Date Sweetened Paleo Banana Muffins

I've always loved to bake and eat sweets. In college, I was the one that would bake a cake for each of my friends birthdays. Since going gluten-free, baking isn't the same. Experimenting with flours is frustrating, expensive and most of the time inedible in the end. Add in eating Paleo and it's even more limiting. I have found though that Paleo baking does have some benefits, one of which is the more limited options of flours. When I've been following other peoples recipes, it's much simpler when they only select from tapioca, coconut, almond, arrowroot, or potato flours. 

Now that I've been cooking and baking Paleo for the best part of the last 2 years, I know what I prefer when it comes to baked goods. Today was the first day that I really thought, I can make my own Paleo baking recipe and I did! My main goal was actually removing sugar from muffins. Following my last Whole30 a few months ago, I'm having very bad reactions to sugar. I've found it's best to avoid it completely but muffins have just sounded so good! My solution was to use date paste as a replacement for sugar in muffins. First up, making the date paste!

How to Make Date Paste
Yield: about 1.5 cups

2 cups dates, pitted
water

1. In a large measuring cup, measure out dates. Cover in warm or hot water. Let soak for 1 hour to soften.
2. Strain dates but keep the date water.
3. Add dates to a food processor or blender. Start blending them on medium or medium-high power. 
4. Slowly drizzle in about a teaspoon at a time the reserved date water. This will help get a creamier consistency.
5. Let blend until you have a smooth medium density paste. I opted for a bit thinner consistency and then found it did thicken in the fridge a bit.
6. Store in the fridge in a sealed container for up to 3 months. 

With the date paste in hand, I decided that Paleo Banana Muffins were my best recipe to start with. I know from past baking that I prefer a muffin with a coconut and tapioca flour blend rather than almond flour. Keep in mind that coconut flour can NOT be substituted in this recipe. 

Date Sweetened Paleo Banana Muffins
Yields: 30 mini muffins or 12 regular muffins

5 TBLS butter, melted
3 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 ripe bananas
1/4 cup date paste
1/2 cup coconut flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1. Preheat the oven to 350'.
2. In a large microwave safe bowl, melt the butter. 
3. To the melted butter add the eggs, bananas, vanilla and date paste. 
4. With a fork, mash the bananas and stir to combine. Make sure to break up any large chunks of bananas otherwise they will cook unevenly. 
5. Add in the remaining ingredients. Stir until well combined.
6. Spoon about 3/4 way full into greased muffin pan, silicone muffin holders, or papered muffin tray. For mini muffins bake for 13-15 minutes or until toothpick inserted comes out clean. For regular muffins 22-25 minutes.
7. Remove immediately from pan to ensure cooking stops. Place on wire rack to cool. Muffins can be frozen for eaten later too!