Gluten-free, Dairy-free, Sugar-free Blueberry Muffins

Well the hubs and I returned from our Maine getaway on Friday - and while I'm dying to write all about it, I just absolutely need to start off with a recipe I made this morning with some of the super fresh, hand-picked Maine blueberries we brought back!!

First off, we need to talk about the blueberries: it's kind of been a life dream to go berry picking.. it's a long story. But once I found out that we were going to be in Maine during peak blueberry season, it became a necessity for me to find a pick-your-own farm somewhere in our travels (bonus: it's one of the few fruits/berries Scot will actually eat). My handy Coastal Maine travel book that I picked up the day before we left mentioned one in particular, that just so happened to be about halfway between two of our destinations. It didn't have a website - just some vague information that they are usually open daily in August, weather-permitting. A quick call the morning we wanted to go let me know they were indeed open, so off we went to Staples Homestead.

What ensued was pure chaos. All of the FOUR GPS's we had with us were navigating us to a dead end road with an off-roading option leading forward into lord knows where. We tried to be adventurous and keep going, but once the underbrush was literally banging on the underside of the car and the flies outside were swarming like in those terrible horror movies, we made a 27 point turn and had no option but to turn around.

Not one to be deterred by mere nature getting in the way (I mean seriously.. this place had to exist), I used my trusty map skills (thank god I grew up in a time where people actually knew how to read maps) and rerouted us a different way, one where it looked like a road actually went. Once we started seeing "Blueberry" signs, we knew we were in the clear. However, note to self: write complaint to Google maps. I still don't understand what it was trying to make us do. Probably get killed.

And thus our blueberry-picking experience was complete. All told, I think we ended up saving a buck by picking them ourselves. But the memories? Priceless!

But enough about blueberry fields and almost dying.. onto the recipe! While these little berries of antioxidant bliss are perfectly sweet and yummy on their own, nothing can really beat the taste of a warm blueberry muffin with some coffee and OJ out on the deck. Amiright?!



A little searching and adapting this morning gave me a super delicious "free" recipe that not only tastes good, but is good for you. The best kind!!

*recipe adapted from Cave Girl in the City

Just a quick note.. feel free to mix things up a bit!! I used almond extract since that was all I had, but vanilla would taste wonderful with this recipe.

For the sweet aspect, I opted for super local honey, but maple syrup or brown rice syrup would work just as well. While any of these options do still contain some fructose, it's still always better to use a naturally occurring kind vs processed white sugar (hence the "sugar-free" notation). The body absorbs the sugar from these sources much slower, thus preventing that infamous sugar-crash.

I also added about 1/4 cup of crushed flax seed to the recipe, which didn't seem to mess things up too much.. gotta love the fiber!!

Now excuse me while I go have a second third muffin and some iced coffee.