dessert|Sparkles and Sprinkles

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins {gluten-free, low-sugar}

by sparkle | Sep 29, 2023 | Breakfast Recipes, Snack and Dessert Recipes

Enjoy these healthy gluten-free pumpkin muffins with a cup of tea or coffee for a treat on a cozy fall day!

For this recipe, we simply modified our healthy gluten-free cupcake recipe. If you would like the kid-friendly, visual instructions, follow our cupcake recipe, with these modifications:

reduce Greek yogurt from 2 to 1.5 cups
use 4 Tbsp. maple syrup
add 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
add 1 Tbsp. pumpkin pie spice
add 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
add 1 cup dark chocolate chips or mini chocolate chips

P.S. We love light buckwheat flour for gluten-free baking. Light buckwheat does not have the strong taste of regular buckwheat, and it has a nice light color. We order our light buckwheat directly through Bouchard Family Farms (with a quantity discount), but if you would like to try just one bag, it is also available on Amazon.

Enjoy!

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Chocolate Pomegranate Hearts

by sparkle | Feb 6, 2022 | Snack and Dessert Recipes

A number of years ago when our second daughter was about 5 years old, she and her best friend would often give each other sweet little gifts, from drawings to hand sewn dolls. One day her friend gave her a beautiful pomegranate. As pomegranates were not something we usually had on hand, we were not sure of the best way to use it. As it was near Valentine’s Day, we eventually came up with the idea of making chocolate hearts and sprinkling them with pomegranate seeds. They were delicious and really fun to make!

POMEGRANATE FUN FACTS

Pomegranates grow on trees that are found in many parts of the world. The word pomegranate comes from medieval Latin pōmum “apple” and grānātum “seeded.” Pomegranates seeds are high in fiber and packed full of vitamins, like vitamin C. You can find out more in this Wikipedia article.

So the big question is, how do you get the seeds out of a pomegranate? This is definitely the part of the recipe that will require the help of an adult. Rather than explain it to our ourselves, we recommend you use this (or another) tutorial on how to open a pomegranate.

Let’s Make Chocolate Pomegranate Hearts!

Gather your ingredients:

Dark chocolate bar*
Pomegranate seeds

*We used 85% here, but if you want to make this refined sugar free, you can start with unsweetened baking chocolate and add a sweetener of your choice.

Gather your kitchen supplies:

a flat tray or baking sheet lined with parchment paper
2 bowls (the one for the chocolate needs to be microwave safe)
2 spoons
Also (not pictured) a knife and a cutting board to cut the pomegranate.

Time to melt and decorate!

Step 1

Cut the pomegranate and remove the seeds. Place the seeds in a bowl. Use the tutorial if this is new to you.

Step 2

Break the chocolate bar into pieces and place the pieces into a microwave safe bowl.

Step 3

Put the bowl of chocolate in the microwave. Heat on high for 1 minute. Check if the chocolate is melted. If needed, add 30 more seconds at a time until the chocolate is melted.

Step 4

Stir the chocolate so that it is smooth. Let it sit on the counter for about 10 minutes, so that it thickens a bit (this will make it easier to shape the hearts).

Step 5

Using a spoon, drizzle the chocolate onto the parchment paper, making heart shapes.

Step 6

Sprinkle pomegranate seeds onto the chocolate hearts.

Step 7

Place the tray with the chocolate hearts into the refrigerator. Keep them in the refrigerator about 30 to 60 minutes, or until they are hard.

Step 8

Remove the chocolate hearts from the refrigerator. Place them on a pretty platter to serve. Enjoy! (Store any leftovers in the refrigerator.)

Optional method

Follow the above steps, but use a silicone mold, rather than a tray lined with parchment paper.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins {gluten-free, low-sugar}