pear zucchini muffins [paleo]

I wasn’t planning on posting a recipe today. I wasn’t even planning on making muffins this week. But yesterday, I was a little under the weather and was trying to figure out a low-key way to entertain the boys before naptime. For Beau, this meant sticking him in his high chair and feeding him leftover pork pot roast and veggies, then his second whole peach of the day. This activity satisfied him for a good 30 minutes. Meanwhile, I told James Michael, “Let’s cook something.”

If there’s one thing I’ve instilled in the boy, it’s a love for cooking. When JM declares he wants to cook, which is about once a day, I ask him what he wants to cook. And 90% of the time he says sweet potatoes, most likely because Daddy eats them so often.

Last night, after Beau was in bed and I began cooking dinner, he brought his little step stool over to the counter and proclaimed that he wanted to help. Unfortunately, cooking on the stovetop with a two-year-old nearby is not a pleasant experience. I was on Mama alert the entire time, repeatedly asking him to move back away from the stove as he tried to inch closer every few minutes. And when the open flame of a gas eye or hot oil in a pan isn’t enough to make things stressful for Mama, there’s always the knife cutting on the chopping block.

But I digress. Typically, baking is a much safer activity for toddlers, and thankfully, Mama loves to bake. So we scoured the fridge and pantry to see what we had to work with. I spied three Bartlett pears from our first Nature’s Garden Express box that were ripe and ready to be used. Then found a zucchini from that same order that looked too good to pass up. So with this inspiration, a tasty batch of paleo muffins was made.

Part of our first Nature’s Garden Express order. I’ll do a review of the company in a few weeks once we try out a few more orders. Basically, Nature’s Garden delivers organic produce right to your door, and much of it is local produce. Use this promo code to get $10 off your first box:
46e04  (forty-six “e” zero four)

To be honest, I wasn’t sure exactly how these muffins would turn out, considering I couldn’t even think straight between JM whisking almond flour right out of the bowl and Beau demanding more food. But somehow, they turned out quite tasty and I managed to write the recipe down. Life doesn’t give you much more of a win-win than that 🙂

Pear Zucchini Muffins [Paleo]

Ingredients:

• 1 cup blanched almond meal
• 1/2 cup coconut flour
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 3 small Bartlett pears, finely diced (1.5 cups)
• 1 medium zucchini, finely grated (1 cup)
• 3 eggs, whisked
• 1/3 cup raw honey
• 2 tbsp coconut oil, melted
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup pecans, chopped

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. In medium mixing bowl, whisk dry ingredients.

3. Stir in wet ingredients until mixed evenly, then stir in pecans.

4. Spoon batter into muffin tins (I lined mine with silicone baking cups) and bake at 350 degrees for roughly 30 minutes. Makes 14 muffins.

Linking up with Gluten-Free Wednesdays and Fight Back Friday