Coffee Cake Muffins

In our daily schedule at school, there is a five minute nutrition break at 10:30 in the morning.  For me, this break does not come soon enough.  This is a crucial break for me because I usually eat breakfast at 7:30 a.m. and waiting until lunch to eat is never a good idea.  When my energy begins to get low, I always want something to provide me with more sustainable energy, but also want to avoid having another coffee.  In order to keep up my energy (and make it until lunchtime) I always bring a snack with me.  Muffins are a great snack and can be very versatile in terms of ingredients. 

I usually have one of these with a piece of cheese to keep up my energy until lunch.

Coffee Cake Muffins

Muffin batter
2 1/2 cups almond flour
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1/2 cup chopped dates
1/4 cup grapeseed oil (or melted butter)
1 tsp cane sugar syrup
3 large eggs

Muffin topping
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tbsp grapeseed oil
2 tsp cane sugar syrup
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 350'F and line 12 muffin cups with parchment paper liners. 

Combine the dry ingredients (almond flour, sea salt, baking soda, pecans, and dates) in a large bowl.  In a small bowl, whisk together the grapeseed oil, cane sugar syrup and eggs.  Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until the dates and pecans are evenly distributed.  Fill the 12 muffin cups evenly with the batter.

For the topping, combine the cinnamon, nutmeg, grapeseed oil, cane sugar syrup and the pecans in a small bowl.  Once combined, place a teaspoon of the topping on each muffin.

Bake the muffins for 20-25 minutes.  Let them cool on a cooling rack before serving. 

Yes, that is REAL butter.