These muffins are the bomb.com {or fill in your own more up-to-date lingo for AWESOME}



They are {almost} HEALTHY.  What??  Yes.  They do NOT contain: flour, sugar, oil, or butter.  In fact the main secret ingredient IS... 

Wait, first, I have to apologize for not having actual pictures of the muffins out of their pan.  Sooooo, we are renting an old house, which is very very charming.  But the oven is also old {excuse me, vintage} and charming.  And baking these was an experiment in testing out the oven's temperature regulation.  Guess what?  There's not really any regulation...


It takes a while to heat up, but then just keeps heating!  I set the oven at 350, and by the end of the baking, it was at 450.  Yikes.  Don't worry, the oven-fixer-man is coming today, so hopefully we can figure out a more workable situation.  However, because of my beautiful, vintage, extra hot oven, these muffins were a little unattractive on their bottoms.  So they were much more photogenic in the pan.


So now for that secret ingredient... bum bum bum bahhhhh: Chickpeas!  Can you see them all smooshed in the food processor?  Chickpeas {or garbanzo beans, if you prefer} are the substance of these muffins, along with a banana and some eggs.  Ok, there is honey in there too.  


And if you're feeling sassy, you can throw in some chocolate chips.  But they're totally optional {sort of}.  I advise eating these for breakfast and dessert!  Because, y'all, there's no flour- it's all chickpeas!  I got 16 muffins out of this recipe, and after figuring out the nutrition facts, they are 100 calories each {with chocolate chips they are 150}, 3 grams of protein and 1 gram of fat per muffin.  For a tasty little snack with all natural ingredients, that's pretty good.

Plus, it's all made in a food processor, which means easy clean up!

Secret Ingredient Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Makes 16 muffins

1 15oz can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2/3 cup honey
1 normal ripeness banana 
3 eggs
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp baking soda
2/3 cup chocolate chips {optional}

Preheat your {awesome, self-regulating} oven to 350.  Whirl the chickpeas in a food processor until they are all crumbly.  Then add in honey, banana, eggs, cinnamon, and baking soda and whirl again until well mixed.  Stir in chocolate chips at the end, if desired.

Fill cups in a muffin pan to 2/3 full.  Bake for about 15 minutes.  Allow to cool, then enjoy!


Ok, here they are: brown, crumbly bottomed muffins.  But they taste way better than they look! Promise.



Have you heard of the Myers-Briggs?
In graduate school I took just about every {legitimate} personality test there is.  Partly to increase my own self-awareness, and partly to have experience with assessments I might use with clients.  One of those assessments was the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, which categorizes personalities into 16 types.


So you are either: an introvert or extrovert, more into sensing or intuition, more about thinking or feeling, and judging versus perceiving.  I find the first and last codes most helpful.  Do you get energy from being with people {extravert-ME! Hey friends!} or being by yourself {introvert}?  And are you super organized, structured, and efficient {judging-oh boy, not me} or spontaneous and unstructured {perceiving}?

This website takes the MBTI codes and puts them with animals, which I find somewhat funny.  I'm an ENTP, so I'm a parrot!  And the description is dead on.  {How can five sentences define me?!} Nick is an ENTJ, so he's a lion.  Again, dead on.

Which animal/code are you?  Does it fit?  What about your friends/family members/ significant others?  I think it can be so helpful in understanding things like why Nick puts all the details of our whole lives into spreadsheets...

{I like that my animal is so colorful and can FLY.  Dreamscometrue}


Apparently, there are people who want dessert to be dark chocolate-free?!


I can respect that preference, though let's be real, I'll never understand it.  But in the spirit of equal opportunity dessert making, this recipe is for you, lemon lovers and dark chocolate-phobes.

Full disclosure: I do not eat white chocolate, so I haven't tasted one of these.  However, I made them for a party, and they got rave reviews from all the white chocolate and lemon fans.  I probably just lost all credibility in your blog-reading eyes, but I needed to be honest {and ensure that if any of you ever bring me a dessert, there is no white chocolate in it}.


A big bonus of making these {besides their sparkly-cuteness and my total disinterest in eating them, so more room for cupcakes!} is how easy they are!  Basically if you can melt things in the microwave, then roll stuff into a ball shape, you're set.  It's even easier if you have a melon-baller.  And people are very impressed.


As you can see, I'm not the most consistent ball-roller.  But I've learned to reframe "imprecise and lumpy truffles" into "handmade artisan truffles," and people really go for that.  You'd think with all the many years of practice rolling swedish meatballs for the Christmas smorgasbord, I'd be a little better at this.  Sorry, Grandmom.



White Chocolate Lemon Truffles
Makes about 30 truffles, recipe adapted from How Sweet Eats

10 oz good quality white chocolate chips 
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
6 tablespoons heavy cream
1 teaspoon corn syrup
1 drop lemon extract
The zest of half a big lemon
Yellow sparkly sprinkles for coating

Melt white chocolate and butter in the microwave, heating for 30 second intervals and stirring between heatings.  

Add heavy cream and corn syrup to a small saucepan and heat over medium until the mixture forms bubbles, which will happen quickly.  Immediately pour cream mixture over the melted chocolate mixture, and stir until well combined.  Then add lemon extract and zest and stir.  Place in the fridge for about an hour.  (If you leave them in the fridge for a while, the chocolate will get pretty hard and be difficult to scoop and shape.  In that case, give them about 15-20 minutes of sitting at room temperature or a quick heat up in the microwave)

Remove and either with a melon baller or with a spoon and your hands, scoop truffle mixture out and roll into small (teaspoon size) balls.  Roll them in the sprinkles and store in the fridge or at room temperature.


Perfect for picnics, or just filling up a pretty bowl on the table...


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