Pumpkin Poppers

Pumpkin Poppers

• 1/2 cup coconut flour, firmly packed (I usedTropical Traditions brand)**
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1/2 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger, optional
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup cooked pumpkin and 1/2 cup carrots (you may use all pumpkin or winter squash – I used 1/2 carrots for more orange color since my pumpkin was not orange enough for my liking – canned pumpkin will work also)
• 1/3 cup coconut oil (I usedTropical Traditions Gold Label Organic Virgin Coconut Oil
• 1/4 cup honey (I usedTropical Traditions certified organic, raw honey)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla

**If you order from Tropical Traditions by clicking on any of myTropical Traditions linksand are a brand new customer, you will receive this free book:Virgin Coconut Oil : How it Has Changed People’s Lives, and How it Can Change Yours, and I will receive a discount coupon for referring you. Thank you!

Be sure to get an exact 1/2 cup of coconut flour by using the back of a straight edged knife to level off the flour even with the top edge of the measuring cup. Measure all dry ingredients (coconut flour down to ginger) in a large mixing bowl.  If you freeze your coconut flour (like I do with mine to keep it moist and fresh), you may sift after measuring to make sure there are no little hard clumps.

Mix together.

Place 3 eggs into your Magic Bullet, blender or food processor with 1/2 cup of cooked carrots and 1/2 cup pumpkin. Feel free to use any kind of winter squash or any combination of pumpkin, winter squash or carrots.

Blend until completely smooth.

Place melted coconut oil, honey and vanilla into a small bowl. Add the winter squash and eggs mixture into the bowl and whisk.

Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients.  Using a hand mixer, blend for 1-2 minutes until completely mixed. As the coconut flour absorbs the liquids the mixture will go from a very runny consistency to a thicker consistency.

Allow the batter to sit for 5 minutes so that the coconut flour can absorb the liquids.

Preheat oven to 325°F.

Use coconut oil to grease a mini muffin tin.

Lightly sprinkle coconut flour into the bottom of each muffin cup.

Measure out two tablespoons of batter for each popper.  It would be awesome to have one of these:Norpro 703 Grip-EZ 2-Tablespoon Stainless Scoop.

The batter should be of the consistency where you can pick it up in your hands and form into a little ball. If you have to use a tablespoon measurement like me, be sure that you completely meld the two parts together, otherwise when they bake you will end up with little splits and fissures where you placed them together. If by chance your batter is not thick enough, add in coconut flour by the teaspoon waiting a minute or two in between adding more. If your batter is too thick, you could try adding more pumpkin.

Drop into the muffin tins. I don’t advise using cupcake papers for this recipe – in the last step you will drizzle a liquid cinnamon topping which will make a sticky mess of the papers so it is best to just put them bare naked into the muffin tin.

Bake for 20 minutes.

For the topping mix 1 tablespoon melted coconut oil (or butter) with 1 tablespoon honey and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon.

When the poppers are done, as soon as you remove them from the oven using a 1/4 teaspoon measuring spoon drizzle 1/4 teaspoon of the topping mixture on each popper.

The topping will melt into the popper and will also spill down and soak into the bottom.

Carefully remove each popper, they should not stick because of the coconut flour placed under each one but I had a couple that were still a little stubborn and didn’t want to come loose.

You can read the original post here: http://gapsdietjourney.com/2012/11/pumpkin-poppers-gluten-free-grain-free/