What?! Another raisin post?! I’m sure that’s what you are saying to yourself but don’t you worry it’s worth it.

My husband is a lucky man. Not only is he married to one of the most awesome women ever but with me being a California Raisin Ambasador he has unlimited access to his favorite running fuel, raisins. For those of you who don’t know, my crazy, insane, and absolutely off his rocker husband of mine is an ultra marathon trail runner. He is so insane in fact that he was excepted into the highly regarded Western States 100 mile trail race this June. Yes, that’s 100 consecutive miles. I said crazy, didn’t I? Of course, he’s in strict training mode right now and most everything I make has to be low-glycemic and high-protein. That’s where raisins and these tasty healthy snack muffins come in.

Why Raisins for a healthy snack?

Because not only are raisins all-natural and dried by the sun, but they are low-glycemic. The Glycemic Index refers to the rate at which foods cause blood sugar to rise after you eat them. Those that cause a slow rise prevent performance-sapping drops in blood glucose – maintaining energy longer than a refined sugary snack or sports drink. Plus they have antioxidant power, a great amount of fiber, and as I mentioned all-natural with no preservatives.

Ok, you got me with the raisins but why the almond flour and sweet potato?

To make this snack nutritious, high in protein, and low-glycemic I’ve used almond flour. Almond flour is high in protein and is a good source of fiber, vitamin E, and magnesium. Sweet Potatoes are added because, believe it or not, it’s one of the most nutrient dense vegetables around.

Looks like I’m headed to the kitchen…

Raisin and Sweet Potato Snack muffins are a delicious, moist, and nutritious snack when you want something a little more than an apple for your family (especially when you have a runner or athlete eating you out of house and home). Sweet and delectable — I don’t mind when Mia, the resident four year-old, and her play dates asks for thirds.

Raisin and Sweet Potato Snack Muffins makes 24

• 1 cup blanched almond flour
• 1/4 cup brown rice flour
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/3 cup coconut oil, melted if in solid form
• 1/2 cup maple syrup
• 1 egg
• 1 medium sweet potato
• 1/2 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup shredded coconut

* To achieve the highest nutrient value for this recipe use the almond and rice flours. These flours can be found at major grocery stores or specialty markets. 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour can be substituted.

Preheat oven to 350°F. Prepare a mini muffin tin by lining the tins with mini muffin liners or lightly spraying with cooking oil. In a medium bowl, sift almond flour, brown rice flour, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt. I’m using brown rice flour to help lighten up the texture of the muffins.

In a large bowl, combine coconut oil, maple syrup, and the egg. Whisk until blended.

Add the dry mixture to the wet and stir until just combined.

Shred the potato with a cheese grater until you have 1 cup of shredded sweet potato.

To the batter, add sweet potato, raisins, and shredded coconut and stir until combined.

Spoon 2 tablespoons of batter into each muffin tin. Place the muffin tin into the center of the oven and bake for 15 minutes or until golden and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Remove the muffin tin from the oven and allow the muffins to remain in the tin for 3 minutes. Once the muffins are stable, carefully remove the muffins and place on a cooling rack to cool.

Once the muffins are cool enough, serve. Enjoy!

A story as old as time, when you have over ripened bananas that are starting to draw fruit flies and you are about to show your house to a potential buyer you make banana muffins or in our case banana nut muffins with Greek yogurt that are sinfully moist. I make this muffin recipe with practically any fresh fruit. It is also perfect to make ahead and use the batter as needed (batter will keep for 5 days in the refrigerator) for fresh delicious muffins every morning.

Another story that is as old as time is Murphy’s Law. When you are supposed to be doing something very important it is almost certain that inconceivable things will happen to slow you down. Case in point, the day I made these muffins I woke up to a house full of fruit flies gunning for my bananas. Something that you do not want in your house when you are trying to sell it. As I’m making these banana nut muffins with Mia to get rid of the fruit flies a half an hour before the house is to be shown, the door bell rings. It’s an energy salesman trying to sell me an energy plan while there is an obvious for sale sign in front of my house.

Just as I was about to slam the door in his face after he would not take “no” for an answer, all hell breaks loose and the smoke detector goes off. This scares the cats, sends them 10 feet into the air and causes them to run for their lives. All this commotion gets the attention of Jack the 70 pound lab who I thought was quietly sleeping. He starts to chase the cats around the house and runs past me and Eduardo the electric salesman while wearing a diaper on his face. Why does he have a diaper on his face? Because for some reason unbeknownst to me the dog has decided to empty Mia’s diaper trash in search of poo filled diapers. Yes, I said that right. Now, I still have Eduardo at the door, when Mia comes in from her room with one of the most terrifying thing in her hands… a permanent marker. This is when Eduardo says, “Is this a bad time?” To which I reply, “No, Eduardo, it’s perfect timing please come in for some tea and cookies.”

It’s now ten minutes before the realtor arrives and I’m stuck with a smoke detector that won’t turn off yet there’s no smoke, a chasing scene out of a Tom and Jerry cartoon, poop filled diapers flung about all over the house, and a once pink and cute vintage inspired child’s kitchen set that is now basically street taged with sharpie. Needless to say I did not hear back from the people that viewed the house that day nor did I buy an energy plan. At least the muffins were good.

Banana Nut Oatmeal Muffins makes 12

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3 large very ripe bananas
• 1/4 cup butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs
• 2 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract
• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup oatmeal, not instant
• 1/2 cup chopped pecans or walnuts
• oatmeal for garnish, optional

Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a muffin tin with paper muffin cups and lightly grease the paper cups with cooking spray. Greasing the paper muffin cups is not necessary but helps. In a medium sized bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

Peel the bananas and place them in a large bowl. With a potato masher or fork, mash the bananas until creamy. This is Mia’s favorite part.

In a large bowl with a hand mixer or stand mixer, beat the butter and sugars together until fluffy. Add eggs one at a time, scraping down the bowl to make sure everything gets blended. Beat on medium speed until butter, sugars, and eggs are combined.

Next, add vanilla and yogurt and blend until combined. With the blender on low, slowly add the flour mixture and blend until just incorperated. Sorry, this photo just escaped me. Must have been a moment when I was trying to keep Mia’s fingers out of the batter.

Next, fold in the mashed bananas, oatmeal and pecans.

Generously scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups.

Sprinkle the tops of the soon to be muffins with a pinch of oatmeal.

Place in the oven for 18 to 22 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. All ovens are different. I find this recipe is done in 18 minutes but still lacks that golden crisp color. To achieve a golden color and crisp texture on top, place the muffins under the broiler for 1 to 2 minutes until golden.

Immediately remove the muffins from the muffin tin. Be careful not to burn your hands, they will be hot. Allow to cool on a cooling rack.

Serve and enjoy!

I can’t even describe how good these biscuits are! My best attempt would be to compare them to a creamy and puffy biscuit. Although they are not technically a biscuit. They are like eating buttery, slightly salty, creamy airy puffs of…I don’t even know. They are that good. The fact that it takes a total of 3-5 minutes to create in a blender and 15 minutes in the oven makes these the quickest dinner rolls/biscuits ever. Every time I make them there is never any left and leaves people begging for the recipe.

It all started when I was attempting a recipe for Brazilian Cheese Bread from my favorite food blog of all time, Simple Recipes. (Seriously, check this blog out. If there were any food blogger that I would like to be in the kitchen with it’s Elise Bauer!) I was supposed to use tapioca flour but living in a town where anything other than all-purpose flour is a mystery I could not find any. I did have a stash of rice flour in my pantry from a recent trip to Whole Foods and used that instead. I thought since it didn’t have gluten that it would be the same thing. I noticed right off the bat that I was wrong and spent the next hour trying to play with the batter to get the consistency that I thought I needed. The result made our mouths water for more and I knew instantly that I had to keep playing around with this to get it right. Later I did find some tapioca flour and correctly tried Elise’s recipe for Brazilian Cheese Bread and the result was the total opposite of my concoction. I encourage you to try Brazilian Cheese Bread but I will warn you they are nothing like our traditional rolls and biscuits. They are very very chewy and it took a while for my American palette to get used to. None the less, I am happy for trying this recipe in the first place because it led to one of my favorite creations since the limoncello cookie! Thanks Elise for the inspiration.

Queso Fresco and Olive Oil Biscuits {Blender Biscuits} makes 6
prep time: 5 minutes cook time: 15-20 minutes
gluten free

• 1 egg at room temperature*
• 1 1/4 cup milk
• 1 cup Queso Fresco*, crumbled
• 1 cup white rice flour
• 1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt

Ok…ready? This will be the easiest biscuit/roll recipe you will ever make.

Preheat oven to 400°. Put all ingredients in a blender. Blend on high for 45 seconds.

Pour in a well greased muffin cup and place in the oven. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes until the biscuits are slightly golden on top.

And your done. Easy right? Serve and watch them disappear fast. Although this makes only 6 servings you can easily double the ingredients to make 12 for your Thanksgiving dinner this upcoming holiday.

*Notes
Egg:If you forget to leave the egg out to get to room temp like I always do, put it in a glass of warm water for a minute.
Queso Fresco: is traditionally a Mexican farmers cheese. You can usually find it in the grocery store.

As I told you last Monday my house is exploding with peaches. Not a bad problem to have mind you. Being a toddler, Mia loves muffins and when you put a house full of peaches and a child who is sick of eating eggs every morning together you have a perfect match. Of course, I’ve thrown in some butternut squash to the mix and cut down the sugar to make these perfect for the little munchkins. Moist and summer sweet, these peach and butternut squash muffins will be gone in no time. By the way, these are made with 3/4 less oil than regular muffins. The peach and butternut squash purees create the moist texture so everyone jump on in!

Peach and Butternut Squash Muffins {for toddler} makes 12 large or 40 mini muffins

• 1 cup peeled and diced peaches* (about 2 large peaches)
• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup oats
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup butternut squash puree**
• 1/2 cup peach puree**
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg

* Choose organic peaches if possible. Peaches are at the top of the “dirty dozen” list of produce to buy organic due to their high absorption rate of pesticides.

** This is a great way to use any left over baby food purees in the freezer. I used 1 cup (8 cubes defrosted) of butternut squash and peach puree from last weeks post.

Ok, lets get started. Preheat oven to 400°.

Peel, core and finely dice the peaches. You should have 1 cup. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the dry ingredients together. {flour, oats, baking soda, baking powder}

Next, in a separate bowl mix the wet ingredients together. {vanilla extract, both purees, sugar, oil, egg}

Add the wet mix into the dry and stir to combine. Next, fold the diced peaches into the batter.

Spoon batter into greased or muffin cup lined muffin tins. {2 mini muffin tins or 1 large 12 cup muffin tin} Place in oven and bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until an inserted toothpick into a baked muffin comes out clean. Mini muffins will take less time. So check on them often.

Remove from tins and allow to cool on a cooling rack. Pour a glass of milk and enjoy!

Now it’s the husband’s birthday so I am packing up and headed back to the 308 for a couple of days. And I swear if anyone puts anything that resembles a peach or a summer squash in my car this time I am going to loose it. And don’t worry we will still have Confession of the Mamahood tomorrow! Even if I have to climb the highest hill to get a signal.