Welcome to the Festival of Food Carnival. In celebration of autumn and Halloween, we’re sharing recipe ideas for healthy treats, or anything you would enjoy this time of year. Hosted by Diary of a First Child and Hybrid Rasta Mama, you’re welcome to join us next time, or if you have a previously published recipe you’d like to share, add it to the linky below.
These lemon coconut blueberry macadamia nut muffins came about when I needed something sweet and dessert-like to fill a craving one day. These muffins are full of flavor and each blueberry is a little burst of sweetness. There is no added sugar in this recipe, only the natural sweetness that is present in the coconut cream concentrate and the blueberries. Slightly crispy on the outside and soft on the inside make these a delicious sweet treat that won’t derail whatever style of eating you’re following!
As many of you know, I embarked on a healing journey back on August 1st to help with thyroid and adrenal fatigue issues, as well as to hopefully lose weight and get my body into better shape, both physically and emotionally. Things have been very easy, yet at the same time, things have been super hard. One of the hardest things for me is giving up sweet treats. As part of my healing, I eliminated all grains, gluten, dairy, legumes, and sugar (even stevia) from my diet, starting August 1st. I also started cutting back on my carbohydrates, because my carb intake had gotten out of control and I knew it was greatly affecting me (and not in a good way). These muffins evolved from a need to fill that void left by the reduction of carbs and sweets. For those of you who do count carbs, according to my calculation, these will contain around 7 grams of carbs per muffin. Now, that will depend on the size of the muffin tins that you use, so if you’re concerned, you could do the calculations based on what your ingredients say. Rough counts are all I really care about.
I can’t take full credit for the muffin base of this recipe. I was inspired by my friend Patty’s recipe for her coconut butter sandwich bread. I have made countless loaves of this bread and one day I thought that I wanted to try something different. I started looking through my available ingredients and lemons, blueberries, and macadamia nuts all jumped out at me. Patty is the author of the Loving Our Guts blog and if you haven’t tried her bread recipe yet, I strongly encourage you to! It’s amazing!
Lemon Blueberry Macadamia Nut Muffins (Dairy, Sugar, Grain, and Gluten-Free)
Makes approx 12-16 muffins
Ingredients
6 pastured eggs at room temperature
1 cup of coconut cream concentrate (also called coconut butter)
1/4 cup macadamia nut oil (if you don’t have this, coconut oil works great too!)
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. sea salt
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Zest of 1 lemon
1/2 cup chopped macadamia nuts
3/4 cup blueberries (I used frozen, but you could use fresh)
Instructions
1. Preheat your oven to 325 and either grease your muffin pans with coconut oil, or use unbleached muffin liners. If you use the paper liners, I recommend brushing the inside of them with some coconut oil as well.
2. In a food processor, blender, or a mixer (the food processor works best in my opinion), combine the eggs, coconut cream concentrate, macadamia nut oil, baking soda, and sea salt until smooth and completely combined.
3. With the food processor running, add the lemon juice and the lemon zest.
4. Pour batter into a bowl and mix the blueberries and chopped macadamia nuts in by hand. If you’re using fresh blueberries, take care not to crush them as you stir.
5. Pour or scoop the batter into the muffin tins filling each about 3/4 full.
6. Bake at 325 for 35-45 minutes, or until the tops of the muffins are golden brown and a toothpick comes out clean.
7. Serve warm or cool. Tastes great both ways. For extra deliciousness, top with grass-fed butter or ghee. Store in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer.
Please take a moment to visit the blogs of our other Festival of Food participants. The links in this list will be live by the end of the day, as participants are all in different time zones.
- Jessica from Delicious Obsessions shares her recipe for Lemon Coconut Blueberry Macadamia Nut Muffins, a low-carb, low-sugar treat that won’t leave you feeling guilty. You can also find Jessica on Facebook.
- Abbie at Farmer’s Daughter shares a recipe for Unsweetened Cinnamon Applesauce in the slow cooker, a yummy treat that also makes the house smell amazing. You can also find Abbie on Facebook.
- Lulastic of Lulastic and the Hippy Shake shares a story of urban foraging, and the delicious recipe for the Fruit Leathers she made with the harvest! You can also find Lulastic on Facebook.
- Jennifer at Hybrid Rasta Mama shares a super easy, fix it and forget about it Crock Pot Pumpkin Custard that tastes like warm pumpkin pie filling without the sugar and grains! You can also find Jennifer on Facebook.
- Bianca at the Pierogie Mama justifies why she guards her homemade applesauce from ‘unauthorized’ uses. You can also find Bianca on Facebook.
- Jennifer from True Confessions of a Real Mommy helps you take your love of all things pumpkin to the dinner table! A gluten free, dairy free, and vegan if you like Thai Pumpkin Soup to warm you up! You can also find Jennifer on Facebook.
- Crackerdog Sam guest posts at Hobo Mama with a slightly sweet, stove-popped Cracker Jack alternative. You can also find Hobo Mama talking about Crackerdog Sam on Facebook.
- Luschka at Diary of a First Child shares her foundation recipe for ‘milkshakes’ – coloured green smoothies – that her toddler loves to have with ‘chocolate’ date balls and banana ‘ice cream’. You can also fine Luschka on Facebook.
- Amy at Anktangle shares a wholesome version of a decadent treat: Chocolate Peanut Butter Granola Bars. They have a classic, no-bake cookie flavor while being gluten-free, sugar-free, and vegan. Nut-free substitutions included! You can also find Amy on Facebook.
Delicious Obsessions was founded by Jessica Espinoza in 2010. Jessica is passionate about real food, natural living, and more. She helps people see how to eat nourishing food, without breaking the bank. Her motto is "baby steps" -- making small, lasting changes, one at a time, is the best way to ensure long-term success. This website contains "affiliate links" where appropriate, on which, I may earn a small commission or referral fee on your purchase. This has no effect on your price. The monies earned help maintain and support this website's hosting, maintenance, and the development of free content. The content shared on this site is for informational and educational purposes only. Statements/products discussed have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and are not intended to diagnose, cure, treat, or prevent any disease or illness. Please consult your own health care practitioner before making changes to your current diet or before beginning any herbal or vitamin supplement regimen or exercise program.
These recipes just look amazing! Especially can’t wait to try the pumpkin custard. Love the especially autumnal feel of lots of these.
Thanks for including me!
Lulastic recently posted..Homemade Rosehip Oil – a bit of thrifty foraging
Is there a substitute for the coconut cream concentrate? Such as almond butter or butter from grass fed cows? Thank you. These look delicious!
Hi Brenda – Thanks for stopping by. Nut butter or regular butter won’t work for these muffins, because the coconut cream concentrate (also called coconut butter) is what gives it the bread-like consistency. It is essentially the flour for the recipe and what holds it all together. Coconut butter is pure, ground up coconut meat, which is what allows this to be a flour-free recipe. Hope that helps!
Yum. These look delicious! I’m definitely saving this recipe for future use. Thanks!
Thanks Amy! They are SUPER tasty! I hope you enjoy!
These look absolutely wonderful. I’m going to make them tomorrow. I make my own coconut cream in my Vitamix. It only takes about 60 seconds and saves a lot of money since the jars are so expensive.
Thanks so much for sharing this!