November 3, 2015

Banana-Pecan Muffins


I hope everyone had a fabulous Halloween! We tried the "Switch Witch" thing for the first time this year. My daughter was able to go out and trick-or-treat like everyone else, but at the end of the night she left her candy out for Switch Witch, who swooped in while she was sleeping, took her garbage candy ("to feed to her naughty cat") and left, in it's place, good quality candy that I don't have to worry about her eating. No dyes, no preservatives, etc. It worked like a charm and my kiddo didn't have to feel left out of the Halloween festivities! The junk candy went to work with my husband who left it out in the breakroom for his co-workers. 

The morning after Halloween I made these fantastic muffins because I wanted to use the tons of pecans falling from the tree in my front yard right now! I seriously have three buckets full of pecans and at least three or four dozen more pecans fall from the tree every day. I love pecans, so I'm in heaven! I can't wait to make pies. If you don't have pecans, or they are too expensive, any nut will do. Or you can replace the nuts in the streusel topping with oatmeal, which is super cheap. Feel free to be creative!

Also, my daughter (who is a really picky eater) absolutely LOVED these! She ate two for breakfast, then came home after school and ate four more. If you have kids, you might want to make a double batch.

1 1/2 cups non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened almond)
2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
2 2/3 cups flour (I used white whole-wheat)
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/3 cup vegan butter, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar (organic preferred)
1/4 cup vegan yogurt (I used unsweetened coconut yogurt)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large overripe bananas, mashed
1 cup pecan pieces
1/2 cup brown sugar (organic preferred)
  • Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease a 12-muffin tin or place paper liners in it.
  • In a small bowl, whisk the milk and vinegar together and set aside to allow it to curdle.
  • Beat butter and sugar together until light and fluffy, about two minutes or so. 
  • Add yogurt, milk and vinegar mixture, and vanilla. Mix well. 
  • Add bananas and mix again.
  • On top of your soft mix, dump the dry ingredients. Flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Then stir with a spoon or beat gently until well-incorporated, but take care not to overmix or your muffins will be tough.
  • Spoon the batter into your muffin tin, filling each cup almost to the top. I did two scoops into each cup with a large cookie scoop, and that worked perfectly. 
  • In a separate bowl, mix your nuts or oats with the brown sugar and spoon it onto the tops of your muffins. 
  • Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.
  • Enjoy!