Pumpkin-Berry Muffins

Sunshine was up early this morning playfully "complaining" that she had a sweet tooth. Since she has taken such an interest in cooking lately (and because I was attempting to complete a work project on the computer), I told her she should make muffins. Her instructions were to get all the ingredients out that she wanted for the muffins then to come get me for help putting it all together. Not five minutes later, I was called into the kitchen and met with a grinning nine-year old pointing to a countertop with pumpkin, blueberries, walnuts, and a chocolate bar.

These monstrously delicious muffins are the result!

Yield: 18 muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 cup almond meal/flour
• 1/4 cup hazelnut meal (or almond meal/flour)
• 3/4 cup coconut flour
• 2 T flax meal
• 1 T flax seeds
• 2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp powdered ginger
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 5 eggs
• 1/4 cup coconut oil
• 1/4 cup agave or honey (optional)
• 1 cup walnuts, chopped
• 1 cup blueberries
• 1/3 dark chocolate bar (I prefer Green & Black's 85%), chopped (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Grease or line muffin trays.
3. In a large bowl, mix the meals/flours, flax seeds, baking soda, spices, and salt.
4. In a second bowl, mix the eggs, oil, and sweetner, if using.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until all the flour is moistened. The mixture will be thick and a bit crumbly.
6. Add the nuts, berries, and chocolate, if using. Stir gently until the extras are mixed in but being careful not to smash the blueberries.
7. Fill muffin cups with batter (all the way as this mixture doesn't rise much).
8. Bake for 25 minutes.

Note: I think you could easily turn these into cookies by shaping dough into small balls or discs and placing on cookie sheet.