Cinnamon Bun Pecan Muffins (and a rant about Paleo)

I LOVE to eat. Love it. I love it all – “health” food as well and the typical “junk”. But I started to realize, especially after gaining and losing a ton of weight with each of my pregnancies, that certain foods don’t like ME. Pizza and cheeseburgers were like the mean girls in high school that were super nice to your face and would talk a ton of crap about you behind your back when you walked away. Not only do foods like that war with my insides, they are obviously not good for the fitness.

When my daughter was about 1, I began following the Paleo diet as a challenge to myself for Lent. I wanted to see if I was able to be successful at something as “restrictive” as Paleo for a determinate amount of time. I ended up loving it, feeling great, and losing the remaining 5 pounds of baby weight, plus an additional 5. After my challenge was completed, I found out very shortly thereafter (I’m talking like 4 days) that we were expecting our second child. Once the morning sickness – btw, who decided to call it that?! More like morning, noon, and night sickness. Hellllooooo? – hit me, I was back to the only thing that soothed my aching stomach. Carbs. The worst kinds. Bread, pasta, and fries were fail safe. I knew I was not doing a great job and keeping up with my nutrition, but it was all I could stomach, literally. I also did a horrible job at working out while pregnant with our son – not that I’m making an excuse, but it was extremely tough to find the time between taking care of a toddler, working, and growing a person. Almost 60 lbs. later (and a 9 lb. 6 oz. baby) I got back after it. I ate healthy and started to work out, but not as much or consistently as I needed to. The weight came off, but not entirely and not as fast as it did with my daughter.

My beautiful best friend (marathon runner, fashionista, and all around amazing person) asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding that was planned for 1/3/2015 – so clearly, I needed to step up my game for her. I used this date as my goal and began eating Paleo again on 11/1/2014. In that short amount of time, I lost 17 lbs. and have begun to feel like myself again. Honestly, at this point, there is absolutely no turning back.

And not only did I receive the honor of standing up for her, my sweet little princess was one of her beautiful little flower girls. Too much, right?!

When eating Paleo, you need to cook. I think this is something that turns most people off. It is not a pill, powder, or supplement. It’s a thoughtful, calculated way of feeding yourself. There are very few packaged items, especially baked goods, that follow Paleo guidelines. I typically don’t bake, I have never liked it. But now that I am following this lifestyle, the only way I will never be able to eat the things that I want to or I am craving is to make them myself. Sooooo, this lengthy lead up is to my new favorite muffin recipe…These were adapted by a super awesome Paleo and SCD food blog Comfy Belly.

Cinnamon Bun Pecan Muffins

Muffin Ingredients
1/2 c. coconut flour
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
4 eggs (I know this sounds insane, trust me, you need the eggs for moisture due to the dryness of coconut flour)
1/3 c. coconut milk
1/2 c. maple syrup
1/8 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Topping Ingredients
2 tbsp. ground cinnamon
4 tbsp. maple syrup
2 tbsp. grass-fed unsalted butter
1/4 c. chopped pecans

Directions
Preheat oven to 350. Prep a muffin tin with liners. Combine dry muffin ingredients, mix well. In a separate bowl, combine wet ingredients, mix well. Add the wet to dry and mix well again. Allow the batter to sit for a few minutes to allow the coconut flour to absorb moisture. Prep the topping in a separate bowl. Begin to divide the batter in the muffin tin filling them about 1/4 of the way. Spoon about a tablespoon of topping over the divided batter. This helps the flavor disperse throughout the muffin. Add the remainder of the batter until they are filled about 3/4 of the way. Top with the remaining topping as well and the chopped pecans. Bake for 22-24 minutes until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

This make an incredible, high (good) fat, high protein, high (good) carb breakfast or snack. They also taste like cake so the kiddos with devour them. Even husbands that HATE baked goods with coconut flour like them (right babe?).

Enjoy!!

-Ash