Yesterday, while someone slept….

I made MUFFINS!

Dashing Dish’s Chocolate Peanut Butter Banana (gluten free!) Muffins to be exact.

I KNEW, as soon as I saw the recipe that I had to make them, like make them immediately.  I think her website is down, but I’ll post the proper link as soon as it’s back up.

And best part (which I’m guessing is true for you as well?) I already had all the ingredients in my kitchen (except for the yogurt, but that was so easy to pick up).

I’ve never baked with a blender before- have you?

It was sort of fun to mix everything with the blender (ingredients are oatmeal, sugar, cocoa, peanut butter, mashed banana, egg whites, greek yogurt, baking soda & powder, and hot water)

I added chocolate chips, cause that’s just what I do.  And modified it slightly, but not enough to call it my own, so just check out Dashing Dish.

They came out yummy! So moist (even the next day). And they’re pretty healthy.

I’ve already eaten four (two yesterday and two for breakfast today)…. And that’s four full size and not mini (oops).  And guess what, they’re awesome.

After swimming two miles this morning, here was my Ironman’s breakfast.  I think he could use some protein, don’t you? (and what is the spoon for? beats me…ha)

I see more muffins in my future!

–What’s your favorite type of muffin?

Why have I never made nut butter before???  It is so ridiculously easy!  And it tastes so amazingly good!

This past weekend, I finally made nut butter.  It may be the start of a very fun recipe streak.

Here’s my easy How-To:

Maple Cinnamon Walnut Butter

I bought a few cups of walnuts out of the bulk bins at Whole Foods.  I nibbled on a bunch before I actually made the butter, so I would guess that I used 2.5 cups of walnuts for my walnut butter.

Threw it in the food processor.

Began grinding.  After about a minute, it looked all grainy like this:

Keep blending.  After another minute or two, it will get creamier.

Then, I added 2 tbs maple syrup, 1 tbs cinnamon, and 1 tsp sea salt (actually, that’s a lie– I originally forgot the salt and had to add it mid-way through the last mixing segment, but for recipe sake, let’s pretend that I added it when I was supposed to).

I let it pulse for another minute.

And that was it!  My very own  Walnut Butter! 

The maple cinammon flavor is very slight (I wanted it that way), so if you want it sweeter, feel free to add more.

I then tested my recipe with numerous spoonfuls and finally put it on a plate with a green apple.

Charlie was very, very intrigued.  I think the fresh walnut smell was driving him nuts (haha, no pun intended!).

"I'm sitting nicely Mom, can you share some with me, PLEASE."

So, I was a nice doggie-mom and let him lick some off my fingers.  He was in heaven.  Yes, I’ve said before that he eats most things, but I can still tell when he really likes something

"YUMMMMM"

I spooned it all into an old pb jar.  It filled about 2/3 of the jar.  (Please excuse the ugly label, I put a better one on later that day.)

"I am not letting that jar out of my sight," thinks Charlie.

And there you go, homemade nut butter!!  I’m all inspired to try making almond and cashew butters now.

Your turn!  Go ahead, make some!  MUCH cheaper than the store-bought, fresh, omega-3s, deliciousness!

Just a side note– I tried making this in the blender first (was having trouble putting the food processor together).  It didn’t work– the nuts kept getting stuck in the blade and it never made it past the grainy-stage.  So just in case you were wondering, thought it was worth mentioning.

Have you made nut butter before?  Do they even sell walnut butter in the store?