Paleo Cranberry Pumpkin Muffins

Cranberries are tart little devils and in most instances need to be accompanied by sugar...a generous amount of sugar.

But then a white sugar-free option....Paleo Pumpkin/Cranberry Muffins....just a little honey and done.

My original take on paleo baked goods....they are dry...thank you almond/coconut flour and if I'm going to "cheat" I want to actually cheat and move on with life...rather than "cheat" with a paleo baked good.  However...as far as Paleo baked goods go...these little muffins are pretty good. Fresh pureed pumpkin (yes, puree your own pumpkin...it's not hard) helps a lot with the dry issue and it also adds some sweetness....and then you have cranberries to give you a nice zing.

This recipe comes to us from Balanced Bites via Practical Paleo....

PREP TIME: 15 minutes
COOKING TIME: 35-40 minutes
YIELD: 12 muffins

ingredients

• 6 eggs, beaten
• 1/4 cup pumpkin puree (can be canned or fresh, if fresh, cook, cook and strain excess water from your pumpkin before using it in this recipe)
• 1/2 cup butter or coconut oil, melted (I prefer butter for flavor but if you can’t eat it, use coconut oil – I like Tropical Traditions Green Label
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup honey or maple syrup
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 1/2 tsp sea salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 Tablespoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 cup fresh cranberries

preparation

• Preheat oven to 350F.
• Whisk the eggs, pumpkin, butter or coconut oil, pure vanilla extract, and maple syrup together in a large mixing bowl. Sift in the coconut flour, sea salt, baking soda, and pumpkin pie spice and stir until well combined. Gently fold in the cranberries.
• In a muffin tin, scoop 1/4 cup of the batter into each lined muffin cup and bake for 35-40 minutes.

change it up!

• Add chopped walnuts and/or semi-sweet chocolate chips to the mixture before baking or place some on top.
• For bulkier muffins, add 3 cups of shredded carrots to the mixture before baking.
• To make this recipe 21-Day Sugar Detox friendly, replace the sweetener (honey/maple syrup) with 1 mashed green-tipped banana