muffin a bald cupcake in my opinion. I did look to Wikipedia and I'll let you do your own reading on the topic there. I think we tend to think/feel that a muffin is a breakfast food and that it is healthier than a (bald) cupcake, when in reality it isn't really healthier at all! Perhaps some might be, but most have just as much sweetener and flour even if it's made "Paleo".

So food for thought: something being labeled "Paleo" may be better for you because it's not made using white sugar and wheat flour. However, the term "Paleo" allows for a lot of "natural" sweeteners that still effect your insulin levels the same way white sugar does, AND the non-wheat flours used (almond flour, coconut flour, arrowroot flour, tapioca flour, etc) may be better for us because they're gluten free but they still have high carbohydrates. I'm just pointing this out because the terminology can be misleading for anyone. Gluten free doesn't necessarily mean healthy. Paleo doesn't necessarily mean healthy.

Now - put all of that knowledge aside and you're going to LOVE these "muffins"! They're delectable and sure to satisfy your sweet tooth with a cup of really good coffee. I struggled to eat just one!

The menu (Paleo): pecan pie muffins; yields 9 muffins.

Shopping List:

1 cup raw pecans, chopped
1 cup almond flour
3/4 cup coconut sugar (you may want to use 1/2 cup or less to reduce the sweetness)
1/4 tsp. salt
2 eggs, room temperature
1/3 cup coconut oil at room temperature
1 tbsp. molasses

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325 *F. Add all of the ingredients to a large mixing bowl and using a hand mixer, blend the ingredients until thoroughly combined. Add the batter evenly to 9 muffin cups in a non-stick muffin pan. If you use a regular muffin pan, make sure to coat the muffin cups with a coconut oil baking spray. Bake for 25 minutes. Allow them to cool for about 10 minutes before serving. This allows the muffin to continue firming up a little bit in the middle.

*Note: I sampled this recipe from Jay's Baking Me Crazy's website who borrowed it from The Golden Barrel. I'll definitely make these again but use less coconut sugar than the recipe called for. You can add in optional things like mini chocolate chips but I opted not to because the batter was so sweet already.

**Admission: I made these on a morning that I had to rush out the door, and was in the middle of packing up my kitchen/apartment and moving so I did not spend time or effort taking nicer photos of these delicious muffins. Sorry!

I hope you enjoyed this informative recipe post. Please share if you did. These will be a great "breakfast" for Thanksgiving when you have family and friends in town. I plan to make them again then. =}

You can find my previous Paleo recipes here and previous dessert recipes here.

Wishing everyone a wonderful day & productive week ahead!

XOXO

Every Piece Fits