It’s been getting harder and harder to get out of bed in the morning lately. I’m used to freezing temperatures in New England by now but I’ve never learned to like them and it’s only getting colder from here on out. Blankets are getting thicker, showers are getting longer, and breakfasts are getting tastier because they’re always the best reason to get out of bed.

These pancakes are an older recipe that I wanted to revisit and spend more time on. It’s hard to find good gluten-free pancakes and the more flavors you can get the better. They’re entirely naturally sweetened, too, until you pour the maple syrup on top which is a must. A little pat of cinnamon butter and it’d be heaven.

The recipe only makes about one serving. I would recommend doubling or tripling it and storing the extra pancakes in a Ziploc bag in the refrigerator to have extra for another morning.

Gluten-Free Banana Pancakes

Prep Time: 5 minutes

Cook Time: 10 minutes

Ingredients(makes 1 serving):

• 1/3 cup mashed banana(about a medium-sized banana)
• 1/2 cup chickpea flour
• 1 egg
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4-1/3 cup water

Method:

1. In a mixing bowl combine the mashed banana, chickpea flour, egg, cinnamon, baking soda and 1/4 cup water and mix.
2. Add more water if necessary to get the consistency somewhere between thick-runny and runny.
3. Preheat a non-stick pan over medium heat.
4. Scoop about 1/4 cup batter into the pan for each pancake. Only cook 1 or 2 at a time to avoid overcrowding.
5. Cook on one side until the top is bubbly, then flip and cook for about another minute. Repeat until all the batter is used.

Definitely worth waking up for.

A lot of people debate what the difference between a muffin and a cupcake is. Some say it depends on whether it’s frosted or not while for others it’s about the texture. For me it’s about nutrition. Is it healthy enough that you’d want to eat it for breakfast? Then it’s a muffin. If it’s a sugar and fat bomb even without frosting, you’re probably looking at a cupcake. 

These muffins are dense, chewy, and hearty. The best way to eat one is warm with some peanut butter or cream cheese smeared inside. It’s not incredibly sweet but has a nice flavor from all of the pumpkin spices. It definitely passes the breakfast test.

If you don’t have 3 cups of almond flour, you can make your own by grinding 3 cups of almonds in a food processor like I did. Make sure to run it for a really long time to avoid getting larger pieces of almonds.

Grain-Free Pumpkin Muffins

Prep time: 10 minutes

Cook time: 25 minutes

Ingredients(Makes about 10 muffins):

• 3 cups almond flour or meal
• 1 cup pumpkin
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup maple syrup
• 6 eggs
• 2 Tablespoons tapioca starch
• 2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon baking soda

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the almond flour, pumpkin, vegetable oil, maple syrup, and eggs until there are no clumps left.
3. Mix in the tapioca starch, spice, salt and baking soda.
4. Pour the batter into lined muffin tins.
5. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Turn the oven off and let the muffins cool in there with the door slightly cracked open.
6. Store at room temperature for 2-3 days or freeze them to make them last longer.

Don’t skimp on the pumpkin spice blend; that’s where all the delicious pumpkin muffin flavor is.

I’m a sucker for sweet breads. So far this Summer we’ve made banana bread and zucchini bread. That got me wondering what other fruits and vegetables you can bake into bread?

As unglamorous as they are, carrot desserts are some of my favorites; I’ve had carrot cakes at multiple birthdays throughout the years. Some people think they sound too healthy to make a good dessert, but if you slap enough cream cheese frosting onto anything it will taste good, right?

This bread isn’t quite as sweet as a carrot cake or carrot cake muffin would be; I like that because the last thing I need in the morning is a sugar coma. Instead it’s rather spicy with jewels of sweetness from the raisins. You can swap in toasted walnuts for the coconut for a nuttier flavor and added crunch. Of course you can also add white chocolate chips and cream cheese frosting; it’s all about how decadent you want to go.

Gluten-Free Carrot Bread

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 50 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 1 loaf):

• 1 1/4 cup almond flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3/4 cup tightly packed shredded carrot
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 6oz container plain yogurt
• 4 extra large eggs
• 1/4 cup raisins
• 1/4 cup shredded coconut
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, beat together the almond flour and brown sugar to make sure there aren’t any clumps.
3. Add in the carrots, oil, yogurt, and eggs and mix completely.
4. Toss in the raisins, coconut, salt, baking powder and spices and mix again.
5. Pour the batter into a greased 9-inch loaf pan.
6. Bake for 50 minutes or until the center of the loaf has set.
7. Remove from the oven and let cool completely before cutting into slices.

It didn’t take me very long to mix some powdered sugar and cream cheese and spread it onto a hot slice. It didn’t take me long at all.

I love fresh cherries. They’ve been on sale the past few weeks and I’ve been eating them by the pound. As good as cherries are on their own, with chocolate they’re out of this world.

I’d never made zucchini bread before this loaf. Something about a vegetable in a bread doesn’t scream “delicious”. But then again, when you add cherries, chocolate chips, and ganache, what wouldn’t be delicious. I threw a banana into the mix, too, because I thought the fruity flavor would help to mask any taste the zucchini might bring.

Normally sweet breads are loaded with oil. To reduce the oil and pump up the nutrition I swapped in Greek yogurt to keep it most and also full of protein.

If you have a picky eater in the family who might be turned off by specks of green in their bread, just peel the zucchini with a vegetable peeler before shredding it. 2 medium sized zucchinis should yield about 1 cup.

Dark Chocolate Cherry Zucchini Bread

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 1 hour 20 minutes

Ingredients(Makes 1 loaf):

• 1 cup shredded zucchini
• 1 6oz container plain greek yogurt
• 3 eggs
• 2 egg whites
• 1 banana, mashed
• 2 Tablespoons oil
• 1 1/3 cups gluten-free all purpose flour(or regular flour)
• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup pitted and halved cherries

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, mix together the zucchini, yogurt, eggs, egg whites, banana, and oil.
3. Add in the flour, sugar, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda and mix again.
4. Lastly, gently fold in the chocolate chips and cherry halves.
5. Grease a 9-inch loaf pan and pour in the batter.
6. Bake until the center of the bread has set and the edges begin to brown—about an hour and 20 minutes.
7. Wait for the bread to cool before cutting. Garnish with melted chocolate or powdered sugar.

This came out a lot more dense than I anticipated, almost like pound cake(not that that’s a bad thing at all). Like any low-fat bread, I’d recommend eating this within 2-3 days before it turns stale.

One of the funniest misconceptions of a gluten-free diet is that it’s a low carb diet.

Hardly.

Yes, eliminating gluten from your diets limits the number of carbs you can eat. And when you’re eating on-the-go you’re limited to options like salads and nuts that are low carb. But at heart most gluten-free eaters are still carb lovers like everyone else, and when given the chance we’ll gladly make a meal out of gluten-free muffins, pancakes, and waffles. And don’t forget the syrup.

Thinking back, I can’t really remember the last time I ate a muffin(because why bake muffins when you can make cupcakes). Banana nut would probably be my favorite, but since we were out of nuts when I made this chocolate chip would have to do. Who could say no to banana chocolate chip anyway?

Don’t have brown rice flour? You can substitute oat flour instead. If you don’t have that you can always make your own by grinding 2 cups of gluten-free rolled oats in a food processor.

Gluten-Free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook time: 30 minutes

Ingredients(Makes a dozen muffins):

• 1 1/4 cup brown rice flour
• 1/4 cup corn starch
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• 6 Tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup water
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a large bowl, sift together the brown rice flour, corn starch, and sugar.
3. Add in the mashed bananas, oil, water, and eggs and stir the batter together.
4. Add in the cinnamon, salt, and baking soda and mix completely.
5. Pour the batter into twelve lined muffin tins.
6. Drop an even amount of chocolate chips onto the top of each muffin.
7. Bake for about 30 minutes until the tops start to brown and the muffins are cooked in the center.
8. Remove from the oven and let the muffins cool slightly before touching.

Soft, spicy and studded with chocolate chips. Tomorrow morning’s going to be tasty.