Recipe of the Week: Chocolate Maple Crunch Banana Muffins

Maple Pecan Crunch Banana Muffins (PaleOMG)
Prep time:  10 mins Cook time:  40 mins Total time:  50 mins 
Serves: 12

Ingredients

• 4 bananas (I used the extra brown ones)
• 6 dried dates, pitted
• 4 eggs
• ¼ cup Coconut Oil, melted
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup (I used grade B)
• 5 heaping tablespoons coconut flour
• 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• sprinkle of cinnamon
• pinch of salt

For the delicious topping

• 1 cup mixed nuts, chopped (I used sliced almonds, walnuts, and pecans)
• 2 heaping tablespoons almond flour/meal
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup (I used grade B)
• sprinkle of cinnamon
• pinch of salt

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In your food processor, puree bananas and dried dates until you get a paste. Let it go for a while so the dates can break up completely.
3. Add in eggs, coconut oil, and maple syrup and puree.
4. Then add in the coconut flour. Mix. Then cocoa Powder. Mix. Then finish it off with adding the baking soda, powder, cinnamon and salt. Mix well in your food processor.
5. In a separate bowl, add together the delicious topping mixture.
6. Now line your muffin tin with paper muffin liners (I tried using silicone and they were a pain to get out) and use an ice cream scoop to plop batter into each muffin. It should make 12 muffins so try not to pile too high because the topping will take up a lot of room.
7. Then add a heaping tablespoon of topping on each muffin and spread out around the muffin.
8. Place in oven and cook for 35-40 minutes. These guys take a long time because they are so dense and wet, so check them at 35 minutes and every couple minutes after that. All you need to do is press on the top, if it give a lot, they aren’t ready. Be patient.
9. Once they are cooked, let cool for at least 20 minutes. That way they will come out of the muffin liners easily.