Cherry Blueberry Bran Muffins

Hope you're not sick of cherry season yet, because I've got another cherry recipe to share with you today! After making my roasted cherry brownies, I still some more cherries to use up, so I thought they would be the perfect addition to some healthy breakfast muffins.

I'd had my eye on a recipe for blackberry bran muffins from the Straight From the Earth cookbook, so I used that recipe as my inspiration for these cherry blueberry muffins!

Besides using different fruits, I made a few other minor changes to the recipe, including the method of mixing the ingredients, and reducing the sugar a bit. I also added a touch of maple extract to add a bit more sweetness along with the fruit.

The bran was definitely the dominant flavour in these, so if you like bran muffins, you will love the flavour and texture of these muffins.

I liked how they tasted a bit nutty, they weren't too sweet, and they were just dense and hearty enough without being too filling. Of course, my favourite part was all the blueberries and cherries in every bite!

While bran muffins may not be the most popular muffin on the block, I ended up liking them a lot more than I was expecting to! And besides, if I'm going to eat a muffin for breakfast, I want it to still be somewhat nutritious, so I can feel good about eating one of these in the morning - my only complaint was that they were a little on the small side, but they still make a great addition to a smoothie or yogurt!

Cherry Blueberry Bran Muffins

Adapted from Straight From the Earth cookbook, as seen here

1 cup almond milk

1 tbsp vinegar or lemon juice

2 tbsp ground flax

1/4 cup warm water

2 cups wheat bran

1 1/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup rolled oats

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup melted coconut oil (can substitute another oil)

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tsp maple extract (optional)

1/2 cup chopped fresh cherries (pit removed)

1/2 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 350°F and spray a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray.

In a medium sized bowl, stir together the almond milk and vinegar and let sit for 5-10 minutes. In a separate small bowl, stir together the flax and water and let sit 5-10 minutes as well.

In a large bowl, whisk together the wheat bran, flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.

Add the sugar, applesauce, oil, and extracts to the almond milk mixture and stir well to dissolve the sugar. Add the flax mixture and stir again. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir gently just until the dry ingredients are incorporated. Fold in the cherries and blueberries.

Divide batter into muffin cups, then bake in the preheated oven for about 25-30 minutes, until the muffins feel firm on top and a toothpick inserted into the centers comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for at least 5 minutes before removing muffins and transferring them to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Makes 12 small muffins.

Green Spinach Banana Muffins for St. Patrick's Day

With St. Patrick's Day coming up in less than a week, I've been trying to think of something green and festive to make for it. I don't usually celebrate the holiday itself in any special way (I think I've only gone out to an Irish pub once), but I do like to wear green at least! 

We're also doing a green-themed potluck in our office, so it should be fun to see what everyone comes up with! Last year I made pasta salad with a green avocado yogurt sauce, and this year I'm thinking of cucumber rollups (like these), but we'll see!

Besides the potluck, I wanted to share something green on my blog too. I figured that if blended spinach can make a green smoothie, why not use it in another breakfast food - healthy muffins! 

It turns out I'm not the only one to try this idea, and this recipe for popeye muffins from The Green Forks looked perfect for adapting into my own version. By pureeing baby spinach with the wet ingredients, you end up with a pretty intense green batter (see below) that actually keeps its colour after baking. 

To make my muffins a bit more nutritious, I reduced the sugar in the original recipe from 3/4 cup down to just 1/4 cup, since the recipe also uses a ripe banana to add some natural sweetness, and I replaced the oil with applesauce to make them fat-free. I also used a mix of spelt and whole wheat flours, added a flax egg, and mixed in some cacao nibs for a bit of chocolately crunch (chocolate chips would work really well too!). 

I loved the texture of these muffins - fluffy and moist inside, and they had a nice mild taste with a hint of banana. And if you're worried about the spinach, I couldn't really taste it (although I did detect a slight spinach smell by the second day). 

These would make a fun treat for St. Patrick's Day, or a healthy snack any time!

Spinach Banana Muffins
Adapted from The Green Forks

1 tbsp flax + 3 tbsp water

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1 cup light spelt flour (or all purpose, or more whole wheat)

1/4 cup cane sugar (increase to 1/2 cup if you like a sweeter muffin)

2 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 (5-6 oz) container baby spinach

1/2 cup mashed ripe banana (1 large banana)

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce*

3/4 cup almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)

1.5 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp cacao nibs (can substitute desired amount of chocolate chips)

*Note: If you don't like the texture of fat-free baked goods, feel free to use oil instead of the applesauce. You can also make these less "healthy" tasting by increasing the sugar and adding chocolate chips!

Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare a 12-cup muffin tin by lining with paper cups and spraying with cooking spray.

In a small bowl, stir together the flax and water and let sit for at least five minutes to thicken.

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flours to salt). In a blender or food processor, add the spinach, banana, applesauce, milk, and vanilla and puree until smooth. Pour the spinach mixture into the dry ingredients and add the flax mixture. Stir gently just until all the dry ingredients are incorporated. Fold in the cacao nibs.

Divide batter evenly into the muffin cups, filling each one about 2/3 full. Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes, until the muffins feel firm on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let muffins sit in pan for a few minutes, then remove them from the pan and let cool on a wire rack.

Makes 12 small muffins.

Blueberry Breakfast Muffins with Quinoa

This past weekend, I did my first blueberry picking of the season (and actually, my first blueberry picking in years - I can't remember the last time I did that!).  Since the blueberries had just become ready, I was worried that they wouldn't be very good yet, but I was wrong!

They were perfectly sweet, and I had a hard time stopping myself from eating them right off the branches. Actually, the only thing that stopped me from staying and picking all the blueberries (besides how much it would cost) was the insane heat wave we've been having here in Southern Ontario these past few days, which has been keeping me from spending too much time outside lately.

But with this heat, I'm craving refreshing fruit all the time, so it's a good thing that blueberries, cherries, and raspberries are just coming into season here now!

Besides just eating them on their own, one of my favourite ways to eat blueberries is in muffins. I'm not a huge fan of blueberry desserts like pie or cobbler, but I love biting into muffins bursting with juicy blueberries.

I actually made these muffins before the local ones were available, but they still turned out so good that I wanted to share them now, so that you can go make them with those fresh local blueberries (although I know they're not in season for all of you right now)!

The recipe for these muffins was adapted from BitterSweet blog. I loved her idea of adding quinoa to make breakfast muffins even healthier and full of protein so that they can sustain you a bit longer.

As usual, I made some changes to the recipe to suit my own tastes, like adding lemon juice and zest instead of orange juice, reducing the sweetener, using pecans instead of walnuts, and adding some buckwheat flour for a deeper flavour.

I loved the texture of these muffins - they were dense and hearty, with some chewiness from the cooked quinoa and a bit of crunch from the pecans. They weren't very sweet either, which meant those bursts of juicy blueberries really stood out even more! 

The muffins didn't rise much in the oven so they turned out to be a bit on the small size, making them a good snack muffin or a pretty healthy breakfast along with some fruit or yogurt. 

I can't wait to try out more blueberry recipes before their season is over!

Blueberry Breakfast Muffins with Quinoa

Adapted from BitterSweet

1/4 cup dry quinoa + 1/2 cup water

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/4 cup buckwheat flour (can substitute with another flour)

1/4 cup rolled oats

1/2 tbsp ground flax

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1 tsp lemon zest

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1/2 cup blueberries

1 small ripe banana, mashed

1/4 cup almond milk

2 tbsp pure maple syrup (add 1-2 more tablespoons if you like a sweeter muffin)

2 tbsp fresh lemon juice

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Turbinado sugar (optional)

First, prepare the quinoa: Bring 1/2 cup water to a boil. Add the quinoa and cook on low heat, covered, for about 15 minutes. Remove from heat and let sit for 5 minutes, then remove lid and fluff with a fork. You should have about 1 cup cooked quinoa (it's okay if you have a little less).

Preheat oven to 375°F and prepare a muffin tin by spraying with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, oats, flax, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the lemon zest and pecans and whisk again. Gently stir in the blueberries.

In a separate bowl, mix the mashed banana, almond milk, maple syrup, lemon juice, and vanilla. Stir in the cooked quinoa.  Pour this wet mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients and gently mix with a rubber spatula just until all of the dry ingredients are incorporated.

Divide batter into prepared muffin tin, filling each cup almost full (mine filled 7 muffin cups). Sprinkle the tops with a bit of turbinado sugar if desired (this will make the tops crunchy). Place muffin pan in preheated oven and bake for 22-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean and muffins feel firm on top. Let sit in the pan for a few minutes before transfering the muffins to a wire rack to cool.

Makes 7 small muffins.

Coffee Banana Muffins

On a snowy, chilly day like today, nothing sounds better than sitting down with a warm mug of coffee and a freshly baked treat like banana bread. And with these muffins, you can have both coffee and banana bread combined into one!

I discovered my love for the combination of coffee + bananas a few years ago when I got into making my own smoothies. In the summertime when it was just too hot to fathom drinking a hot coffee in the morning, I started making cold coffee smoothies by blending up a frozen banana with milk and instant coffee.

I've been wanting to try this combination in baked form for a while, and now I can say that it lived up to my expectations!

I thought both the banana and coffee flavours came through pretty strongly in these muffins, and in perfect balance with each other. 

Besides those two ingredients, these muffins have a couple of other special additions that take them beyond regular banana bread. First, instead of using chocolate chips, I added raw cacao nibs for a bit of crunch and a hint of chocolate flavour, while still keeping them healthy enough to eat for breakfast.

Second, I replaced half of the flour with ground up cinnamon cereal.  This idea came from a muffin recipe I had seen on Diet, Dessert & Dogs, and I was curious to try it out for myself. I was a bit worried that the cereal would make the muffins too dry, but it seemed to do just the opposite - the muffins had such a nice texture and were super moist. 

I have to say, these are some of my favourite muffins that I've made lately - they're vegan and pretty healthy overall, but without tasting too healthy. I also think the recipe would work well turned into a loaf instead of muffins, so I'll have to give that a try the next time I have a bunch of ripe bananas to use up!

Vegan Coffee Banana Muffins
Inspired by Flavor in Spades and Diet, Dessert & Dogs

1/2 tbsp ground flax

3 tbsp water

2/3-1 cup flake cereal* 

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

2 medium ripe bananas, mashed

1/2 tbsp instant coffee mixed with 3 tbsp soy milk

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2 tbsp melted coconut oil

2 tbsp cacao nibs

*Note: A cinnamon flavoured cereal works well in this recipe. I would also recommend choosing a brand with low sugar, so that your muffins don’t end up too sweet. I used a homemade cinnamon flavoured cereal with very low sugar. 
Update: If you don't have cereal, I made this recipe again with 1/2 cup oat flour (from rolled oats that I ground myself) instead of the ground cereal and it worked well too!

Preheat oven to 350°F and prepare a muffin pan by spraying the muffin cups with cooking spray or lining with paper liners.

Mix the flax with the water and set aside to thicken for at least 5 minutes.

To make the ground cereal, start with about 2/3 cup to 1 cup of cereal (the amount you will need depends on the size of the flakes – use more with larger flakes and less with smaller flakes). Place the cereal in a blender or food processor and grind until it resembles a flour.

Place 1/2 cup of the ground cereal, along with the whole wheat flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl. Whisk to mix thoroughly.

In a separate bowl, mix the mashed bananas, coffee-milk mixture, maple syrup and vanilla. Add this wet mixture to the dry ingredients and give it a stir. Add the flax mixture and the melted coconut oil. Use a spatula or a wooden spoon to mix all the ingredients gently, just until the dry ingredients are incorporated. Fold in the cacao nibs.

Divide batter evenly into six prepared muffin cups. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, until the tops feel firm and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (mine took about 28 minutes).

Remove muffins from pan and let cool on a wire rack.

Makes 6 muffins.

This was submitted to Wellness Weekend at Diet, Dessert & Dogs.

Chai-Spiced Pear and Walnut Muffins

When September arrived, I started to get really excited for apple season.   I love baking with apples because they always make the whole house smell amazing and they pair so well with warm spices that I crave in the Fall season.

Unfortunately, the apple season didn't go so well in Ontario this year, as 85% of the crop was destroyed by frosts. So with local apples not readily available - and high prices on the ones that are available - I've decided that I'll have to change focus this year and start eating more pears instead!

I picked up a basket of red pears at the market the other weekend and since they were already quite ripe, I knew that I'd be cutting most of them up and using them in recipes rather than eating them whole.

First up on my list of pear recipes - muffins!

I've always loved the combination of pears with ginger, so I took that idea for my muffins but added some more spices and instant chai mix to incorporate the flavour of one of my favourite cold weather drinks: chai.

I based my muffins off a recipe for vegan peach pecan muffins and changed some things around to turn them into pear-walnut-chai muffins. These muffins are made with a mix of whole wheat and spelt flours, and lightly sweetened with pure maple syrup.  I also reduced the oil a bit and added more applesauce, so overall they're pretty healthy!

I thought these had the perfect balance of warm Fall spices, and I loved the addition of crunchy walnuts and juicy pears to make them a bit more interesting!   They also rose up beautifully in the oven and came out so light and fluffy - a nice change from the usual muffins I make, which tend to be dense and hearty.

I hope you guys like pears too because I'll have another pear recipe coming up soon!

Chai-Spiced Pear and Walnut Muffins
Adapted from a recipe in Ripe From Around Here

1 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup light spelt flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp salt

Pinch each of cloves and cardamom

1/2 cup almond milk

1 tbsp powdered instant chai mix (optional - for more chai flavour)

1/4 cup + 2 tbsp unsweetened applesauce (I used cinnamon flavoured)

2 tbsp canola oil

3 tbsp pure maple syrup (if you like sweeter muffins, add 1-2 more tablespoons)

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

2.5 tbsp chopped walnuts

3/4 cup peeled diced pear

Preheat oven to 375°F and prepare a muffin tin by spraying with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together all the dry ingredients (flours through to cloves and cardamom).

Pour the almond milk in a small bowl and stir in the instant chai mix until it dissolves.  Add the applesauce, canola oil, maple syrup and vanilla and stir to mix.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir just until the dry ingredients are incorporated (some lumps are okay).  Fold in the walnuts and the diced pear.

Spoon batter into prepared pan, dividing equally among six muffin cups.  Bake in the preheated oven for 24-25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Let sit in the pan for a few minutes, then carefully remove and transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling.

Makes 6 muffins.

Rhubarb Loaf with Strawberry Jam Swirl

With Mother's Day approaching this weekend, I wanted to bake something special in honour of my Mom, and since she reads my blog, I figured I could share it with her both in person and online!

When I think back to my childhood and the treats that my Mom would bake for us, one thing that stands out in my mind is rhubarb.  My parents grow a small rhubarb patch in their backyard, which has been there for as long as I can remember.  I used to love being assigned the "job" of going out to pick the rhubarb for something my Mom planned to make, and my sisters and I would even eat pieces of it raw, our faces puckering from the sourness.

My Mom's specialty was (and still is) her delicious strawberry-rhubarb sour cream pie - every year I look forward to that limited time during the summer when rhubarb and strawberries are both in season because I know I'll get to taste that pie soon!  She would also bake the rhubarb into hot fruit crisps and delicious muffins. I used to love the days when there would be a fresh batch of rhubarb muffins sitting on the countertop for us to eat as snacks!

So it didn't take long for me to decide that my Mother's Day treat this year would be something with rhubarb! I was able to find some at the market last weekend, and I spent the afternoon baking.  I decided to make mini loaves with the rhubarb because they make such an adorable and perfect sized gift.  Plus I could get two loaves from the batter - one for me to eat right away, and one to save in the freezer to bring to Mom this weekend!

I found a recipe for vegan strawberry-rhubarb muffins on the Kitchn, so I used that as a guide but turned it into mini loaves.  Some of the other changes I made were using coconut oil instead of canola oil, adding some oat flour to the dry ingredients and I changed the spices by replacing the cardamom with cinnamon and adding some ground ginger because I love the combination of rhubarb and ginger.

I also left out the strawberries but I still liked the idea of combining the rhubarb with strawberries, so I added a swirl of strawberry-rhubarb jam to the batter instead.  Finally, I created my own topping for the loaf by mixing oats, cinnamon, cane sugar and sliced almonds with a bit of Earth Balance Coconut Spread to make a delicious crumble.

I divided the batter up and started by filling one mini loaf tin. When that was done, I made one more mini loaf and had enough batter leftover for four large muffins too. As the loaves and muffins were baking, my whole apartment started to fill up with that amazing smell that I remember from my kitchen growing up, so I knew I was off to a good start!

After tasting them, I have to say these muffins and loaf may be one of my favourite baked goods I've ever made!  They were perfectly soft and fluffy and had such a nice sweet flavour with notes of the warm spices.  The rhubarb baked down into gooey pockets mixed with the swirl of jam, and I loved the light and crunchy almond crumble on top (although some of the almonds did fall off as I was eating, so make sure you have a plate!)

So if you're looking for an idea for something special to treat your mom this weekend, I think she would love this rhubarb loaf!  Or even if you just want a treat for yourself or you need ideas for using up your rhubarb, give this recipe a try - you could use it to make muffins, mini loaves or even a regular sized loaf - just adjust the cooking time accordingly.

Happy Mothers Day!

Vegan Rhubarb Loaf with Strawberry Jam Swirl
Adapted from Vegan Desserts: Sumptuous Sweets for Every Season, as seen on the Kitchn

1 cup almond milk

1 tsp vinegar (I used coconut vinegar)

1.5 cups whole wheat flour

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup oat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground ginger

1/2 tsp salt

1.5 cups diced rhubarb

1/2 cup organic cane sugar (or brown sugar)

1/4 cup melted coconut oil

1 tsp vanilla extract

~ 1/4 cup strawberry or strawberry-rhubarb jam

Topping:

1/4 cup rolled oats

2 tbsp cane sugar

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp Earth Balance (I used the Earth Balance Coconut Spread)

2 tbsp sliced almonds

Preheat oven to 400°.  Spray a muffin tin and/or mini loaf pans with cooking spray.

Mix the almond milk with the vinegar in a small bowl and let sit for 5-10 minutes.

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flours through to salt). Add the diced rhubarb and stir until the rhubarb is fully coated.

Add the sugar, coconut oil and vanilla to the bowl with the almond milk and vinegar. Stir to combine. (Note: If your almond milk is still cold, it may cause the coconut oil to harden.  If this happens, place the mixture in the microwave and microwave in 30 second intervals until the coconut oil is melted again).

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir just until the dry ingredients are incorporated.

In a separate bowl, combine the oats, sugar and cinnamon for the topping. Add the Earth Balance and mix in using a fork, until it is broken down and the oats are moist and crumbly.  Stir in the almonds.

Pour the batter into your prepared pans – I filled two mini loaf pans and 4 muffin cups.  Fill each pan/muffin cup only halfway at first, then add a spoonful of jam – about 1 tbsp per mini loaf pan or about 1 tsp per muffin cup. Add the remaining batter on top, then swirl with a toothpick to distribute the jam.  Sprinkle the topping mixture on top of the batter and press in gently with your hands to help it stick.

Bake in the preheated oven for 20-25 minutes for muffins, or 25-30 minutes for mini loaves (I didn't test a large sized loaf but it would probably need around 45-55 minutes).

Remove from oven and let cool in the pan on a wire rack for 5-10 minutes.  Remove from pan and let cool completely on wire rack.

Makes 2 mini loaves and 4 large muffins, OR 12 muffins, OR 3-4 mini loaves

Morning Glory Muffins

I hope you're not sick of seeing beet recipes on my blog yet, because I've got another one for you today!

I've always thought that beets and carrots make a good combination, and I figured if carrots can be added to baked goods like loaves and muffins, then why not beets?  So I set out to create a hearty muffin full of fruits, veggies and other healthy ingredients.  There were too many different ingredients in these muffins to come up with a concise name, so I'm just calling them morning glory muffins (although I'm not exactly sure what qualifies muffins as morning glory)!

I was worried that these muffins would turn out to be a disaster, and I still wasn't sure about them when I took a bite after taking them out of the oven....but I guess they just needed some more time to sit and cool because I loved them once I tried one the next morning!

The beets gave the muffins a pinkish tint, but their taste didn't overpower the rest of the ingredients. I really liked the combination of beets, carrots and apple, and I loved how every bite was full of different textures.

The ingredients list may look long, but you can customize these based on what you have on hand....for example, if you don't like beets just substitute more carrots, and if you're not a fan of raisins then you can leave them out too.

My only complaint about these muffins is that they didn't rise much in the oven, so they were a bit flat.  These are definitely not the light, sweet cakey type of muffin, but if you like a more dense, hearty muffin then these are for you!

Morning Glory Muffins
Inspired by various recipes like these muffins from Sweet Savory Planet

1/2 cup spelt flour

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground ginger

2 tbsp brown sugar

1/2 cup rolled oats

1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut

1 tbsp golden flax seeds (optional)

1 tbsp wheat bran or wheat germ (optional)

2 tbsp raisins

2 tbsp chopped walnuts

1/2 cup grated carrot

1/2 cup grated beet

1/2 a small apple, finely diced

1/2 a ripe banana

1.5 tbsp melted coconut oil

2 tbsp unsweetened almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)

2 tbsp orange juice

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp ground flax

Preheat the oven to 375° and prepare a muffin pan with paper liners.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices in a large bowl. Add the brown sguar, oats, coconut, flax seeds, wheat bran, raisins and walnuts and stir to combine. Next, add the shredded carrot, beet and apple to the bowl and stir until they are coated with the dry ingredients.

In a separate small bowl, mash the banana. Add all the remaining ingredients and stir well to mix.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until all the dry ingredients are incorporated.

Divide the batter into the muffin cups, filling each one about three-quarters of the way full. Bake for 23-26 minutes, until the muffins are set and a toothpick comes out clean.

Cool completely on a wire rack.

Makes 8 small muffins.

Gingerbread Quinoa Muffins with Pecan Streusel

Before I get to today's post, I have a new update to share with you - I finally set up a Facebook page for my blog! There's not much on there yet, but make sure you like the page to get all of my updates!

So far this holiday season, I've been on a bit of an eggnog kick...first I made these soy nog chai scones, and then vegan eggnog soft serve.  But I've also been baking with one of my other favourite holiday flavours - gingerbread. I've already posted a recipe for apple ginger cookies, and now I'm excited to share these gingerbread muffins!

When I saw these Gingerbread Millet Muffins on the blog Sunday Morning Banana Pancakes, I wanted to make them myself as soon as I could! They basically had everything that I look for in a muffin - a soft and puffy top, warm spices, whole grains and other healthy ingredients.

Since I didn't have any millet, I decided to try using quinoa instead, and it worked out perfectly! The quinoa gives the muffins a nice texture with a bit of crunch, and I loved the spicy flavour from the ginger and other spices (plus they will make your house smell so nice and Christmassy when they are in the oven!)

I also wanted to add some nuts to the muffins, so I chopped up some pecans and mixed them with sugar and cinnamon to make a streusel topping. The tops of my muffins did sink in a bit where the nuts were, but I still thought the topping made the muffins extra special!

Gingerbread Quinoa Muffins
Adapted from Sunday Morning Banana Pancakes

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 ¼ cups spelt flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/3 cup dry quinoa

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/8 tsp cloves

1/8 tsp nutmeg

1/2 cup plain yogurt (can substitute soy yogurt)

1/3 cup molasses

1/2 cup sugar (I used cane sugar)

1/4 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup chopped pecans

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tbsp brown sugar

Preheat the oven to 350° and prepare your muffin tin by coating with baking spray or lining with paper liners.

Whisk together the dry ingredients (flour through to nutmeg) in a large bowl.  In a separate bowl, mix together the yogurt, molasses, sugar and vegetable oil.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients, mixing just until the dry ingredients are incorporated.

Pour the batter into your muffin tin, filling the cups about 2/3 of the way full. 

Mix together the pecans, cinnamon and brown sugar. Sprinkle the mixture over the tops of the muffins (you might not need it all).

Bake for about 15-18 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the muffins comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Makes 12 muffins.

Sweet Potato, Coconut & Ginger Muffins

I seem to have developed a bit of an obsession with sweet potatoes this Fall. So far I've enjoyed them in an appetizer, soup, salad, bread, and dessert, not to mention the many times I've just eaten them mashed and spread on toast (mmm!)  And I'm still not done with sweet potato recipes yet!

One of the new ways I've used sweet potatoes this Fall was in these muffins, which I adapted from a recipe for Sweet Potato Cranberry Coconut Muffins.

This was a hearty muffin full of Fall flavours. The sweet potato gave them a nice orange colour, and I liked the crunch of walnuts throughout and the coconut sprinkled on top. I also added some fresh ginger to give them a spicy kick. I thought the ginger taste was pretty strong (which I liked), but feel free to reduce the amount of ginger for a less spicy muffin.

These are a fairly healthy, low-fat breakfast or snack, perfect for the cooler weather!  And stay tuned for another dinner recipe using sweet potatoes soon!

Sweet Potato, Coconut & Ginger Muffins
Adapted from fANNEtastic food

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 tbsp unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 tbsp pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup mashed cooked sweet potato
2 tbsp greek yogurt (plain or vanilla flavour; or substitute soy yogurt for a vegan option)
2 tbsp applesauce
1/4 cup coconut milk beverage (from the carton)
1 tbsp ground flax
1/2 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
additional shredded coconut for topping

Preheat oven to 350° and prepare a muffin pan by spraying with cooking spray or inserting paper liners.

Whisk all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl (flour through to baking soda).

Mix the wet ingredients (sweet potato through to ginger) in a separate bowl until completely smooth.

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently stir until the dry ingredients are just incorporated. Fold in the chopped walnuts.

Pour batter into prepared muffin tin, filling the cups about 3/4 full. Sprinkle additional coconut on top of muffins, pressing gently to make sure it sticks.

Bake for 23-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Makes 6 muffins (the recipe can easily be doubled to make 12 muffins).

Banana Blueberry Mango Muffins

I tend to be finicky about blueberries - I don't particularly like eating them on their own, but I will put them in my yogurt ... blueberry pies don't appeal to me, but I do like them in other baked goods.  Blueberry muffins are one baked good that are definitely on my "like" list! Especially when they're combined with other fruits like bananas and mangoes!

The idea for these muffins came from a recipe for blueberry flax muffins from the blog Cupcakes and Kale. The recipe was full of healthy ingredients, and I was especially intrigued by the rye flour - I love the taste of it in bread, but had never thought to put it in muffins before.

Since I wanted to make them into banana-blueberry muffins, I used mashed bananas instead of the applesauce. I also decided to add diced mangoes to make them extra fruit-filled! I was a little worried when I cut one of the muffins open that I had gone overboard with the amount of fruit - as you can see, this one was completely blue inside:

But once I gave them more time to cool, I really liked them! These muffins had a lot going on - with the coconut topping, the subtle banana flavour throughout, and the juicy burst of actual fruit pieces in every bite.  I will definitely try to use rye flour in my baking more often too - I loved the colour and the sweet, nutty taste that it gave the muffins.

These are also vegan and contain no added fats (other than the coconut on top, which you can leave off if you prefer) - so you can feel good about eating them for breakfast, or any other time of the day!

Vegan Banana Blueberry Mango Muffins

Heavily adapted from Cupcakes and Kale

3/4 cup all purpose flour

1/4 cup rye flour

2 tbsp wheat bran or oat bran

2.5 tbsp ground flax

1/4 cup brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 cup + 1 tbsp mashed banana

3/4 cup almond milk (or other non-dairy milk)

3/4 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup blueberries

1/2 cup diced mango

unsweetened shredded coconut for topping

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and prepare a muffin pan by spraying with cooking spray.

In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour through to salt).

In a separate bowl, mix together the mashed banana, almond milk and vanilla. 

Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix just until the dry ingredients are incorporated. Fold in the blueberries and mango. 

Spoon the batter into your muffin pan and sprinkle the coconut on top, pressing in gently to make sure it sticks. 

Bake in the preheated oven for 22-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean (Note: it might be hard to test when they are done because of all the fruit inside, so try to find a dry spot in the muffins to insert your toothpick tester).

Makes about 9 muffins.

Recipe Round-Up: Vegan Treats from Other Blogs

When I see a recipe that I like in a cookbook or on a blog, I will usually try to adapt it in some way to make it more of my own. But sometimes, a recipe looks perfect just the way it is.  I find that this is most often the case with baking and dessert recipes - any changes you make will likely affect the way something turns out, and not necessarily in a good way!

So in the spirit of honouring original recipes, I thought I would dedicate a post to recipes from other blogs that I have made recently and loved.

And to narrow down the list a bit, I'll focus on vegan treats - cookies, cupcakes, and other bite sized goodies!

Enjoy!

Note: All photos below are my own - just click on the links to see the original post and recipes!

1) Funfetti Cookies from Chocolate Covered Katie

This may be the first time I have ever baked anything with sprinkles, and I have to say, I loved them! Not only were they adorable, but they were so tasty too! I liked the texture - nice and soft, almost like raw dough balls. I intended to make these for kids, but I still ate more than my share myself!


2) Raw Macaroons from Sketch-Free Vegan Eating

I love coconut and these were definitely full of it! I made both the chocolate and vanilla versions for my family, but I liked these vanilla ones better.


3) Chickpea Coconut Blondies from Forgiving Martha

I love the idea of baking with beans - I've posted my version of chickpea granola bars, but before those I made these chickpea blondies with coconut - they were so good!


4) Cappuccino Muffins from Of Cookies and Carrots

These tasted like a decadent treat, even though they were actually very healthy! I used cappuccino-flavoured soy milk to bring out the coffee flavour even more.


5) Carrot Cake Cookies from Oh She Glows

These bite sized cookies tasted like a much healthier version of carrot cake, without the frosting. They made a great snack or dessert!


6) Single Lady Strawberry Cupcake from Chocolate Covered Katie

I made these a couple of times during fresh strawberry season - it was so easy to whip up a sweet treat for myself for breakfast, without needing to make a whole batch of muffins.


7) Carnival Cookies from Super Natural Every Day

These cookies from Heidi Swanson's latest cookbook were highly recommended to me by my sister, so I had to try them myself. She was right, they were so tasty and full of goodies - peanuts, chocolate chips and even popcorn! The people I shared them with raved about them too.


8) Chocolate Chip Banana Oat Cake from Oh She Glows

I can't tell you how much I absolutely loved this breakfast cake. The best part was that it includes actual banana chunks instead of pureed bananas. I also highly recommend the peanut butter-banana glaze on top - I don't know why I had never thought of it before!


9) Besan Laddoos from Hobby and More

I haven't had much success so far in my attempts to make Indian sweets at home. I came closer with these sweet laddoos full of chopped cashews and raisins, but I still made some mistakes like almost burning my flour mixture and not adding enough liquid to keep them from drying out. I still enjoyed them though!


10) Frosty No-Bake Glo Cakes from Oh She Glows

These frozen granola treats were great during the summer. I enjoyed them straight from the freezer, crumbled over frozen yogurt, and also softened up a bit to room temperature. I followed the advice at the end of the post and left out the chocolate chips.