Muffins with Sneaky Veggies

When it comes to meals, I’m alllll about getting in as many veggies as I can. That’s why I love these muffins over any other kind I’ve made with my kids. They contain all kinds of prebiotic fiber from the vegetables, as well as flax and gluten free oats – so their good bacteria can flourish. They’re gluten free, dairy free, and refined sugar free. The recipe may seem lengthy and time-consuming at first, but now I just throw everything in the blender and the result is sooooo worth it!

Since I started working on my bonus baby’s gut a year and a half ago, I’ve definitely learned a lot about cooking and baking. We don’t use enriched flour anymore, due to the gluten and folic acid, we don’t have dairy in the house (other than Kerrygold butter, a great source of butyrate), we buy organic as much as possible, and we limit refined sugar and processed foods. They also take the BEST methylated multivitamin/probiotic chewable ever.

I have seen massive results in my 2 and a half year old’s health. He was well on the road to asthma at a year old, needing breathing treatments just about every month with a chronic runny nose. I’m happy to say that at the time I typed this, we have gone 3 months without a breathing treatment and he hasn’t had a runny nose in far longer…and the pollen count in Dallas is at a crazy high.

I’ve adapted this recipe and doubled it from the version I first saw here. The original calls for almond butter, but have you seen the price on organic almond butter??? I sub organic peanut butter, Costco brand, and it works great. For sweetener, I think organic maple syrup brings an added richness raw honey doesn’t have. I love raw honey for the health benefits, but again – you’re using a lot in this recipe and that stuff ain’t cheap.

If you don’t have a blender or food processor, you could definitely blend by hand or in a standard mixer. Grate the veggies (or use canned pumpkin) and make sure the bananas are mashed well.

For people with nut allergies…I’d love to know if you can omit the nut butter completely and still come out with a good muffin, but I have yet to experiment with that. I think you could probably skip the eggs for those with egg allergies, since there is flax, and that’s a pretty decent egg substitute.

I love that this makes a huge amount, so that I can freeze them and have on hand for breakfast. They last a week or two, depending on who is eating them. Bonus baby has been known to consume 7 in one sitting.

Nursing mamas – I wish I knew about these when I was nursing. It contains so many things beneficial for breast milk and your baby’s gut.

Ingredients:

In blender, blend first:

3 cups gluten free oats
4 tablespoon flax meal
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt

Pour into large mixing bowl

In blender, blend second:

4 eggs
3/4 cups no sugar added peanut butter
3/4 cup organic maple syrup
4 tsp vanilla
4 bananas
2 zucchini, cut in inch rounds*

Directions:

Blend all the dry ingredients first until everything is a fine flour-like texture.
Blend all the wet ingredients. Tip – add maple syrup first, then when you put peanut butter in the same measuring cup, it will slide out without sticking. Make sure the veggies are all blended and no chunks remain.
Mix all together in a mixing bowl until smooth. Add in chocolate chips (I don’t measure, but it’s probably 1/2 to 1 cup). I always go for chocolate chips that don’t have soy or dairy, like Enjoy Life brand or Lily’s.
Pour into a greased muffin pan or paper holders.
Bake at 350 for 18-20 minutes.
Devour the fresh muffins with some Kerrygold butter on top, and freeze the extras to have breakfast for the next week or two!

*This equals about 2 cups of shredded zucchini, if you have a blender. You can also do yellow squash, or pumpkin, or carrots. I’ve used all with wonderful results.