Sweet Sundays: Carrot Chia Coconut Muffin Drops

I bet you thought I forgot about Sunday Sweets, didn't you? Well It has definitely fallen off for a while, my husband brought this to my attention earlier this week. I.E. he said to me something along the lines of "you don't make dessert anymore, you don't love me..." wah wah wah!!

He's right though, I haven't. I guess I haven't been making desserts since I started eating meat again because I am getting more calories from beef and pork and I'm trying to be a little more conscious of my sweets intake now. Honestly, it kind of sucks, and doesn't really seem to be working out. Just because I don't bake desserts, doesn't mean I can't be persuaded into a late night bowl of ice cream or that crazy amazing "fork required" Reese's doughnut from Publix.

So... on a search for a somewhat healthy "dessert" I spent some time concocting these Carrot Chia Coconut Muffin Drops. I call them drops because they don't really rise too much. The shape that you put them in the muffin tin is will be the shape you have when they come out of the oven.

Recipe: 

• 1 c. coconut flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 t. salt
• scant 1/4 c. honey
• 1 c. apple sauce
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 c. milk
• 2 t. vanilla
• 2 tbsp. chia seeds
• 2 t. cinnamon (less or more to taste)
• 1/3 c. coconut oil (or vegetable oil, butter, or margarine)
• 3 tbsp. coconut palm sugar
• Juice & pulp from 3 medium sized carrots OR 2/3 c. carrot juice 2/3 c. finely grated carrots

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift together the coconut flour, baking soda, and salt.

In a separate bowl whisk together honey, apple sauce, eggs, milk, oil, carrot juice, and vanilla.

Stir the above 2 mixtures together. Add in the sugar, chia seeds, cinnamon, and carrot pulp.

Scoop batter 3/4 full into greased or lined muffin tins.

Bake for 25 minutes for regular sized muffins, or 15 minutes for mini muffins.

Immediately remove from tin and move to cooling rack.

I'm kind of proud of myself with these, this is the first recipe I've really made on my own. I looked at 4 or 5 recipes for different types of muffins to see the wet to dry ratio and went from there. They came out really good too! The energy from the chia seeds and antioxidant nutrients in the carrots will be a nice kick-start to your Monday morning.

What have you baked lately? Do you like these kinds of posts? Should I bring this column back to Just Me aghan? Let me know in the comments below! :)

Small Changes for Being Healthier

Yesterday my Jawbone UP showed up on my doorstep over lunch. So excited to try it out I went through the set up really quick before heading back into work. I just had to get the tracking started right then!

Me with my new Mint Green UP
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I was shocked by how many steps I accumulated in half the day. The average Jawbone UP user is under 6,000 in a day, mine was 9,046 in 11 hours. Granted I did go on a 3 mile walk/run with my pups, but still! I'll be sure to post again on the UP once I get some more usage with it.

In line with the fitness talk, do you use butter or olive oil? I grew up with a Mom who used butter in everything, her motto to this day is you can never have enough butter. I switched over to Olive Oil for most dishes with a concern for having a high cholesterol in the future. BzzAgent recently sent me some Filippo Berio Extra Virgin Olive Oil to try out and I've really enjoyed it. If you are not ready to forfeit the taste of butter, try substituting half of the butter in your recipe with olive oil. I still do this sometimes when I'm looking for a taste of home. They also sent me this handy substitution chart on a magnet, you can print a copy and read more of the health benefits of making the switch on their website.

I also was sent a few mail in rebates from BzzAgent for Skinnygirl Cocktails. With low calorie alcoholic drinks, these are the perfect substitute while I'm trying to get fit. Tonight I'm trying out their Mojito flavor in honor of National Mojito Day, which I missed yesterday. 1 of 4 of their newest flavors, I'm interested to see how it compares to a fresh Mojito from South Beach.

Image from Skinnygirl Cocktails

Enjoy your weekend and if you have any easy substitutions to get healthier please share!