Harvest Cupcakes and Easy Paleo Meals

Since I got my advance copy of Easy Paleo Meals my life has gotten So . Much . Easier. For reals. Two Sundays in a row I’ve made a variation of the meal plans in the book, which has saved me around $200 dollars a week in groceries, and I know that that should be the best part, but it’s not. The best part is just having a plan every day. I can’t tell you how much easier and less stressful it is having a plan every day. Never wondering, “what am I going to make for dinner?” is super awesome. Okay and the saving money part is pretty great too 😉

In Easy Paleo Meals I show you how to meal plan for every season. There are two weeks of sample meal plans for each season, plus fun Friday night themes (below), and holiday meal plans (above). But what about feeding kids? There’s a whole section on my strategies! There are actually 100 pages of helpful information before you even get to the recipes. (I know, it’s crazy to me too, and I wrote it 🙂 ) This book is 400 pages, my friend. It’s my new baby.

The Harvest Cupcakes from page 330 are super cute and fun for Halloween, Thanksgiving, or any fall day, and my Mint Chocolate Christmas Cake is perfect for Christmas, of course 🙂

Harvest Cupcakes

These cupcakes are so healthy we often eat them as muffins with just a thin layer of frosting!

Dry Ingredients:
⅔ cup coconut flour, sifted
¼ cup arrowroot flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon allspice

Wet Ingredients:
5 eggs at room temperature
3 cups (420g) shredded carrots
½ cup coconut milk
½ cup unsweetened applesauce or honey (I like half of each)
½ teaspoon vanilla liquid stevia Note: If you omit the stevia, use ½ cup honey and no applesauce. This may double the bake time.
¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
 ¼ cup melted coconut oil

Add In:
1 cup (108g) chopped walnuts (optional)
1 cup (140g) raisins

Frosting:
Orange Frosting, recipe follows
Sprinkles, such as India Tree

1. Set the oven to 350F and add 17 unbleached paper liners to the muffin pan. Add the dry ingredients to a mixing bowl and whisk to combine. In a separate mixing bowl mix the wet ingredients with an electric mixer. Add the dry ingredients to the wet, then mix again.
2. Use a large (1/3 cup) ice cream scoop with a lever to transfer the batter to the cups. This makes the tops nice and round, and it’s much faster than using a spoon.
3. Bake for about 30 minutes, then let the cupcakes come to room temperature.
4. Trim the corner of a sturdy plastic food storage bag and add a #1M Open Star Tip. Add the Orange Frosting to the corner that has the tip. Twist the bag and pipe the frosting onto the cupcakes. Add a pinch of sprinkles to the tops.

Makes 17 cupcakes.

Orange Frosting

1 cup palm shortening, from a sustainable source
1/2 cup honey
1/3 cup (42g) coconut flour, sifted
1/8 teaspoon fine-ground sea salt
1/8 teaspoon vanilla liquid stevia
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons goji berries
1/4 cup + 2 tablespoons water
1 tablespoon coconut flour, sifted, if needed to thicken

1. Add the palm shortening, honey, coconut flour, salt, and stevia to a mixing bowl. Use an electric mixer to combine. Set aside.
2. Soak the goji berries and the water in a small bowl for about 20 minutes.
3. Puree the berries and the water in a mini blender or food processor.
4. Place a fine mesh strainer over a mixing bowl. Pour the goji puree over top and press it the puree through the strainer. Scrape the back of the strainer with a flexible silicone spatula to get as much as possible into the bowl. Discard the seeds leftover in the strainer.
5. Add the coloring to the frosting and combine with an electric mixer. Add another tablespoon of coconut flour if needed to thicken.

Get a meal plan you can use right away, complete with a shopping list, and more fun surprises in your gift! See the gift page HERE for more.

And thank you so much for buying Easy Paleo Meals!!!

♥, Kelly