Peanut Butter-Banana Muffins and Vanilla-Honey Butter [paleo, gluten and sugar free]

When I finished my run this morning, I was really happy to come home to these delicious muffins that I made last night. :) (I found the recipe on Detoxanista, a site that I absolutely love!) The peanut butter actually gives the muffins a great texture/consistency - and they rose really well. (especially compared to other paleo/gluten free recipes!) I'll definitely be making these again!

Peanut Butter - Banana Muffins

• 1 cup natural organic peanut butter
• 2 very ripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup mashed)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3 whole eggs
• ½ teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ cup honey (or stevia, to taste)
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• Optional add-ins: ½ cup chocolate chips, or 1 cup fresh raspberries, or ½ cup dried raisins or cherries, or 1 sliced banana

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350F and prepare a muffin tin with 12 paper liners.
2. In a medium bowl, combine all of the ingredients mix until smooth. At this point, you can fold in one of the optional add-ins, if desired.
3. Scoop the batter, using a ¼ cup, into each muffin liner.
4. Bake for 15 minutes at 350F. The resulting muffins should be firm, and lightly golden.
5. Allow to cool for 15 minutes before removing from the pan.
6. Serve immediately, or store in a sealed container in the fridge for up to a week!

                                                                            
A few notes on the recipe:

1. make sure the bananas that you use are very ripe. I used "normally ripe bananas" and though the muffins tasted really good, they weren't as "banana-y" as I would have liked. Just keep that in mind.

2. I used less honey than the recipe called for. I used probably an 1/8 cup, whereas the recipe calls for twice that amount. You can adjust the sweetness level as you so desire.

As a finishing touch, I made a Vanilla-Honey Butter to spread on the muffins.

Vanilla-Honey Butter

6 Tbsp. butter, softened (I left it out overnight)
1 Tbsp. honey (or more, if you like it sweeter)
1 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. cinnamon.

1. using a mixer beat the butter until light and fluffy.
2. add in the honey, vanilla and cinnamon. Mix to combine.
3. Walah! Enjoy on muffins or pancakes - store leftovers in the fridge.