Paleo Chocolate Chip and Fig Sunbutter Muffins
/Last week, after climbing, we sat in the car debating where to eat, when this place came up on Yelp: mmm...Coffee Paleo Bistro. Decision made! It's rare enough to find a paleo-friendly restaurant, let alone something with a strictly paleo menu.
Mmm...Coffee Paleo Bistro is a small cafe that serves only paleo goodies. It's disguised as a coffee shop, but dishes up grain-free everything, from muffins to brownies and granola. My eyes grew three sizes when I saw the muffins in their pastry case. Those are paleo too?! I asked, already knowing the answer. They were tall, golden muffins that overflowed from their muffins cups the way muffins do in any coffee shop. The owner of the bistro confirmed: paleo.
After splitting a muffin for dessert, I knew that it was game time: go home and recreate these muffins. Puffy and oversized. Soft, sturdy, and a bit nutty. I began searching for recipes for sunflower seed butter muffins as soon as I had a decent internet connection. I knew that mmm...Coffee's version used flax, but I prefer to bake with eggs and figured I'd give it a shot. Want a close up of what had me so excited? The texture of these muffins is just so... muffin-y, in a way that most paleo muffs fall short. See:
Since these muffins are made of primarily sunflower butter, they're high in protein--sunflower seeds are higher in protein than most other common nuts and seeds. Sunflower butter has an addicting peanut butter-like taste to it, so it pairs well with fruit flavors (like figs!) and chocolate. I've been day dreaming about a PB&J version of these muffins, too!
Paleo Chocolate Chip and Fig Sunbutter Muffins
Yields: 6 | Total Time:
Ingredients:
- 1 cup sunflower seed butter AKA "sunbutter" (NOTE: if you use homemade sunflower seed butter, your muffins may turn a slight green color as they cool. This is due to a naturally occurring and edible nutrient in plants called chlorogenic acid.
- 2 ripe bananas
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
- 1/8 teaspoon salt (skip this if you are using salted sunbutter)
- 1/2 cup chocolate chips
- 1/2 cup chopped dried figs (roughly 7 figs)
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a muffin pan with muffin liners.
- In a food processor or blender, combine the sunbutter, bananas, eggs, vanilla, baking soda, and salt. Puree until smooth.
- Fold in the chocolate chips and figs until evenly distributed. Spoon the batter into the muffin liners until they are about 3/4 of the way full.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden on top and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle.
