Muffins. Sweet...check. Soft...check. Moist...check. Nutritious...check. Vegan and...tasty? Check.
Have you ever tried finding that perfect muffin recipe that would satisfy your taste buds and satisfy your cravings while still being good for you? I mean you could always buy something labeled healthy and eat so much it that you make yourself sick...or fat...or both.
I am a baker by heart and enjoy playing around with recipes and researching foods to help me create something that I and hopefully others will be content to eat (if not just outright beg me to recreate over and over again and even ask if they can pay me for making more of whatever. Well if that's not an ego booster, then I don't know what is. ;))
I don't know if you've ever tried those cookbooks that couples tend to get for their bridal showers or their wedding gifts that say their recipes are tested in test kitchens and approved for publishing. You'd think that would mean that they tasted them too and knew that they actually tasted good before publishing. (I personally don't think that's the case.) I tried a recipe from one of these cookbooks and have to say that I had tasted better from classmates in my 7th grade Home Economics class. Needless to say, it caused me to delve a little deeper into what made a really good muffin. What I got from the cookbook was dry and tasteless (not unlike cardboard - unless you like the taste of cardboard).
Since that first moment of finally figuring out what made a really good muffin, though, life sent a few bends in the road (mainly hubby's heart attack and my problem with dairy protein which was thankfully eliminated about three years ago but now a corn intolerance has since taken its place) which caused me to rethink how I baked. I then had to eliminate all dairy products and lower the fat content while making them full of fiber and still taste great. It wasn't easy at first and have even dabbled a bit in the gluten free realm as well as corn free (oh the things we have had to deal with). ;)
So here is my current regular vegan recipe for the Banana Double Chocolate Chip Muffins. (BTW, did I say that I really like those jumbo sized muffins? If you don't, then just put less batter in your muffin tins.)
Preheat oven to 360 F (No this isn't a typo. I really meant 360 degrees)
Ingredients: In a blender (yes I did say a blender) place these items in order listed:
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 C flax seeds, whole, raw (I like the brown organic ones)
1/4 C cocoa powder (I use either Hershey or the Trader Joe's brand)
1 C Sucanat or Turbinado sugar
4-5 medium to large bananas, peeled (do I really need to say that?) (I prefer to use organic)
1 C soy milk (I use Trader Joe's unsweetened, plain, refrigerated soymilk but you can use whatever you like for this including water)
Blend everything together and then add while the blender is running:
2/3 C sunflower oil (you can use whatever mildly flavored oil you like. I get mine from Trader Joe's)
Now in a large mixing bowl, pour the blender mixture and add:
3 C whole wheat flour of your choice (I use Trader Joe's whole wheat flour)*
2 1/2 tsp baking soda put through a fine mesh sieve (to eliminate chunks - so NOT tasty)
3/4 to 1 C dairy free chocolate chips (Trader Joe's chocolate chips {the chocolate chunks are not dairy free})
Distilled water if needed to make the batter more of a thick cake batter. (you can always use whatever form of "milk" if you don't want to use water)
Stir everything together either with a spoon or a whisk. Then distribute evenly into 12 lined muffin tins (helps to save in cleanup later if you use muffin liners but do whatever you like). They will be heaping mounds by the time you're finished and that's what you want to make them into the jumbo muffins. then bake them for 25 minutes or until centers come back up after gently pushing on them.
Cool muffin tray on rack and allow to fully cool before eating them. (The temperature of the muffins does effect the flavor of the muffins.) Enjoy!
*If you want to make this gluten free, then you can change out the whole wheat flour to:
1 C sweet sorghum flour
1 C Brown Rice flour (not sweet)
1/2 C Potato Starch
1/2 C Tapioca Flour
Have you ever tried finding that perfect muffin recipe that would satisfy your taste buds and satisfy your cravings while still being good for you? I mean you could always buy something labeled healthy and eat so much it that you make yourself sick...or fat...or both.
I am a baker by heart and enjoy playing around with recipes and researching foods to help me create something that I and hopefully others will be content to eat (if not just outright beg me to recreate over and over again and even ask if they can pay me for making more of whatever. Well if that's not an ego booster, then I don't know what is. ;))
I don't know if you've ever tried those cookbooks that couples tend to get for their bridal showers or their wedding gifts that say their recipes are tested in test kitchens and approved for publishing. You'd think that would mean that they tasted them too and knew that they actually tasted good before publishing. (I personally don't think that's the case.) I tried a recipe from one of these cookbooks and have to say that I had tasted better from classmates in my 7th grade Home Economics class. Needless to say, it caused me to delve a little deeper into what made a really good muffin. What I got from the cookbook was dry and tasteless (not unlike cardboard - unless you like the taste of cardboard).
Since that first moment of finally figuring out what made a really good muffin, though, life sent a few bends in the road (mainly hubby's heart attack and my problem with dairy protein which was thankfully eliminated about three years ago but now a corn intolerance has since taken its place) which caused me to rethink how I baked. I then had to eliminate all dairy products and lower the fat content while making them full of fiber and still taste great. It wasn't easy at first and have even dabbled a bit in the gluten free realm as well as corn free (oh the things we have had to deal with). ;)
So here is my current regular vegan recipe for the Banana Double Chocolate Chip Muffins. (BTW, did I say that I really like those jumbo sized muffins? If you don't, then just put less batter in your muffin tins.)
Banana Double Chocolate Chip Muffins
Preheat oven to 360 F (No this isn't a typo. I really meant 360 degrees)
Ingredients: In a blender (yes I did say a blender) place these items in order listed:
1 1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 C flax seeds, whole, raw (I like the brown organic ones)
1/4 C cocoa powder (I use either Hershey or the Trader Joe's brand)
1 C Sucanat or Turbinado sugar
4-5 medium to large bananas, peeled (do I really need to say that?) (I prefer to use organic)
1 C soy milk (I use Trader Joe's unsweetened, plain, refrigerated soymilk but you can use whatever you like for this including water)
Blend everything together and then add while the blender is running:
2/3 C sunflower oil (you can use whatever mildly flavored oil you like. I get mine from Trader Joe's)
Now in a large mixing bowl, pour the blender mixture and add:
3 C whole wheat flour of your choice (I use Trader Joe's whole wheat flour)*
2 1/2 tsp baking soda put through a fine mesh sieve (to eliminate chunks - so NOT tasty)
3/4 to 1 C dairy free chocolate chips (Trader Joe's chocolate chips {the chocolate chunks are not dairy free})
Distilled water if needed to make the batter more of a thick cake batter. (you can always use whatever form of "milk" if you don't want to use water)
Stir everything together either with a spoon or a whisk. Then distribute evenly into 12 lined muffin tins (helps to save in cleanup later if you use muffin liners but do whatever you like). They will be heaping mounds by the time you're finished and that's what you want to make them into the jumbo muffins. then bake them for 25 minutes or until centers come back up after gently pushing on them.
Cool muffin tray on rack and allow to fully cool before eating them. (The temperature of the muffins does effect the flavor of the muffins.) Enjoy!
*If you want to make this gluten free, then you can change out the whole wheat flour to:
1 C sweet sorghum flour
1 C Brown Rice flour (not sweet)
1/2 C Potato Starch
1/2 C Tapioca Flour
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