butternut squash muffins

i don't really make muffins all the time. it just looks that way. and anyway, what's eight muffins for a hungry woman?

actually muffins are the perfect lunchbox food - a snack i can have mid-morning at work, especially if i am going to the gym. it's quite hard to find enough portable, snacky paleo food and i do get bored of just chomping on nuts on their own (plus they give me indigestion).

this was a total coincidence: i put some butternut squash in to bake (salt, pepper, chilli flakes, olive oil) and then i came across a recipe for pumpkin muffins on http://www.elanaspantry.com/. so instead of using the squash for my lunches this week, i thought i'd make this while waiting for my dinner to cook. it's sooo easy and takes literally five minutes to put together. and yes, i do read about food while cooking food.

incidentially, elena from elena's pantry is a genius. really. i never would have believed it is possible to make so much good, tasty stuff with almond flour. go and have a look at her blog now - it'll make your mouth water.

she does use hefty doses of agave nectar (you can buy it in health food shops or you could just use honey though it's not as sweet) but you can always use less or just do these once in a while as a special treat.

in fact, the original recipe here calls for 1/2 cup of agave nectar but i halve that, and make up the rest of the liquid (or a bit less, just under another 1/4 cup) with milk. they end up just sweet enough for me and i might even try and reduce it more next time. i use one tablespoon of walnut oil and one of olive oil - for no other reason than i could see them both on the counter while i was doing it.

i also get to use the coffee grinder mum bought me last time i went home. that needs a separate post, i think.

PUMPKIN OR SQUASH MUFFINS

makes 8

1 1/2 cup of almond flour

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground ginger

a pinch of ground cloves

2tbsp oil

2 large eggs

1/4 cup agave nectar

1/4 cup (or just under) milk

1 packed cup or squash or pumpkin

preheat the oven to 180C and place your muffin papers in a tin.

in a bowl, mix the almond flour, bicarbonate of soda, salt and all the spices together. in a blender or processor, blend the squash (make sure it's not hot or it'll scramble the eggs), agave nectar or honey, milk, oil and eggs until smooth. add the liquid ingredients to the dry, stir well and spoon into cups. bake for 40 or so minutes - i actually found the top went brown a bit too quickly so i suspect my oven is hotter than it says. if it starts happening, cover them with tin foil to stop them from burning. but around 40 minutes is probably about right.

by the way, probably best not to eat them scalding hot like i did. they'll come out of their paper a lot better when lukewarm or cold. i, on the other hand, practically burnt my hands getting the little buggers out of their cups.