My Friday post was scheduled ahead of time, so I was unable to acknowledge the horrible tragedy that occurred in CT. Please keep everyone affected by the event in your thoughts and prayers.
This may seem like more of a Thanksgiving recipe than a Christmas one, but I think pumpkin is still fitting this time of year. If you’re in need of a quick dessert to take to your holiday parties, this might fit the bill. It’s healthier than most muffin recipes–it’s grain free, packs in almost 5 grams of protein (if you go by the serving size, has only 2 tbsp of added sugar in the entire recipe and is packed with Vitamin A in the form of pumpkin, but I think most people will just be focusing on the incredible taste 😉
This is a very crumbly recipe, so you should probably keep it refrigerated ahead of time if you want it to hold up at a Christmas party. But if you make it just for yourself, I’d suggest crumbling one on top of some chocolate chia pudding, a bowl of fruit or whatever you want. Messy food is fun!
Almond Flour Pumpkin Chip Muffins (vegan, grain free, gluten free)
1/3 cup almond flour or meal
2 scoops Garden of Life RAW chocolate protein powder (or any ‘clean’ vegan protein powder of choice)
2 tbsp dark chocolate chips
1/2 tbsp baking powder
cinnamon, to taste
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup pumpkin puree
2 tbsp maple syrup
1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
1 tbsp ground flax (made into flax ‘egg’ with 2 tbsp water)
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray muffin tin or baking dish with nonstick spray. In a large bowl, stir together all ingredients through salt. In a food processor or blender, mix pumpkin, maple syrup and almond milk until combined. Add wet ingredients to dry and stir in flax egg until batter forms. Pour batter into muffin tins (or 1 baking dish) and bake for 20 minutes. Makes 10 small muffins.Â
Each muffin is around 70 calories, so it’s a good smaller-size option for parties, but if you’re making them for yourself, you can make 5 or 6 bigger muffins and still be enjoying a much healthier treat.
Do you still eat pumpkin around Christmas time? Have you ever baked with almond flour before?
almostveggirlie 
Yum! I’m making these tomorrow. Do you think they would taste good with the Vanilla garden of life Raw power?
* powder?
I bet it would be really yummy with the vanilla! I should try it with that flavor next!
Yes, just yes:) Almonds, pumpkin, and chocolate combined=amazing
It’s such a good combo, I can’t believe I didn’t think to combine them earlier!
I actually haven’t been eating much pumpkin this year, but I have to admit that I love the combination of pumpkin and chocolate in a loaf or muffin. It’s also been a while since I’ve worked with almond flour, so I think I might just have to try these subbing a banana for the pumpkin, since I can’t seem to get enough of the monkey fruit these days 😀
Banana would be perfect in this–the combo of banana, chocolate and almonds is just amazing!
I’ve never used almond flour before but I bet it is good. I think pumpkin is a fall and winter thing but most seem to forget about it after Thanksgiving.
It’s so sad that pumpkin gets forgotten about after November!