Mini Maple Muffins - the CUTEST way to jump into fall

This is only my second fall season in upstate NY but even I can see that maple and apples are a HUGE thing here. Probably... because instead of being in a big city surrounded by skyscrapers we are in a beautiful countryside. Anyways. If you have the privilege of going to a maple farm - its awesome. You should. And if you can't, you should at least treat yourself to as many maple fall things, as humanly possible. You owe yourself at least that. I am just looking out for you. And if I am not being too forward you should starting with this super easy 20-22 minute recipe that so easily fits into your hand, your mouth,and your heart. They are so little and cute (and ahem healthy - but no one would ever guess that this is a zucchini carrot recipe). 

Shhh... These are fun MAPLE treats 😉

Recipe adapted from: Graceful Little Honey Bee 

Short Ingredient List: 

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour or all purpose

1 cup all purpose flour

1 & 1/2 cup of finely shredded zucchini

1/4 cup finely shredded carrot

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1 small container plain greek yogurt

1/2 tsp salt

1 & 1/2 tsp vanilla 

1/2 cup of sugar (for a sweet muffin - for not so sweet use slightly less) 

1 egg

2 Tbs good quality maple syrup

optional: turbinado sugar to top 

Easy directions for an Easy fall 

Spray a mini muffin pan with nonstick spray

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 

Use a paper towel and wipe the extra spray off and/or run your finger around each hole in the muffin tin to make sure its evenly coated - this extra step will just make sure its easy. 

Mix everything together in a large bowl. Starting with the egg and sugar to make sure the egg is beaten. 

Scoop the batter into the prepped mini muffin pan. If you don't have one, they are everywhere you can buy baking dishes. They will up your breakfast game plan especially if you have kids, for these are so much better sized for little fingers. (ahem or putting into hands as kids run out of the door for the school bus - don't you love fall) 

The batter should give you 20 - 24 yummy fall treats filling the wells 3/4th full. 

Top with turbinado sugar if you are using.... mini mms or mini chocolate chips would also taste good. You are getting your kids to eat 2 veggies here why not splurge a little. 

Bake for 10-12 minutes. Let it sit in the tins for 5 minutes. Then move them to a cooling rack! I like to cover them with a paper towel or clean kitchen towel to absorb extra moisture.  

See. Easy to make. Easy to eat. Enjoy! 

Energy bites & eating one handed

Greetings!

Energy bites are crunchy, slightly sweet, slightly chocolaty, slightly salty balls of healthy ingredients that you can eat with your fingers in one or two bites. Easy to make. Easy to transport. Easy to feed kid(s) and husbands on the go. Speaking of going...  Let me tell you a story. 

These delightful bites got their name "energy bites" a couple years ago when my son needed quick and easy breakfasts before 8 am Saturday morning soccer games. This was as tricky as it was a pain in the butt. My oldest is not a morning person, and eating a any breakfast is hard for him straight out of bed, and a big breakfast wouldn't have felt good later while he was running and active during a game. So I told him if he ate this "energy bites" he would get extra energy and be able to run faster than anyone. That woke him up from his sleepy "I don't want to move faster than a snail routine" and got him thinking. I wasn't completely lying. This whole grains healthy snack/breakfast is full of good nutrients and thus give the body energy. Faster than anyone? well... it worked okay. 

#Parentwin

So I got through a whole soccer season by convincing my son he could run faster than anyone if he ate this particular food. I wonder if he remembers this... 

P.S. Having a no-cook, finger food breakfast also meant he could eat in the car if we were running late. Who decided 8 am was a good time for a soccer game anyways? I would like a word with that person.

Back to present day... we aren't doing soccer right now but just as adventurous we are doing the live, work, go to college with a newborn baby thing. All of this without caffeine - yes my beloved coffee machine is collecting dust. This recipe is absolutely worth its weight in umm... I don't know pick something. Haven't sleep longer than 4 hours at a time... give me a break. 

The day to day details of living with an adorable infant absolutely means eating and cooking becomes an acrobatic sport. There should be division in the olympics for such events. It would look like pairs of individuals running back and forth to check on the little one, hand offs, rocking chair marathons, and of course eating one handed, trying to eat as fast as possible because the partner is holding the baby and his or her food is getting cold, cooking one handing, trying to eat while not spilling anything on the baby who just fell asleep, and my favorite singing mary had a little lamb or jesus loves you 100 times without losing your voice. AND my schedule some days is completely up to the whims and desires of a 5 month old. Let me tell you though, these "energy bites" are the perfect one handed breakfast or anytime snack. You can even mostly make them with a baby in your arms for the most part.

There's many ways to make energy bites... this recipe comes from mixing two recipes together from Mindy's Oatmeal Raisin Energy Bites and my own pb oatmeal version. I hope you like it as much as we did! 

Cinnamon Energy Bites

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup of rolled oats
1/4 cup ground flax seeds 
1/4 cup of chocolate chips
3/4 tsp of cinnamon 
dash of salt
dash of nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla
3/4 - 1 cup of cashew butter (warmed in the microwave) 
2 Tbs honey, raw

Directions: 
1. warm the cashew butter until it looks melted in the microwave - about 30 sec to a minute
2. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl
3. Add in the wet ingredients. Mix it all together. 
4. I put a bit of nonstick cooking spray on my hands - helps a little with the stickiness and start cupping oat mixture and form it into balls just big enough for 1 or 2 bites. 

*NOTE: Start with 3/4 cup of cashew butter and if this is hard (if it feels too dry to bind the ingredients together) add more cashew butter. This mixture is extremely sticky but should come together easily. 

5. Put them on a cookie sheet or large plate. Refrigerate them for an hr or so to firm up before eating. Keep them in the fridge for up to a week in a covered container. They probably last longer than that but they never last more than 2 days so I wouldn't know.