Happy Monday, everyone! It has been a rainy weekend here, which is wonderful because 1) we need all the rain we can get here in California! and 2) it actually feels like autumn! I love everything about autumn. The chill in the air, the scarves and boots, the fall leaves, pumpkin spice everything… it always makes me feel the best combination of cozy and energized!
These muffins are the perfect excuse to do some healthy autumn baking. They’re bursting with the flavors of the season — apple, dried cranberries, pumpkin pie spices — and are also way good for you, packed with protein and naturally sweetened with honey and coconut sugar.
I have been exploring different types of flours in my baking recently and was excited to try out buckwheat after reading about its health benefits: it is an excellent source of nutrients and fiber, is great for your cardiovascular system and helps control blood sugar. Buckwheat is actually not a cereal grain, but a fruit seed related to rhubarb and sorrel, so it is often used as a substitute for those with gluten allergies or who are sensitive to wheat. The seed is ground into a flour that is dark in color and has a strong, nutty flavor.
These muffins get sweetened up by the fruit, but they are definitely not cupcake-sweet. I love to eat them smeared with peanut butter or pumpkin butter for an extra kick of flavor! Hope you enjoy them as much as we do around here!
{recipe adapted from Martha Stewart’s sugar-free muffins}
1/2 cup buckwheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 cup coconut sugar {or substitute sugar of your choice}
1 tbsp ground flaxseed
3 tbsp water
3 eggs
1 ripe banana, mashed
1/4 cup honey
1 tsp vanilla
1 apple, finely diced
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup dried cranberries
1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
2. In a small bowl, combine the ground flaxseed and water; mix together and set aside.
3. In a large bowl, mix the buckwheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, and coconut sugar.
4. In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, banana, vanilla and honey. Add the ground flaxseed-water mixture.
5. Mix the wet ingredients into the dry, then fold in apple, dried cranberries and walnuts.
6. Pour batter to the tops of lined cups. Batter will be very runny, but that is normal!
7. Bake for 30 minutes, until the muffins turn a deep chocolate brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
Day-By-Day Masterpiece 
