Blue Raspberry Muffins (with chia seeds!)

There is nothing quite like a homemade muffin to grab for breakfast or a snack.  With the weather warming up, I have been craving berries and decided to get fancy combining blueberries and raspberries in these muffins.  Ok, I just really think the name "blue raspberry" is cool for some reason. Also, I never knew there was a "p" in in raspberry.  You learn something new everyday.  But enough of my rambling.  These muffins have a cake-like texture, the perfect amount of sweetness, and are bursting with fresh fruit!  Better yet, I used coconut flour to make them so they are naturally gluten-free and low-carb.  Packed with protein from organic, free-range eggs and chia seeds, there is nothing not to love about these tasty muffins!

I used a combination of honey and lucuma to sweeten these gems.  Lucuma is a Peruvian fruit that has a maple taste and is a wonderful addition to many sweets including muffins, cakes, and ice creams.  It is a low-glycemic sweetener that also contains many nutrients including iron, zinc, vitamin B3, beta-carotene, calcium, and protein.  It is also much lower in calories than other natural sweeteners such as honey or maple syrup, so when baking with it I like to sub half of whatever sweetener I am using for this powder.  If you don't have lucuma powder on hand, just add an extra two tablespoons of honey in this recipe and you're good to go!

I'm off to New York City today with my sister for a girl's day, and you bet I have a few of these in my purse!  When we stop for some coffee in the afternoon, I plan on snacking on one of these instead of an overpriced and nutritionally terrible muffin.  Hope you all are having a wonderful weekend and eating delicious things :)

Blue Raspberry Muffins
gluten-free, dairy-free

yield: 9 muffins

1/2 cup coconut flour
2 Tbsp Lucuma*
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon (optional)
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup chia seeds

6 eggs
2 Tbsp honey
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup fresh orange juice
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1 tsp lemon zest

1/2 cup blueberries
1/2 cup raspberries*

* If you don't have lucuma, increase the honey to 1/4 cup
* Feel free to sub another berry, like strawberries or blackberries!

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 350 F.  Line a muffin pan with 9 muffin cups.

2.  Beat eggs, honey, vanilla, orange juice, coconut oil, and lemon zest with a hand held beater, or whisk well.

3.  Sift coconut flour, lucuma, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon into the wet mixture and add chia seeds directly into the bowl.  Blend well.  Fold in the blueberries and raspberries.

4.  Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins, adding about 1/4 cup batter into each one.  I use a 1/4 cup ice cream scoop.  Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Let cool for 10 minutes in the pan before moving to a cooling rack.  Allow them to cool on the cooling rack for at least an hour before storing them.