Pandemic baking is not slowing down anytime soon, which is why it was high time for these Grain Free Rocky Road Muffins to hit the oven rack. 

We are 5 days away from May. May, when swimming pools reopen, when school lets out for Summer, and when I start getting excited for our vacation to the beach. TYPICALLY. This year looks much different than usual and instead of wrapping up the school year, I’m homeschooling (like many of you are) and building my redneck riviera in the backyard. I started this process in early March, when I saw the writing on the wall and suspected we might be spending lots of extra time as a family this Summer. And boy was that accurate. LOTS of togetherness. So much of it. 

I have to be honest though; slowing down has actually been a gift. I hate the fact that there is a crisis in this country, that lives have been lost, and that the suffering seems endless for so many. But alongside those feelings of deep sorrow, I have also been grateful for the reset. I, like so many Americans, was spending 7 days a week hustling between work, school, and running children to a variety of extracurricular experiences. It was so much and I was drowning. 

These days, I do feel the overwhelm, but in different ways. Less mania, less running myself into walls, and more rest. More baking. More time to breathe and more time sitting outside in my new egg swing listening to the birds. It shouldn’t have taken a worldwide crisis, but here we are. I’m counting the blessings and mourning for others simultaneously. It’s a strange place to be and so sometimes in between reading articles and friends’ experiences with illness and loss, the only thing I know how to do to channel all my big emotions is to bake muffins. And so here we are. 

Grain Free Rocky Road Muffins

Print Recipe

• Author: Jennifer Robins

Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 1 bag Legit Bread Company Pancake Mix
• 6 eggs
• 2 cups water
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 6 tablespoons avocado or olive oil
• 1 cup chopped pecans
• 1 cup chocolate chips
• 1 cup mini marshmallows
• 1/4 cup cocoa powder

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Combine pancake mix and eggs, water, acv, oil, and cocoa powder
3. Mix well and then add in the chocolate chips, pecans, and mini marshmallows
4. Spoon batter into a muffin cup lined muffin tin (will make more than a dozen muffins)
5. Top with a few extra nuts, chocolate chips, and marshmallows
6. Bake for 20 minutes and then carefully remove from oven, allowing muffins to cool before serving