Carrot Cornbread Muffins Recipe- Protein Heavy, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Refined Sugar Free

I've taken my son, Ike, off dairy recently. I did it in the past because I thought I noticed a behavioral difference, but then I wasn't sure anymore, and it was a lot of work, so I let him eat dairy again. But in the past month things were getting quite challenging with him, constant intense meltdowns, so I decided to trial taking him off dairy again. And the meltdowns pretty much stopped. (And the one day I let him have dairy- intense meltdown.)

So its pretty much final- he's off dairy, in addition to being off gluten.

But as much as it is challenging for him to give up things he likes such as cheese and milk and yogurts, I've been finding it most challenging, constantly needing to figure out dairy free proteins for him to eat, when he hates fish and beans and isn't a fan of lentils. The hardest part for me is figuring out breakfasts, not being able to rely on cereal and milk as a crutch when I don't have the energy to cook.

I decided to try to bake muffins for the kids to have for breakfast, and freeze them in advance. Because I want them as breakfasts, I wanted to fill them with as much nutrition as possible, making sure they had veggies in them, as well as a complete protein. I was going to use chickpea flour for this, but I was out, and noticed that I had some red lentil flour sitting on the shelf unused, so decided to try that out. I also added whole tahini for calcium, more protein, and healthy fats.

I was thinking of making these egg free, with ground flax seed or ground chia seeds instead of egg, but since it is meant for breakfast, I don't mind the nutritional addition of the eggs.

While mine are gluten free, you can make them with regular wheat flour instead of these interesting gluten free flours- they just won't be a complete protein.

I didn't taste these because they contain some ingredients that irritate my body, but my kids and husband all enjoyed them.

This made 22 larger muffins. I will be whipping up another batch of these soon because my family seems to demolish almost half a batch in just one meal.

Carrot Cornbread Muffins Recipe- Protein Heavy, Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Refined Sugar Free

Ingredients:
4 large carrots

4 eggs

1/2-3/4 cup coconut sugar, brown sugar, white sugar- probably would work with a liquid sweetener- I just didn't try it yet.
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups cornmeal
1 teaspoon xanthan gum AND 3/4 cup red lentil flour or chickpea flour or other bean flour AND 3/4 cup sticky rice flour AND 1/2 cup potato or tapioca starch OR 2 cups gluten free flour mix or wheat flour
1/4 cup tahini (whole tahini is more nutritious)  
1 1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 cup sunflower seeds or pumpkin seeds (optional)

Instructions:
1. Put 4 large carrots in a food processor and chop up with the blade. Alternatively, grate them on the small blade in a grater.

2. Mix with all the rest of the ingredients other than the seeds, until completely uniform.

3. Add in the seeds, mix well.

4. Put into lined or silicon muffin tins.

5. Bake at 350 for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

Enjoy!

What is your favorite, easy, nutritious breakfast for your family? Bonus points if it is gluten free and dairy free.
Does this look like a recipe you'll try?