Happy Labor Day weekend! I hope you’re all enjoying the long weekend – I know I am. After this post goes live, I’ll be headed outdoors the rest of the day. No plans yet, but I’m sure it’ll involve tequila.I posted this recipe on Tumblr about 2 months ago and I debated whether or not to share it with you guys over here because I really try to stick with recipes with minimal ingredients that are simple and quick. This recipe is a *bit* more involved, but I think it’s totally worth it. Why?

1. These muffins are so good. Like so good.

2. They’re gluten free AND grain free…that are so good. Not an easy feat.

3. This is a perfect item to add to your weekly meal prep because you can eat them all week long for breakfast or a snack and they freeze well!

4. Traditional muffin recipes are awful [white flour, white sugar, industrial vegetable oils, trans fats] and these are quite the opposite. They’re low in carbs and sugar and high in healthy fats and fiber.

5. These will compliment your hangover tomorrow really well. I swear.

So, we all get what gluten free means at this point. But what do I mean by grain free? First we can’t eat gluten, now we can’t eat grains?! Gluten is a protein found mostly in wheat, barley and rye. A grain is absolutely any type of cereal crop, such as wheat, rice, oats, corn, barley, millet and rye.

Why the hell would we wanna avoid these wholesome grains? Aren’t they good for us?

Well, there’s a huge differing of opinions here. On one hand, whole grains have fiber and other essential vitamins and minerals. On the other hand, grains contain phytic acid, which interferes with the enzymes we need to digest food. When we’re not properly digesting food, we’re not absorbing all the nutrients that food should have the ability to provide to us. I’m not saying totally eliminate pasta and rice, but replacing some of your carbohydrate choices with root vegetables like sweet potatoes and plantains, as well as fruits and vegetables, will do a body good. I think you’ll notice an increase in energy as well, as these types of carb sources don’t tend to cause blood sugar spikes and dips.

This is a great topic to explore more later, but right you what you need to know is, these muffins are the bomb and if you’re trying to cut back a little on your carbohydrate intake, these are a yummy, real food choice. These grain-free muffins keep blood sugar steady, unlike a traditional muffin because they are far more nutritionally balanced when looking at carbs, fat and protein.

Let’s do a quick comparison:

Traditional Berry Muffin: 350 calories | 12 g fat | 55 g carbs | 1 g fiber | 29 g sugar | 6 g protein 

Grain-Free Berry Muffin: 220 calories | 14 g fat | 15 g carbs | 3 g fiber | 6 g sugar | 5 g protein 

Check out those sugar stats! Whoa! This is amazing to me because these grain-free muffins are still sweet enough to be considered dessert. I know you’re going to love them! These muffins are already really balanced, so they’re easy to work into your day.

• Breakfast: 1 muffin with a side of fried eggs + 1 cup of berries or veggies

• Snack: 1 muffin with a hard boiled egg or a smear of cashew butter

Grain Free Berry Streusel Muffins

Author: Megan Kober, RDN, LD

Prep time: 20 mins

Cook time: 25 mins

Total time: 45 mins

Serves: 12

Light, moist and fluffy grain-free and Paleo-friendly muffins.

Ingredients

• 1/2 c + 1 T almond flour

• 1/4 c + 3 T coconut flour

• 1/2 c tapioca flour

• 1 t baking powder

• 6 T turbinado sugar

• 1/2 t salt

• 3 eggs

• 1/2 c grass fed butter, melted

• 1 c berries

  streusel topping [optional]

• 1/4 cup almonds

• 2 T almond flour

• 2 T tubinado sugar

• 2 T cold, grass fed butter cut into pieces

• 1/4 t cinnamon

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Grease 12 muffin tins with coconut oil or line with muffin liners.

3. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.

4. Beat eggs for 3 min. This really adds to the lightness of the muffin, so don’t skip this step!

5. Add the rest of the wet ingredients to the eggs after beating.

6. Gently mix dry ingredients and wet ingredients together, then fold in berries. Let batter rest 2 minutes and then fill muffin tins.

7. Grind 1/4 cup almonds in a food processor until coarsely ground.

8. Add in the rest of the ingredients and pulse until you’ve got a streusel consistency.

9. Sprinkle on top of muffins.

10. Bake 25-27 minutes, then let rest for 5 minutes.

11. Remove muffins carefully and let cool completely.