Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip Muffins

I like to bring treats when we spend all day(or all weekend) away for an athletic tournament.  The trouble with bringing baked goods to a wrestling tournament is that most of the athletes need to "make weight" twice a week and therefore don't have the luxury of eating any empty calories.  So the trick is to make those treat calories vitamin, fiber, and protein packed "full calories."  This week I made Sweet Potato Chocolate Chip Muffins.

I had found one lonely sweet potato in my pantry yesterday and this recipe was born.  I wrapped it in aluminum foil and placed it in a 400 degree oven alongside my dinner last night(tilapia.)  Normally I would have baked it for an hour, but I totally forgot it was in the oven(since the fish only took 20 minutes,) and ended up leaving it in the oven for 1 hour and 20 minutes.  No harm, no foul.  It turned out fine, not even burnt on the outside.

I peeled the sweet potato and mashed it up with a fork.  This medium sweet potato yielded just over a cup of mash.

In a large mixing bowl, I whisked together 2 cups almond flour, 2/3 cup potato starch, 1/4 cup brown rice flour, 1/4 cup sorghum flour, 1/4 cup flax seed, 2 tsps ground cinnamon, 1 tsp baking soda, 1/8 tsp ground cloves, 1/8 tsp allspice, 1/4 tsp xanthan gum, and 1/8 tsp salt.

In a medium mixing bowl, I beat together 2 eggs, the mashed sweet potato, 1/2 cup applesauce, 1/4 cup agave nectar, and 3 tbsps grapeseed oil.

I keep 1/2 cup sized snack packs of applesauce in the pantry for the kids' lunches.  I like using Mott's No Sugar Added Granny Smith applesauce in baking recipes, because the acidity combined with baking soda helps to fluff up a recipe, and helps to keep it moist.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients.  When they're combined add 1 cup chocolate chips and mix thoroughly.  Unlike a traditional muffin recipe, you don't have to worry about overbeating this batter, because gluten-free flours won't get "overworked."

Spoon the batter into a greased muffin pan and place into a 350 oven for 20-25 minutes.

They'll have puffed up when they're ready to be pulled out of the oven.  Let them cool in the pan for a minute before turning them out.  This recipe made 16 moist, tasty, nutrient packed muffins.

Thanks for popping in and baking with me.  I'm sharing these at Remodelaholic's Recipe Swap Party, Midnight Maniac's Meatless Mondays, Tailgating Time,  Real Sustenance's Seasonal Sundays, Kelly the Kitchen Kop's Real Food Wednesdays, and Gluten-Free Homemaker's Gluten-Free Wednesdays.