Three more classes then I am home-free. Accounting, Astronomy, and Statistics. Arguably this is my most difficult set of classes which I have for Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. On Tuesdays and Thursdays I have Business Communications and a World Cultures Music Class, which at least so far, seem to be easier.
After I get out of my Statistics class I’m going to pack up a bag (or two or three) of my things and head home for an extended weekend because of the Labor Day holiday. No worries about having nothing to do though because I already have plans (read: homework).
Interspersed with the homework will probably be some baking/cooking, and maybe even swimming. We have a nice big pool at home and I have gotten to swim in it a total of… oh, zero times this summer. Maybe I shouldn’t even go this weekend because it will just make me remember how much I love swimming and then I’ll be mad that I missed out on it this season. It’s basically a no win situation.
Remind me to bring my bathing suit just in case though.
I already have a few posts in mind for the next few weeks, which is pretty rare for me. One or two being surveys/awards that I’ve been nominated for by some fellow bloggers, a few recipes (of course) probably for WIAWs, a few recaps that I’ve been meaning to write for WIR for awhile, and also perhaps a short little picture-heavy post of my dorm room? That last one is totally dependent on how clean the common area looks when it comes time to take a few snapshots. Right now it’s not too bad but like I said, I’m going to be gone all weekend and who knows what it will look like when I get back!
With my plans fully out there, hopefully I will be more likely to actually fulfill them.
Now, let’s move on from the not-quite-as-exciting stuff and move onto the guaranteed-more-interesting topic of today’s recipe!
Chocolate Chip Banana Bread Muffins
Grain/Gluten/Wheat-Free, Vegan, Nut-Free Option, No Refined Sugar, GAPS/Paleo-Friendly
Makes 12 mini muffins and 2 ramekins
Ingredients:
- 1/4 cup carob powder + 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted*
- 1/4 cup ground flax seed + 1/4 cup water (or 2 eggs)
- 2 large or 3 small ripe bananas, mashed (around 240 grams)
- 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
- 1/4 cup honey (or maple syrup to make vegan)
- 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 3 tbsp coconut flour
- 1/2 cup almond flour (use a seed flour to make nut-free)
- 1/2 tsp sea salt
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Mix the carob powder and coconut oil until smooth and then pour out into a thin layer (I used a Tupperware lid about 8×5 inches). Freeze for about 10-15 minutes or until solid.
- Combine the ground flax seed and water. Let sit for a few minutes to thicken (or microwave for 60 seconds to speed up the process).
- Add the mashed bananas, coconut oil, honey and vanilla. Mix until well blended.
- Measure out the remaining dry ingredients and combine with the wet ones.
- Take out the frozen carob slab, break into small pieces and mix into the banana bread batter.
- Oil/grease/spray/line the baking dishes of your choice (I used a mini muffin pan and two small ramekins). Distribute the batter evenly and bake the dishes for 15-35 minutes (it all depends on the size of your pan).
Note: I haven’t made an actual full-sized loaf of banana bread out of this recipe yet, but I plan to do so in the future. To make a full-sized loaf you would need to double this recipe and bake it for probably at least an hour. I can’t guarantee the results though with those alterations.
*You can also use your favorite type of chocolate or carob chips here. You would need about 1/2 cup to replace the homemade ones.
It was so hard to not eat this little guy when snapping a picture. But I resisted the urge and placed it back in the muffin tins! Thank goodness too because my family ate the whole batch within a day!
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Questions for you:
Have you had the opportunity to swim this summer?
What are your easiest/hardest classes so far this fall?
Do you plan out your posts in advance or just fly by the seat of your pants?
Eating 4 Balance 
Well lookit you getting all fancy with making your own carob chips 😛 That’s actually something I’ve always wanted to do to make a muffin/loaf/cookie completely homemade, buuuut it comes to that one extra step and I just get lazy 😆 Banana bread, on the other hand, I’m always down for making.
I’m not going to school this fall, so no hard classes for me… but I do remember hating stats. I did well in it by some miracle of God, but math is definitely not my thing. I’m more of a reading and writing girl… not so much ‘rithmatic.
Happy Friday!
Carob chips are super easy so you should totally give them a try! Just use equal parts carob powder and coconut oil. Freeze in whatever type of container/dish you want, and then in less than 20 minutes you can break them apart. They even *snap* like real chocolate. I was so excited the first time that I made them 😀
I’m much more of a reading/writing girl too, but for some reason I am an accounting major. Haha. Just kidding. I do love math, but statistics isn’t exactly my area of study. I survived last semester and will hopefully survive this one too!
Hope you have a good Friday too. Thanks Amanda 🙂
OMG! I just started my paleo lifestyle this week and made this recipe tonight…THEY ARE TOTALLY AMAZING!!! Would be really interested in any protein/veggie recipes you could share!
Thanks Aroos! I’m so glad you liked the waffle recipe. As soon i start posting again, I will definitely share some protein/veggie recipes as that’s basically all I eat 🙂
I just quietly lol’d to myself at the makes 12 mini muffins and 2 ramekins. So accurate 😉
You have such a variety of classes there! Feel like doing my statistic subject for me? I am as smart as a chicken when it comes to all things mathematical and accounting!
Besides MIMM and WIAW I don’t plan posts per se, but have an idea of what I’d like to write about. Although, I wouldn’t post for the sake of it. Hope you enjoy the time home this weekend, and do some laps on my behalf!
Haha. I hate when recipes don’t have serving sizes so I always feel the need to include them… even if they are a bit strange 😉
Um, I’m not entirely sure that you’d want me to do your statistics for you. Lol. It’s for sure going to be one of my tougher subjects this year, but I just see that as a challenge.
I don’t really plan posts either, even WIAWs. I think it will be helpful in keeping up with blogging during school though if I try to plan even just a few days in advance though.
I never swim. It’s really not my thing. If I do swim I tend to focus on swimming underwater as I like to pretend I’m a mermaid. Haha I wish I was joking!
I never really plan my posts. I tend to write a post the day before and go by what’s been happening or if something’s inspired me/annoyed me. Though I try and do WIAWs…but lately I’ve lost the buzz for them a bit as I haven’t done any inspiring recipes or meals and I think my posts would be a bit dull otherwise haha.
These muffins look fabulous – I love how inventive you are with all the alternate ingredients.
Really? I’m not sure that I’ve ever met someone who doesn’t like swimming. Swimming underwater is definitely fun though. I think my brother and I pretended to be underwater Pokemon when we were younger. But when I was with other girls it was mermaids all the way 😉
I write almost all of my posts the day before too. Like this one- I wrote it yesterday afternoon, slapped on some photos and BAM. That’s about as early as I start usually!
Glad you like the looks of the muffins! I was crossing my fingers as the timer ticked down that they would actually bake and not be a liquid like a few experiments prior with a different recipe.
Chocolate chip muffins are my FAVORITE! YUM!!
Thanks Liz 🙂
I usually just post right after I finish writing something, but lately I have been saving drafts for up to a week or two…I don’t mind it at all as it helps me to have something when I really don’t know what to write about on a particular day!
Yum yum yum yum. x63940.
Those look so good! Another great recipe pinned!
Thanks for posting these grain free chocolate muffins!
This weekend is a nice long break for you from all those classes – hoping it’s fun ~ and you manage to squeeze in a swim – after all it will be fall before you know it! 🙂
Sadly I didn’t get to squeeze in a swim 😦 But I had fun nonetheless! I hope you enjoy the muffin recipe sometime 🙂
Omg I am drooling so hard. These look amazing. Enjoy your weekend at home! I’m headed off to home too 😀
Ooooh gorgeous. These look totally delicious. I love the large chocolate chunks in muffins. I would also be so upset if I missed swimming season – I am going to miss some of it anyway this year because I won’t be home for long (and we can swim from like now onwards).
Just got caught up on reading! Wow your class load looks tough! I’m actually going part time this semester due to starting a full time job so my classes are all cinema based – oh the life of a media student 🙂
With the weather finally cooling off I’m ready to get back into baking and these sound amazing!
Hope you have a relaxing extended weekend 🙂
These look great! Sounds like a busy semester!
I NEVER can find carob chips for sale near me, so a homemade version is amazing! That dough looks SO good. I’m a big dough person, so I would probably never get to the actual baking stage of this recipe! I’ve been having cross country at 6 at school, so my breakfasts have been on the go, and it never occurred to me to make muffins! And banana ones? YESS!
While the recipe is great, I like the not quite as interesting (to you) stuff. I hope you have a great long weekend, and I think you should go swimming and enjoy your first and last dip of the summer.
I’m super impressed with the homemade carob chips by the way. Two snaps and a twirl.
I love chocolate and bananas! The muffins look so, so delicious. I’m looking forward to school starting but not so much to the homework. I’ve heard that the college work load is much heavier than high school, starting to get a bit nervous now. I’d like to minor in economics, so I’m going to have to take scary subjects like statistics and accounting, yikes. I’ll probably take them in sophmore year, hopefully all will go well. Wish I was good at math like you, I’d never be able to specialize in accounting. Even the thought of it scares me a bit.
I hope school as been going well for you Shawn! I think Statistics totally beats out Accounting. Haha. At least right now it’s my preferred class! Accounting is honestly scaring me a tiny bit too right now. 😉
Now if only I lived next door so I could be your tester for all these awesome recipes you’ve been coming up with.
These look like the perfect study snack!! I love how you made the carob chips – I would probably just use store bought because I’m lazy like that 😉
I’ve always wanted to take an astronomy class! Let me know how it goes! I have to say that I’m sorry you have to take statistics… I think that was my least favorite class ever. But maybe you’ll like it! I do know people that love it!
Look at you getting all fancy with your homemade carob chips! I hope you got a chance to relax and swim and enjoy the time with your family this weekend (better late than never when enjoying the summer right?!).
That sounds like a rough semester of classes, so keep your head up! You’re so close if you can get through those rough ones and that is the best kind of payoff!!
WOW these look scrumptious! 🙂
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Do you think any sugar free substitutes would work in place of the honey/maple syrup?
Thanks so much!
Hi Kay! Thanks for the question. I have three ideas for you in substituting out the honey/maple syrup:
1. You can probably leave out the honey entirely and see how the consistency of the batter is (it should be thick but not dry).
2. If it needs some moisture add a few more tablespoons of mashed banana (maybe for a total of 300 grams or 3 medium-sized bananas?).
3. For additional sweetness I would recommend the safest alternative as stevia. Here is a great conversion chart for that: http://www.stevia.com/stevia_sugar_substitute.aspx Just make sure the consistency of the batter is right, then add stevia to taste (that’s the beauty of egg-free recipes 🙂 ). If I were to guess I would say that 6 packets/24 drops would be a good amount to go from.
If you have any more questions, just let me know. And make sure to report back with how the muffins turn out 🙂
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Made these yesterday for my 4 year old son. It made 10 regular size muffins. I baked them in silicone liners for 30 minutes. Then I shut off my oven and let them sit inside the oven for another 30 minutes. I’ve found that it often helps grain-free, vegan muffins set if I leave them in the oven. They were perfect! (and I’ve tried a lot of grain-free, vegan muffin recipes) Thanks so much!
“Perfect.” Now that’s something that I could get used to hearing. Lol. I’m extremely pleased to hear that you and your son liked them. Thanks for the tip about baking grain-free vegan muffins as well. These turned out great without the additional time, but I’ll have to give that trick a shot sometime to see the difference.
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Flax? Paleo? NOT!
Hello Ferris. While I do appreciate you trying to enlighten everyone on the Paleo diet, I think that we will have to just agree to disagree about flax:
http://crossfitanaerobicinc.com/paleo-nutrition/list-of-foods/
http://www.whole9life.com/2013/06/the-official-can-i-have-guide-to-the-whole30/
http://www.paleoeffect.com/paleo-quick-guide/#comment-13690
http://www.whole9life.com/2009/02/science-is-hot/
I’m sure you can provide and equal amount of links saying that flaxseed is not paleo too. Most of what I have read is that in small quantities it is fine. I really like flax for its ability to allow those with egg allergies to enjoy treats like this one. You could probably sub the flax/water mixture with an equal amount of eggs with good results. As is the case with all desserts/snacks though, moderation is important.
I do not follow a Paleo diet necessarily nor do I claim to be an expert. I will ask that you leave a kinder response next time though than the one you left this time. Thanks.
These are sooo good. I just took batch out of the oven – yum! I used eggs and added some chopped pecans. Even the batter tasted wonderful (I know, raw eggs – but I couldn’t resist)
Thanks so much for posting this recipe – a new favorite.
No judgement here. I used to make chocolate chip cookies JUST for the dough 😉
I’m so happy to hear that you liked them. Thanks for reporting back Claudia! The added pecans sound amazing.
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How many calories would u say are in each?
Hi Lenia. I try to focus more on the quality rather than quantity of the ingredients. That said, these probably have 100 per mini muffin and (maybe) 400 per ramekin? Just an estimate off the top of my head.
If you want to reduce the calories you could try replacing the second coconut oil with an equal amount of mashed banana. That would probably drop the calories of each mini muffin to about 60 and about 240 per ramekin.
Hi Madison,
I am excited to make these muffins but I was wondering if you had a suggestion for substituting the flax with something else? I avoid flax due to its high phytoestrogen content, but just am not sure what to use in it’s place.
Thanks 🙂
Hi Lori!
I have been making mostly flax-free recipes recently for the exact same reason. If you can have eggs, I would recommend substituting one or two eggs for the flax mixture.
Also, if my research is correct, ground chia seeds/chia seed powder is a similar low phytoestrogen substitute for flax. I would use a 1:1 sub of chia powder for flax and I think that would work best.
A third option is to use an ener-g egg replacer: http://www.ener-g.com/egg-replacer.html or a homemade tapioca egg (mix 1/2 cup water + 1/2 tbsp tapioca starch and bring to a boil for 30 seconds. Let cool to a gel and use in place of flax mixture).
It may take some experimenting to find what works best, and these are all just my estimated guesses from similar recipes I’ve made. I hope this helps and let me know what you try and what works 🙂
I just made these and they are so, so good. Thank you!
So glad to hear it! 🙂
These are delicious! Do you have the nutrition information on these?
Hi Beth. I’m so glad you enjoyed them! I answered the nutrition question somewhere in the comments on this post I believe. Sorry, don’t know off the top of my head though 🙂
Could I substitute cocoa powder fot the carob powder?
Yes, although I would recommend adding some sort of sweetener like maybe liquid stevia? Carob is like a naturally sweet version of cocoa powder, so if you replace it with straight cocoa it would be rather bitter.
Thank you for your suggestion of adding sweetner and your speedy reply as I will make these today! Will look for carob powder for the next batch. Will I need to look in a Whole Foods store?
Whole Foods would definitely have it. I have found it at local grocery stores before, though, and at my local health food store (WF is a ways away from me so we don’t go often). I think Chatfields is the brand we got, maybe? But we’ve also tried others and liked it. I’ve also made this replacing the homemade carob chips with enjoy life chocolate chips.
Thanks again. I will use Enjoy Life chips until I can find carob powder.