Motivational Monday: The Recipe - Banana & Date Muffins

Muffins you say? On a Motivational Monday? One word...YES! 

If you're a Starbucks muffin addict, but cringe at the sight of how many calories or sugar is included in each one, then this might be a recipe for you.

I gave up muffins a while ago, cake in the morning with a grande latte is not great on the old waistline. Couple that with my journey of trying to cut out processed sugar and eating more nourishing foods and there really is no room for muffins in my life, well so I thought.

I found this muffin recipe in Gwyneth Paltrow's recipe book called 'It's All Good'. It is gluten free and vegan friendly, plus doesn't include any processed sugar. Even though it's gluten free, vegan free and processed sugar free does not mean that it's taste free. These muffins are yum, and if you're a lover of banana bread then I promise you, you will love these.

INGREDIENTS

2 cups gluten-free flour plus 1 tablespoon

2 teaspoons of baking powder

2 teaspoons of baking soda

A pinch of sea salt

2 overripe bananas, mashed

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

2/3 cup good quality maple syrup

2/3 cup unsweetened almond milk

2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract

1/2 cup of pitted and chopped up dried dates

1/4 cup roughly chopped pumpkin seeds, plus 3 tablespoons for the tops of the muffins

HOW TO MAKE THE MUFFINS

• Pre-heat the oven to 200 degrees celsius
• Line a 12-cup muffin tin with muffin cases. I made mine from baking paper and made them a bit 'fancier' by folding the paper over along themselves to make a concertina
• Whisk together the two cups of flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl
• In a separate bowl whisk together the bananas, olive oil, maple syrup, almond milk and vanilla
• Thoroughly combine the dry and wet ingredients
• Toss the dates and the 1/4 cup of chopped pumpkin seeds with the extra tablespoon of flour (this keeps them from sinking to the bottom of the muffins) and fold them into the batter with a rubber spatula
• Evenly divide the batter among the muffin cases and sprinkle each muffin with a pinch of the extra pumpkin seeds
• Bake until the muffins are browned and a toothpick comes out clean, around 20-25 minutes

If you fancy getting your hands on Gwyneth's recipe book here's a link to Amazon - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Its-All-Good-Delicious-Recipes/dp/0349400830