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healthy dessert

Friday Fare, Health

Friday Fare – Sugar free and refined sugar free muffins

March 28, 2014

As promised, here is the recipe for the sugar free muffins I posted about on Sunday Summary two weeks ago!

Sugar free and refined sugar free muffins

sugar-free-muffins-recipe

I am going to share two versions of these muffins with you. The difference between them is that one is purely sugar-free (as it contains sugar-free honey made of xylitol) and the other is refined sugar free (and contains honey). Both are healthy and delicious, but I realize that sugar-free honey is not easy to come by which is why I am offering two versions.

This recipe was taught to me by my boyfriend’s aunt who is on a strict sugar-free diet to help battle her candida. These muffins are surprisingly fluffy and moist, and very very delicious. You can’t stop at just one, but the beauty of these muffins are that they contain a healthy mix of protein and fats with no sugar or no refined sugar! The sugar-free version is great for those with sugar issues, such as diabetics, and provide a sweet treat without blasting up your blood sugar levels. The refined sugar-free version contain sugar from honey (I use raw honey), and while this is still sugar, it does not undergo mass levels of refinement that most commercial sugars go through.

Although sugar is good for you (save a few who have medical issues with it) and IS necessary for the body to function, I try and limit the amount of ADDED sugar I ingest. And sweet treats tend to have a LOT of unnecessary added sugar which will cause you to gain weight in the long run and could lead to longer term health problems. This article is a great read if you want to know more about how excess sugar can negatively affect you.  Like excess ANYTHING though, too much of it will lead to weight gain and you putting on fat.

Therefore, I like to share yummy sweet things which have natural sugar-free alternatives or sugars that have not been refined. I would prefer you to stick to natural sugars if possible as we still do not know the long-term side effects of sweeteners, but liquid stevia is a good sugar-free choice.

Okay, informational talk and slight rant over!

Sugar-free & Refined Sugar-free Muffins

Alice Williams
Incredibly moist sugar-free and refined sugar-free muffins to satisfy your sweet tooth.

Ingredients
  

Ingredients for the sugar free muffin are

  • 4 eggs
  • 1 and a half cups of almond flour
  • 1/3 cup ground flax seed you can make this by buying flax seed and throwing it in the food processor for a minute or longer
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup almond milk
  • 15 drops of liquid stevia
  • 1/4 cup sugar-free honey
  • 6 tablespoons cinnamon or pumpkin spice
  • OPTIONAL: 2 tablespoons olive oil I prefer it without to be honest

Ingredients for the refined sugar free muffin are

  • 4 eggs
  • 1 and a half cups of almond flour
  • 1/3 cup ground flax seed
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 cup almond milk
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 6 tablespoons cinnamon or pumpkin spice
  • OPTIONAL: 2 tablespoons olive oil

Instructions
 

  • 1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees farenheit and get a muffin tin or some muffin/cupcake holders ready.
  • 2. Whisk the eggs in a bowl and then add and mix in the rest of your ingredients
  • 3. Pour the mixture into your tin or holders and then put into the oven for 13 minutes.
Sugar free and refined sugar free muffins

Voila! Easy, fluffy and delicious sugar-free or refined sugar-free muffins!! Enjoy with some sugar-free jam on top, honey, some berry compote, with coconut whipped cream or any way you choose. If you make them, tag me in your photo and hashtag it #fridayfare so I can find you 🙂

Hope you enjoyed this post and I look forward to seeing your recreations!

Honestly yours,
Alice

Health, Products I love

Nikki’s Coconut Butter

January 23, 2014
Nikki's Coconut Butter review

Yes, you heard me right. Not peanut butter, not almond or cashew butter …. COCONUT BUTTER!!!

Nikki’s Coconut Butter

Nikki's Coconut Butter review

I first heard about Nikki’s coconut butter a few months ago whilst casually surfing the ‘net, and have wanted to try it ever since. I am a huge fan of everything coconut, so I was pretty sure I would like the product. Their coconut butter is also soy free, gluten free, dairy free and egg free, making it perfect for someone with these intolerances. The hard part was actually deciding what flavor to get.

They have 5 flavors:

-Pumpkin Spiced Donut
-Macadamia Nut Cookie
-Vanilla Cake Batter
-Chocolate Hazelnut Brownie
-Honey Pecan Pie

Yeah, they all sound amazing right? After hours of arduous decision making (kidding), I finally chose to get the pumpkin spiced donut. And I am glad I did. IT IS AMAZING. The consistency is definitely not what I expected though. I was expecting a creamy and smooth product, sort of like how you would imagine peanut butter. But it is actually quite hard, although honestly that does not bother me much at all. And you could also microwave some of the butter or heat it up in a pan to make it creamier and more spreadable. I have taken to just eating it straight out of the jar with a spoon hehe, but you can use it on bread, crackers, in smoothies, and in a variety of desserts (which is something I really want to test it with!!).

Nikki's Coconut Butter review

As you can see it didn’t take long for me to start eating …

As with all things though, even though this is a healthy product, it doesn’t mean you can eat as much as you want of it. It is relatively high in calories and fat, so make it work for how much food/calories you need a day. Overeating on something healthy is still overeating, so be sensible. I find that eating desserts with wholesome ingredients such as Nikki’s Coconut Butter makes it easier to stop because it does not have all the same nasty chemicals and preservatives in a lot of processed and junk foods which make you crave them. The only bad thing about them is that they only currently ship within the US and to Canada, but hopefully they will be able to ship worldwide soon enough!

Nikki's Coconut Butter review

Have any of you tried Nikki’s Coconut Butter? Let me know by commenting below!

Honestly yours,
Alice

Disclaimer: I was not paid to advertise this product, I like this product very much and wanted to share it all with you since I am always on the lookout for awesome new and healthy products 🙂