How lucky are we that we get to live in such a beautiful place, and also have such easy access to fresh local food!

Have you ever wondered why it’s important to buy local food? Local food seems to be becoming more of a trend, with more and more people seeking out fresh, local options for produce and other goods. Even restaurants are sourcing locally grown ingredients, often using the term 'farm to table”.

But how big of an impact does eating local food really have on your health and the planet? Before I share my Peaches and Cream Streusel Muffin recipe, I’m about to give you a mini run down!

For the past couple years I have been trying to source local ingredients as much as possible! The easiest and most frequent way I do is by buying fruits and veggies in season at the Farmers market. First of all, it’s so much more healthy because the produce hasn’t been processed or transported long distances, so the vitamins and nutrients haven’t had as much time to break down.

It also supports the local farmers and growers because your money goes directly to them and encourages a much more sustainable way of eating. Providing out of season fruits and veggies all year round is hard to maintain and can cause harm to the environment.

It is also SO much better for the environment. Shipping foods across large distances can cause environmental damage by using a ton of energy to refrigerate them. Fewer chemicals are also needed to fertilize in-season fruit and veggies!

Buying in season will also save you money! A lot of the time farmers market prices will be lower in cost because there is an increased supply of in-season fruits and vegetables which drives the price down!

And of course, in-season produce is always fresher and tastes WAY better!! As much as I love fresh cherries, apricots, and pears… peaches will always be my favourite fresh fruit in the Okanagan. I LOVE making summer peach tarts, peach crisp, peach sorbet, etc. This week I used some fresh peaches to whip up these Peaches and Cream Streusel Muffins.

They’re gluten-free, because everyone and their mom is intolerant to gluten nowadays (including myself), so the majority of all my cooking and baking is gluten-free. They’re honestly so healthy and delicious that I’ve been eating them for breakfast with my morning coffee.

If you wanted to get real crazy you could even serve one up with a side of vanilla ice cream for dessert. It feels good to offer wholesome, real food treats with FRESH ingredients that everyone can enjoy. Hope you enjoy them!

RECIPE:

Ingredients:

For the streusel:

1/2 cup almond flour

1/4 cup sweetener (I used Lakanto Golden)

1/8 cup coconut oil, solid and chilled

For the muffins:

1 cup gluten-free oat flour (you can simply blend oats in a food processor or blender until fine)

1/2 cup almond flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup plain greek yogurt

2 eggs

1/4 cup maple syrup

2 tbsp melted coconut oil

1 cup peaches, cut into cubes

For the cream cheese icing:

1/4 cup cream cheese

1/8 cup powdered collagen or vanilla protein powder of your choice

1/8 cup powdered sweetener (I used Lakanto but you can sub this for icing sugar)

2-3 tbsp almond milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°F.
Using a fork or potato masher, combine all the ingredients for the streusel together and mix until a crumbly mixture forms. Refrigerate until ready to use.
To prepare the muffins, mix together the oat flour, almond flour, baking soda, baking powder and cinnamon.
In a separate bowl, mix together all the wet ingredients (do not add the peaches yet).
Combine the dry and wet ingredients and fold in peaches.
Line a muffin tin with 8 liners and fill cups approximately 3/4 of the way full.
Top each muffin generously with the chilled streusel.
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted near the centre of one of the muffins comes out clean.
Cool for 15 minutes then drizzle the cream cheese icing over the muffins and ENJOY!

xo, Bailey