Need Some Healthy Snack Ideas?

My family loves muffins. We love all kinds of muffins; muffins from our local grocery's bakery, muffins from Dunkin' Donuts, muffins made from boxed mixes, and muffins made from scratch. My daughters love muffins as a snack, and sometimes for breakfast.

Somehow eating a hot muffin on a cold day just makes you feel warm and cozy inside doesn't it? It reminds me of living up north in wintertime.

When we were faced with my daughters' wheat allergies and all the health problems it was causing them, we were shocked to find that so many of the things we loved to eat contained wheat, especially our beloved muffins. To make matters worse, we decided to also eliminate sugar from the diets of our children, and in so doing, eliminated sugar from our own diets as well.

Now I bake everything with nut flours as a wheat substitute, and I use honey (raw honey is best) as a sugar substitute. It took some time adjusting to this way of cooking but now it is second nature, and I've really come to adore the taste of almond flour in baked goods. It has a light, delicate flavor that adds a lot to cookies, biscuits, and, yes, muffins.

Here are two of our favorite muffin recipes. The first uses almond flour, but it is also delicious with hazelnut flour too. The second recipe uses no flour at all and tastes like mini pumpkin pies! Unlike the former muffins my family used to love, these contain healthful ingredients, and ones that you can feel good about feeding your children. Banana Muffins

1 very ripe mashed banana

2 ½ cups almond flour (or hazelnut flour)

2 eggs

¼ honey (or less)

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. Vinegar (helps add "fluff")

Cinnamon to taste

Fill muffin cups 2/3 of the way. Bake at 350 degrees for about 10-15 minutes.

(You can substitute the banana for blueberries, or raisins too!)

Squash Muffins

1 cup cooked butternut or acorn squash

1 cup almond butter

¼ cup honey (or less)

2 eggs

Mix all in food processor. Fill muffin tins almost to the top. Bake at 350 degrees until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (about 15 minutes).