Nutty banana nut muffins

I wrote a few days ago about good-looking paleo muffins I wanted to try. I was extremely nervous, as always, experimenting with substitution recipes. Will anyone like them? 

The muffins turned out unbelievably delicious.  I enjoy muffins - but these were the next level. They stayed fresher than their flour counterparts and my whole family admitted, they were a wonderful treat.  They are now a permanent part of our family recipe collection.

Here is the recipe I wound up with:

1 1/2 cups almond flour
3/4 cup bananas pureed with a fork
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
3 eggs
1/3 cup maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Blend eggs separately, breaking the yolk.  Mix together all the ingredients (including the blended eggs) except for the walnuts until smooth. Fold in the nuts.

Spoon batter into 6-12 greased or paper-lined muffin cups (I used muffin paper cups and filled each 1/3 of the way, making 12 perfect muffins). Cook 20-25 minutes at 350 F until the top is golden-brown and a toothpick comes out clean.

These are very soft and cakey muffins. I think that cutting them in half and toasting them is very nice since it gives it little crisp edges.

They were very sweet for my palate - but I have dramatically reduced sugar intake.  Everything tastes sweet to me.  Next time, I'd like to try reducing maple syrup to 1/4 cup and sprinkling palm sugar on top.

My mother-in-law, my 2- and 4- year-olds thought they were delicious, even my husband!  I made half without the nuts for texture-sensitive palates, but in the end, all muffins were gone, nuts and all!

I was surprised that there was no grittiness associated with almond flour. Muffins were soft, fluffy and acted like they were what mother-nature intended.  :-)

We are going to try the pumpkin variation at Halloween time.