July 23, 2014
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Do you need a healthy way of adding nutrition to your child’s grain-free lunch box? This grain-free meal plan recipe is one our members love!
It can be tough to make grain-free lunch boxes that compete with the colorful lunches other kids might bring. Perhaps the most difficult part is filling the lunch box with “filling” items that will fill your growing child for the rest of the afternoon.
I dare say, these blueberry bran muffins are the real deal. Moist, filling, full of omega-3s, healthy fats, protein, and fiber, these no-bran muffins are truly satisfying.
Unlike most Paleo and grain-free muffins out there, these don’t have expensive dates in the muffin batter. Instead, I used raisins to create bulk, hold the muffins together, and add natural sweetness without sugars. You can also make this recipe nut-free by substituting sunflower or pumpkin seeds.
Another thing you’l love about this recipe is the ability to make the batter ahead of time and freeze it. You can use this method to freeze the muffins, just like you would freeze regular muffin batter.
Of course, you can keep them in the freezer, pop a couple in the oven in the morning while you are getting everyone ready, and pack inside the lunch box for a fresh, out-of-the-oven lunch. Add a couple of hard-boiled eggs or rolled-up turkey, a side of fruit and veggies, and you are good to go!
Grain-Free Blueberry Bran Muffins
Ingredients
- ½ cup ground flax seeds (flax meal)
- ¼ cup walnuts
- 1 tablespoon coconut flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- ½ cup raisins
- 3 eggs
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil melted
- ¾ cup blueberries
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and line 6 muffin cups with paper liners.
- In a food processor, pulse flax meal, walnuts, coconut flour, baking soda, and salt until the mixture becomes sand-like.
- Add in the raisins and pulse enough to break them down. Pulse in the eggs and coconut oil to combine. For a smoother muffin texture puree for 30 seconds, for a coarser “bran” muffin texture, pulse for about 10 seconds so the raisins still have texture left.
- Remove the blade and fold-in blueberries carefully. You could also pour batter into a bowl and fold blueberries in there; I just like to save a few cleanup steps.
- Divide batter into 6 cups (sometimes a 7th if you are liberal with your blueberries).
- Bake 22-25 minutes, or until the tops are firm and a toothpick comes out clean.
- Remove from oven; allow muffins to cool down to room temperature prior to eating.
- Serve with fresh fruit, veggies & treat of choice.
Notes
Nutrition
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Julie
We have nut allergies in the family. What kinds of substitutions would be good in the recipes that include nuts and/or nut flour but still be grain free? We can do coconut flour and seeds (pumpkin, sun flour seeds). Thanks!
MOMables
Hi Julie! To replace nuts, you can simply replace them for seeds. For example, you can substitute sunflowers seeds for the walnuts in this recipe. Flours are more difficult because coconut flour cannot be substituted 1:1, so I would try to find recipes (like this one) that don’t call for nut flour.
Jennifer
Hi there! I have two questions in regard to the Grain-Free Blueberry Bran Muffins. First, will frozen blueberries would work? Second, are these good made ahead and stored in the fridge or freezer? Thanks!
Emilie Hebert
Yes you can absolutely make them with frozen blueberries! And you can make them ahead of time; they’re perfect for the freezer so you can defrost when you’re ready to eat.