HOMEMADE PALEO CUPCAKES WITH A FRESH CASHEW FROSTING

Ohhhhh yes ladies, I went there.

This shouldn't be surprising to anyone but, this whole cupcake thing happened thanks to a trip to Marshall's haha. DAMN that place get me EVERY. SINGLE. TIME. 

I went to get a birthday gift for my friend and then I walked by these insanely cute cupcake decorations that were like $3.99 so obviously I had to get those AND THEN it all clicked. 

..."I will make her CUPCAKES for her birthday too! We'll say they're SUMMER THEMED..."

FETTTTCH. 

Haha so then I had to begin the dig into Pinterest to see if there was anything healthy because if ya girl is going to take cupcakes to someone's house, they're going to be the healthiest version possible.

With that said, I can't take credit for this recipe but I can thank #PALEORUNNINGMOMMA for creating it!

Honestly - when it comes to me finding recipes on Pinterest, I look for 2 things.

1. The picture has to be appealing. I'm a visual person so that's a MUST. 

2. I have to be certain that I have at least 80% of the ingredients already at my house. I HATE going to the grocery store and getting 5 million things just to make one thing so that's not happening. 

I ALLLMOST didn't go with this recipe because I needed to soak the cashews for four hours which was annoying because I wanted to start the cupcakes ASAP, but, I decided that while they were soaking that I would clean up the house and get other work done so, it worked out and I'm SO glad I made them. 

Before we jump into the recipe I would just like to proudly say that these cupcakes were actually a hit which I was nervous about because obviously it was my first time making them.

I feel like these are cute for any Summer Party but of course if you just change the decorations, you can use them for Fourth of July, or a birthday or whatever..

OKAY:

Ingredients for Paleo Cupcakes:

+ 1 TBSP Beet Powder

+ 1/2 Cup Unsweetened Almond Milk

+ 4 Large Eggs

+ 1 TSP Baking Powder

+ 1/3 Cup Cacao

+ 1 Batch Coconut Cashew Frosting (See below for ingredients)

+ 2/3 Cup Coconut Flour

+ 1 Cup Coconut Sugar

+ 1/8 TSP Salt

+1/3 Cup Tapioca Flour

+ 2 TSP Vanilla Extract

+ 1 TBSP Apple Cider Vinegar

+ 1/2 Cup Coconut Oil, Organic

+ 1/2 Cup Coconut

+ 2 TBSP water

How to Make the Paleo Cupcakes:

PREP TIME: 10 MINS

COOK TIME: 20 MINS

TOTAL TIME: 30 MINS

(Prep time does not include the time to make the frosting. Remember for that you'll want to leave 4 hours to soak the cashews).

1. Preheat your oven to 350 - line a 12 cup muffin pan with some cut ass liners. 
2. Beat together EGGS, COCONUT SUGAR, ALMOND MILK, COCONUT OIL, VANILA & APPLE CIDER until combined.
3. Combine dry ingredients in a completely separate bowl, then add to wet ingredients and mix until it's just combined. Don't over mix. 
4. Fill up the 12 cupcake liners evenly to just about the top, since they won't rise much.
5. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes or until centers are set and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. 
6. Allow to cool in the pan for 2 minutes then carefully transfer to a cool wire rack to cool completely before you add the CASHEW FROSTING!

Ingredients for the Cashew Frosting:

+ 1 1/2 Cups Raw Cashews SOAKED in filtered water for at least 4 hours, drained, rinsed, and gently dried.

+ 2/3 Coconut Cream Chilled

+ 2.5 TBSP fresh Lemon Juice

+ 2 TBSP Coconut Oil, SOLID

+ 2 TSP Pure Vanilla Extract

+ 4-6 TBSP Raw Honey or Pure Maple Syrup for a vegan option.

+ Large Pinch of Fine Grain Sea Salt

How to Make The Cashew Frosting:

1. Blend Cashews on high until a paste forms, then scrape the sides. 
2. Add remaining ingredients and continue to blend on high for 3-5 minutes until the mixture is creamy. 
3. Makes enough frosting for 12 cupcakes! You can store any extra frosting in the fridge, covered, for up to one week.

More Summer Must Haves:

BOTTLE OPENER

SUMMER CAKE PAN

CUPCAKE TOPPERS

DECORATING ICING KIT

Leave a comment below or let me know on Instagram if you make these! I would love to see how they turn out for you and if you love them!!

X Chelsey 

Other Sweet Treats You Might Love:

PURELY ELIZABETH'S HEALTHY BANANA BREAD

Literally the only reason this recipe came to life was because I had two bananas dying in my fruit basket

and the thought of throwing away more food made me want to kill myself so I looked through my Purely Elizabeth Cookbook, and sure enough, she had a lovely Banana Bread Recipe.

By the way - this book is like my bible. She has everything you could ever want in here and it's all organic and HEALTHY af.

Also super easy so if you've been looking for new meal ideas, I highly suggest getting this for yourself, or asking someone else to get it for you, whatever. 

Get it right here, right now, on amazon!

TBH, I didn't feel like going to the store, mainly because I didn't have a voice so I literally couldn't talk to anyone and didn't feel like trying SO I only used one type of flour that I had rather than the different ones that she suggests. It still came out good but it could have been a little more moist. I used ALL oat flour, but according to the pro - here is what you'll need.

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

• Cinnamon Sugar (2 tbsp of coconut sugar for every 1 tsp of cinnamon)
• 1 Cup Coconut Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Almond Flour
• 1/2 Cup Millet Flour
• 1/2 Cup Brown Rice Flour
• 1/2 TSP Cinnamon
• 1 TSP Baking Soda
• 3 Very Ripe Bananas 
• 1/3 Cup Coconut Oil
• 2 Eggs
• 1 TSP Vanilla
• 1/3 Cup Walnuts
• 1/2 Cup Organic Chocolate Chips

WHAT TO DO:

1. Pre Heat oven to 350-degrees. Use an oil spray or coconut oil to grease loaf pan. 
2. Sprinkle cinnamon sugar to coat the bottom and sides and set aside.
3. Meanwhile, in a large bowl, stir together the sugar, flours, cinnamon and baking soda until well combined. 
4. In a separate bowl, whisk together the bananas, oil, eggs, and vanilla until smooth. 
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and stir until combined.
6. Fold in the walnuts and chocolate chips. 
7. Pour into a loaf pan and bake for 40-45 minutes. 

LITERALLY THE BEST COOKIES I'VE EVER MADE, AND SUPER CLEAN OBVI.

You guys. I literally had to put my invisalign back in to try and prevent myself from eating a FOURTH cookie in a matter of 1 hour.

I'm not even hungry. I just ate 2 bowls of pasta but literally...these cookies are unreal. 

I'm happy I live with my boyfriend because I know he can have at least half which will save me from devouring all of them within the next two days. (PS, while I write this, I'm catching up on Narcos - are any of you watching it?! SO insane..but anyways).

Back to the cookies.

So my friend brought these into to work the other day and as much as I wanted to try and avoid them, they were going QUICK so I snatched one and as soon as I had it, I made her give me the recipe. It was basically an immediate threat. 

2 days later, here we are. Just so you know, you're going to be obsessed too. 

Okay - here we go.

PREP TIME: 10 MINS

COOK TIME: 8 MINS

*** IF YOU MAKE THESE TAG #CHELSEYSEASYRECIPES ! I'D LOVE TO THIS RECREATED! ***

WHAT YOU'LL NEED:

• 1/2 Cup Organic canned pumpkin
• 2 TBSP Organic honey
• 2 TBSP Organic Coconut Sugar
• 1/2 Cup Oat Flour
• 1 Organic Egg
• 3/4 Cup Organic, dairy free, soy free, dark chocolate chips (I did 68% cacao)
• 1/2 TSP Vanilla Extract
• 1/2 TSP Cinnamon
• 1 TSP Baking Soda
• Pinch of Sea Salt

WHAT TO DO:

Whisk everything together and create 12-15 small balls and place on parchment paper. BAKE for 8 minutes at 350. 

* As soon as you remove these from the oven make sure that you remove the parchment paper with the cookies from the hot tray and place it on the counter top. This way the cookies don't keep cooking on the try and burn and piss you off (thumbs up). 

* PS - they won't look done - but they are! Let them cool for about 20 minutes then try to not eat all of them in one night - or do - whatever. 

MACA ROOT ENERGY BALLS

Sooo I've been thinking about wanting to make something like these for a WHILE. 

I have like a billion powders and superfoods in my cabinet so I've kind of figured that I have everything I need but it was just a matter of putting of everything together. 

Of course I was wasting life the other day on Pinterest and I came across this recipe (plus all the popsicle recipes that I'm going to start working on today haha)...

So the recipe is super easy. I was stoked because I already had everything so I didn't even need to go to the store which is always a plus. 

Here's what you'll need:

• 2 cups unsweetened shredded coconut 
• 6 TBS organic coconut oil
• 2 TSP vanilla
• 3 TBS maca root powder
• 2 TBS Raw Cacao Powder
• 2 TBS Raw Honey
• 2 TBS Walnuts

There's so much goodness happening in this recipe it's insane. Okay, let's start with

Maca Root:

Maca root is my go to. I put it in my coffee, my smoothies and now in this recipe. It is a superfood from peru that balances hormones. 

I've had girls e-mail me and tell me that they had horrible acne breakouts after getting on birth control and after 2 weeks of using maca root their skin was totally clear! It also helps with periods, PLUS it's a natural energy booster which I LOVE! 

Check out my Coffee Free Morning Energizing Drink here which is packed with maca root. 

Then,

 Cacao powder:

Cacao powder is a natural mood elevator and anti-depressant. It also has 40 times the amount of anti-oxidants as blueberries, it is the highest plant based source of iron and it is packed with magnesium which is like a natural stress reliever. 

These are the two main ingredients in these little energizing snacks that I'm obsessed with but of course honey has it's own benefits and coconut oil is an excellent source of saturated fats (healthy fats) which increases healthy cholesterol. 

WHAT TO DO:

1. Blend everything together
2. Roll into about 12 small balls 
3. Place on parchment paper 
4. Freeze for at least 1 hour before eating
5. Store in the fridge in an air tight container!

I've been having one at a time as a little snack if I'm in a hurry or one at night when I get home from work if I have a sweet tooth. 

ENJOY! & PLEASSSSE let me know if you have any other recipes ideas like this!

3 INGREDIENT POPSICLE

In honor of Memorial Day, I wanted to share this recipe with you guys ASAP!

I found this on instagram from 'haley_ferretti' and realized it was only 3 ingredients so it was an easy thing to try without losing too much if they didn't taste good or work haha. 

I've never personally made popsicles but after realizing how easy it is and knowing that I have something sweet and healthy that's going to last in the freezer, I think I'm going to work on a bunch of different ones this summer!

Okay, 

Here's what you need :

• 1 can coconut cream (i got mine at trader joe's)
• 1/3 cup pineapple juice
• fresh raspberries

I quickly blended that coconut cream and pineapple juice together which left me with juice and then the thick cream part. 

I used the cream to fill some of the raspberries and I just used the juice for the popsicles. 

Then I dropped 1-2 raspberries in each popsicle and let them sit overnight!

Definitely recommend making these or your own version some time today so that they will be ready by tonight!

If you have a simple recipe please leave it in the comments below!!