There are some recipes that just feel like summer, and these Triple Berry Muffins are one of them.

We celebrated Grey this week, which made everything feel a little extra sweet around here, and these muffins fit right into that season of simple family moments, warm mornings, and using up the beautiful berries that are everywhere right now.
Made with a mix of fresh berries, they’re soft, fluffy, and bakery-style in the best way — the kind of muffin that could absolutely compete with one of those giant coffee shop muffins, but without the allergens or the heaviness that usually comes along with them.

They’re the kind of muffin you can serve for brunch, tuck into a lunchbox, set out for a slow breakfast, or enjoy with tea while the house is still quiet.

And if this recipe looks a little familiar, there’s a reason.
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These Triple Berry Muffins were also a featured recipe on The Clean Plate with Mandi, during our Brunch episode, so they have a little extra nostalgia attached to them for me. I love revisiting recipes like this because they remind me that good food has a way of following us through different seasons of life.

What makes these especially good is the combination of berries.
Using more than one variety gives every bite a little something different — sweet, tart, juicy, bright — and summer is the perfect time to make them while berries are at their best.
They’re also wonderfully versatile.
Use whatever mix you have on hand, whether that’s blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, or blackberries.
And because they’re gluten-free and dairy-free, they’re a beautiful option for families who still want that indulgent coffee-shop muffin experience without some of the common allergens.

​A Few Tips for the Best Triple Berry Muffins

For the fluffiest muffins, be careful not to overmix the batter. Stir just until everything comes together.

If your berries are very juicy, gently toss them with a little of the gluten-free flour before folding them in. This can help keep them suspended throughout the batter instead of sinking.

And for that true coffee-shop look, fill the muffin cups generously so they bake up with those big, beautiful tops.
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Serve them warm, with a little dairy-free butter if you like, and preferably with a cup of tea nearby.

Because around here, that’s exactly how summer mornings should taste. 

Wet

• 1/2 c. dairy-free butter
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tsp. vanilla
• 1/4 c. dairy-free sour cream
• 3/4 c. dairy-free milk + 2 tsp. lemon juice (this replaces traditional buttermilk)

Dry

• 1 C. coconut sugar
• 1 TBSP. lemon zest
• 2 1/2 C. gluten-free flour
• 2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. cream of tartar
• 1/4 tsp. salt

2 C. mixed berries (I used raspberries, strawberries and blueberries) 

Since learning so much about the food we consume and things we put into our bodies I often look back at periods of my life. How I did things, what I consumed, what was thought about and what was simply routine. 

I think of my childhood and the grilled chicken and veggie dinners mixed with the trips for fast food and boxed breakfast pastries, and honestly, I shudder a bit. Wondering how it all played into altering genes and my autoimmune issues today. However, my parents were amazing parents to my sister and I and did the best they could with the knowledge they had. And so I have to move forward, do what I can to heal my body now, and do the best I can as a parent with the knowledge I have. 

I think back to living on my own in Los Angeles in my early twenties and making healthier, better changes for life in the entertainment industry and all of the physical work I was putting my body through. The gym, running and hip hop dancing. I cleaned up my eating in those years but it still wasn't anything near what it is now, because again, I didn't yet have the knowledge. 

And then the period after I was diagnosed with several food intolerances, genetic defects and an autoimmune disorder is where I took a too strict approach and lost too much weight and adopted a mindset that launched an unhealthy and unwarranted fear of food. 

Thus bringing us to today - a happy place. Where I am knowledgeable about WHAT goes into my body while having a passion to bring back comfort foods, happy foods if you will, into our life. Deprivation isn't a way to live, but neither is giving into desires for food that can cause us harm, so I can say, in the past few years, I have found my niche. My happy place as a chef, a food blogger and a mama in the kitchen. 

Comfort foods that bring connection, warmth and nutrition while being allergen-friendly and more wholesome than a packaged food item. 

Which is why today I present homemade strawberry pop tarts for you and your family to enjoy. Yum! 

Gluten free, dairy free, soy free, corn free and nut free - these pleasant pastries pack delicious strawberry preserves, sweetened naturally and thickened with potato starch versus corn. 

I used gluten-free pie shells and a homemade corn-free powdered sugar glaze to bring back memories of school mornings as a child. Greyson LOVED these and gobbled one up before one of our pre-k home school mornings and I will be making them again as a treat this fall. I am excited to try different flavors as well - such as a warm coconut sugar pop tart in lieu of the famous brown sugar pop tarts - as well as a blueberry and a double chocolate. 

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We are on a muffin kick lately! These Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins (paleo and grain-free) are SO easy, so warm and comforting in the cold winter months, freezable to re-heat on busy mornings and they help keep me on track with getting back into my paleo groove. I always find myself coming back to this diet when I need to lower inflammation, help out my cycle, prep for pregnancy, lower my intake of sugar (preach) or drop a couple of pounds. 

The last breakfast recipe I posted were my Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins, so naturally, there is a paleo muffin thing happening in our home. 

Other muffin favorites lately have been my Carrot Zucchini Muffins, my Blackberry Almond Muffins and not techincally a muffin but my yeast-free cinnamon rolls keep showing up on the weekends ;)

This was my first time using a recipe with JUST cassava flour (I know, I'm so late to that game) - I've usually mixed it with other flours, but today I made a simple cassava muffin sweetened only with bananas and a dash of vegan chocolate chips.

In our taste test, I thought the family may find them to be not sweet enough but the consensus was that everyone approved and my toddler ate FOUR of them before lunchtime. 

So, they'll be hanging out on the meal plan long term.

Enjoy the recipe below and if you make a bunch, freeze some and invite me over for a warm mug of tea because I'm craving some girl time in my busy schedule and am always down for good convo and muffins.

Also! If you're wanting these completely refined-sugar free and fully paleo compliant, nix the chocolate chips and add some fresh or dried berries, nuts or raisins. 

Ingredients

• 1/2 Cassava Flour
• 1 tsp. Baking Soda
• 1/4 tsp. Sea Salt
• 1/4 tsp. Cinnamon 
• 1/2 C. Chocolate Chips
• 2 Eggs
• 2 Ripe Bananas
• 1 tsp. Vanilla
• 1 tsp Apple Cider Vinegar
• 1/3 C. Avocado Oil 

​Directions
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• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Line a muffin tin with parchment paper liners (you won't regret switching to these!) and gather your ingredients, a whisk, a rubber spatula and a large mixing bowl. 
• Place your two bananas in your bowl and mash until smooth.
• Add your eggs to your banana and whisk.
• Add in your avocado oil, apple cider vinegar and vanilla. 
• Whisk together wet ingredients until well blended.
• Add in your cassava flour, baking powder, cinnamon and sea salt.
• Once all wet and dry ingredients are well blended, fold in your chocolate chips and any additional ingredients you are adding (nuts, berries, shaved coconut, raisins...)
• Fill your muffin tins 3/4 full and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
• Enjoy warm and save the leftovers in the fridge for up to four days. You may freeze them and reheat for longer lasting muffins. 

As we entered into this new season of fall and a new home I wanted to move back into more Paleo breakfast options. I felt my energy starting to lag and cleaning up the diet with the removal of grains always helps me. I hadn't made many pumpkin dishes yet this year, so it was time, wasn't it? It. Was. Time.

Grey loved whipping these up in the kitchen with me and they were super simple to make. Moist, chocolaty with just the right hint of pumpkin and spice, we made an extra batch to have as breakfasts throughout a busy week. 

INGREDIENTS
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• 1 3/4 C. almond flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. sea salt
• 1/2 c. nut or seed butter
• 1/4 c. pure maple syrup
• 1 c. canned pumpkin
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 c. dairy-free chocolate chips

DIRECTIONS

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line your muffin pan with parchment cups or grease with avocado or coconut oil.
• In a medium bowl, whisk eggs, pumpkin, seed or nut butter, vanilla and syrup together.
• In a small bowl, mix almond flour, baking soda and spices. 
• Add your dry ingredients to your wet and fold in your chocolate chips. 
• Fill muffin cups 1/2-3/4 full and bake for 20 minutes or until your toothpick comes out clean when inserted. 
• Top with additional chocolate chips if desired and allow to cool before enjoying. 

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What pumpkin recipes are you whipping up this season?

​Can everyday be Sunday?

There's something slower, something sweeter, simpler and more divine about Sundays.

Thankful God gave us this day of rest and holiness and beauty. We slept in (thank you Grey!) and made our way slowly,but hungrily, into the kitchen where my little one helped make fluffy, warm and sweet ooey gooey vegan cinnamon rolls from scratch.

More laborious than most of my other recipes, but so worth it. I would definitely mark them down in the treat column because it's one of the very, very few recipes where I used cane sugar, but they are gluten free, soy free, yeast free, corn free and completely vegan!

The trick to making buttermilk cinnamon rolls without the buttermilk? Lemon juice in coconut or almond cream! A trick I'm SO glad I learned early on. Have a blessed and happy Sunday with those you love.  
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