Rich dark chocolate with a hint of lavender make these paleo muffins a decadent dessert or Valentine's snack.
It's Valentine's Day. I hate Valentine's Day. Now, don't get me wrong, I don't have a heart of ice (hey Frozen reference). Or a black heart. I LOVE love. It's Valentines Day itself I'm not a fan of. For a multitude of reasons.
In my 35 years, I've been sent flowers once. This is okay, as the expense of February flowers is a little crazy, and the one year I did get flowers from a boyfriend (away at work), it was a complete surprise. Although there were many less than awesome things about how we broke up, he currently holds the title as the best V-day BF for surprising me like that. But the cost of flowers in February becomes excessive, which means when I get the urge to buy myself flowers, they are more expensive. Boo. That is strike one V-day.
If you look deep into the origins of Valentines Day, well, not that deep… It started as a pagan fertility ritual and evolved into romantic notions and Christian martyrs. Paper valentines and candies correlate to love? And fertility? And sacrifice? Strike two for not making sense to celebrate V-day.
Think sending a card, buying some chocolate, or candies one day of the year can make up for 360 days of neglect in a relationship? Wrong. (The math on that is 365 days a year, minus a day of appreciation for: V-day, birthday, anniversary, Christmas, and an extra day thrown in). Maybe my heart is a little black, around the edges, like lace trim. I think if you love someone, you should show them every day, or at least once a week, not just save it up for a special occasion. Life is too short. Show the love. Every damn day, show love.
This isn't some sad single girl story. Like I said I LOVE love. I have heaps of friends and family that love me and I reciprocate. Every day, not just on Feb. 14th. And I have had some amazing V-days over the years! I had a girl gym date and then my gym buddy made me dinner. Best. Gym. Buddy. Ever. I have had Girl dates for dinner, fun-filled v-days working, random adventures, singles parties, and cozy nights in. One year I got a card with $20 and instructions to “buy myself something nice.” But I'm just not sold on the idea of it all. Like I said:
“Every damn day, show love.”
In fact, if I could have left the love posting to Raj with his bacon roses, I would have. But I joined a kick ass muffin exchange. These Paleo Chocolate Lavender Muffins were born out of muffin love, not Valentine's love. I do love sending real mail, so this exchange was right up my alley. 6 paleo home-bakes muffins sent with #cavemanmuffinlove all over North America. I had to make something fun! I picked up this culinary lavender at the farmers market, and was just waiting for the exact right time to use it. Actually, I had forgotten it was in my cupboard, until I pulled the baking stuff out to find ingredients for other baking I was doing. I love baking. See… I love love.
This year I rented a hotel room, to just chill in all by myself and will spend the day with my Bestie and her 2 small girls (3 years and a fresh 3 weeks). We will get tea, (I love tea), and shop for leggings, (I love leggings). I am totally loved, and have heaps of friends and family that care. But there won't be much romance, unless you count my self romance, but that's a story for another time and place.
Paleo Chocolate Lavender Muffins
- Total Time: 54 minute
Description
Paleo Chocolate Lavender Muffins. Rich dark chocolate with a hint of lavender make this fluffy grain free muffin a new love for breakfast, snack or a sweet treat.
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp culinary lavender
- 6oz 85% coca chocolate bar
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 4 eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 cup apple sauce
- 1/4 cup cocoa powder
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3/4 cup chestnut flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
Instructions
- Pre heat oven to 375F.
- Grind the lavender and chocolate bar-set aside.
- Combine dry ingredients, cocoa powder, chestnut flour baking soda and salt, and set aside.
- Blend: coconut oil, maple syrup, eggs, vanilla and applesauce.
- Add lavender and chocolate, and mix well.
- Slowly add dry ingredients and mix until smooth. I used a food processor, but a hand mixer would work just fine.
- Scoop into a lined muffin pan or silicone muffin pan.
- Bake for 18-20 min, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- cool and serve!
- Cook Time: 18-20 min
- Category: Muffin
Look good muffins Mmmmmmmm
Everytime I think I’m going to have all the ingredients necessary for a recipe, something else comes up… like chestnut flour. Can I make these with something I might already have? Coconut flour, almond flour, blanched almond flour?
Honestly, I wish that you could substitute another flour, but chestnut flour is unique. It doesn’t require the extra egg(s) coconut flour does, and is much finer than almond flour or blanched almond flour… You could try with less coconut flour and more egg, but I can’t guarantee they will be fluffy and light. Let me know how it goes!!
These would have been perfect for Valentine’s day. Oh well, next year 🙂
Is there ever a bad time for chocolate anything? 😉