Banana Walnut (or Choc Chip) Muffins

I'm sorry I haven't posted in a while, but I've started homeschooling my kiddo  and that is keeping me very busy! Gone are the days of solitude where I can clean house for a while and then cook and blog while the washer is running. But, that's okay, I love homeschooling and so does my daughter! But I'll still post when I can. In the meantime, I picked up a new-to-me cookbook called The 30-Day Vegan Challenge by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau (whose podcast, Joyful Vegan, is fantastic!) and I'm so excited about it that I wanted to share the first recipe I made from the book.

My daughter is 8-years-old and is obstinate about vegan food. Sorry, "vegangelicals," but she is very adamant that she does not want to eat vegan food and while I frequently encourage her to try it, I do not force her to eat only vegan. But, I am a sneaky redhead, so here's what I've been doing - I've been making vegan recipes and not telling her they're vegan and keeping tabs on the ones she really likes. So far, I've only been able to trick her with my three-bean chili. I use the Trader Joe's vegan ground beef substitute and she honestly hasn't noticed that it's not beef. Now, the reason I'm so excited about Ms. Patrick-Goudreau's cookbook is because it has lots of yummy-looking "kid food" in it, like mac and cheese, chocolate cake, and quesadillas, and when I showed my daughter the photos in the book she said, "Mmmm, that looks good! Get this cookbook." I never told her it was a vegan cookbook. I'll keep you posted on how she responds to the recipes.

This is the recipe for Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins, but I didn't have any chocolate chips, so I subbed chopped walnuts instead.

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour or unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup canola oil
4 ripe bananas, mashed
1/4 cup water
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips (or chopped walnuts)

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• In a medium-sized bowl, mix together flour, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
• In a large bowl or stand-mixer, beat oil and sugar together. 
• Add mashed bananas and mix.
• Add water and vanilla. Mix again.
• Use a spoon to gently stir the flour mixture into the wet mixture.
• Fold in chocolate chips or walnuts.
• Fill each muffin tin halfway with batter. (With the use of the Reusable Silicone Baking Cup Liners, I was able to get 20 muffins out of this batch.)
• Bake for 20 - 30 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in a center muffin comes out clean.
• Enjoy!

Dreena's Best Banana Muffins

Almost four full years ago, I posted what I still consider to be the best vegan chocolate chip cookie recipe any of us will ever try. That recipe was the invention of Dreena Burton, and it's so wonderfully simple and chewy/crispy and perfect, I continue to make it at least once a month. My whole family loves it!

Dreena's gone and done it again in her new cookbook, Plant-Powered Families: Over 100 Kid-Tested, Whole-Foods Vegan Recipes. A couple of weeks ago, she posted a photo of the banana bread muffins from this new cookbook on her Instagram account, and it looked so good, I asked where I could find the recipe. She graciously responded that it's in her new cookbook and even gave me the page number. Lucky for me, I'd just bought the cookbook a few days prior to this encounter, and since all of the ingredients are things I already had on hand, I was ready to give this recipe a try. And I'm so glad I did! The muffins are chewy and lightly sweet, with the littlest hint of guilty-pleasure to them. Only you don't have to feel guilty! Seriously, they're just great. Give these a try, and when you're done go buy everything Dreena's ever published. Her recipes never fail.

P.S. Dreena did not put me up to this. I bought this cookbook with my own money and I'm raving about Dreena Burton of my own free will. You will too after eating these muffins!

P.P.S. In the cookbook, this recipe makes either a loaf of banana bread or twelve muffins. I'm only providing the info for the muffins, and I'm partially paraphrasing her recipe in my own words. So, the baking instructions you find below aren't exactly what's in the cookbook. Just lettin' ya know!

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 cup oat flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1 cup pureed overripe banana
1/2 cup plain nondairy milk
1/3 cup pure maple syrup
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3-4 tablespoons nondairy chocolate chips (optional)

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Grease a 12-cup muffin pan, or line with paper baking cups.
• In a large bowl, mix the flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and sea salt. In a separate bowl, combine the pureed banana, milk, maple syrup, and vanilla extract. Add the wet mixture to the dry, then add the chocolate chips, and stir through until just well combined. Do not overmix.
• Pour mixture into muffin cups (I used a large cookie scoop to measure out the batter). 
• Bake for 17 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a center muffin comes out clean.
• Let cool before eating.
• Enjoy!

Before I go, let me tell you about the exciting new thing I'm doing! I've been thinking about the kind of career I want to start to build for myself at this stage of my life. When I was graduating from college with a Communications/Theatre BA, I couldn't possibly have known that in ten years I would be vegan and have an earnest interest in becoming a vegan chef, teacher, coach, and professional baker. So, at the ripe li'l age of 43 (my birthday was last Thursday!) I am taking my first steps in pursuing my dream. Step One, for me, is enrolling in a vegan cooking school to learn all the chef basics, tricks and tips. I just signed up this very morning, and I am so excited! I will keep you all posted on my progress as I proceed through the program.

Agave-Sweetened Zucchini Walnut Muffins

Remember that awesome deal on maple syrup I told you guys about last week? Well, check this out. I traded in an old textbook to Amazon.com a while back, and received a $16 credit for it. So, I was able to purchase a 32-ounce bottle of organic maple syrup and two 46-ounce bottles of organic agave nectar for less than 10 bucks! With the deals and my credit, I was able to seriously stock up on stuff I normally can't even afford to buy.

These zucchini walnut muffins are made with whole wheat flour, applesauce instead of oil, agave instead of sugar, and topped with toasted wheat germ. Can we say fiber explosion?! Add in some protein from the walnuts, and tasty vites from the bananas and zucchini, and you're looking at a pretty great way to start your day. Try these on for size...

1 small/medium zucchini, grated (do not peel)
2 over-ripe bananas, mashed
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2/3 cup agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon nutmeg
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup toasted wheat germ

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees. 
• In a large bowl, mash your bananas. Then add zucchini, applesauce, agave, and vanilla. Stir well.
• Add all remaining ingredients, except wheat germ, and stir well.
• Divide batter equally into an oiled (or sprayed) 12-muffin pan. 
• Top each muffin with a generous sprinkling of toasted wheat germ.
• Bake for 30 minutes.
• Enjoy!

NUTRITION FACTS (per muffin):
Calories: 230.2 / Total Fat: 7.9g (Saturated Fat: 0.9g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 5.2g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1.0g) / Cholesterol: 0.0mg / Sodium: 276.0mg / Potassium: 237.1mg / Total Carbohydrates: 36.6g (Dietary Fiber: 5.7g, Sugar: 18.6g) / Protein: 5.9g

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Sweet Potato Muffins

Since I yapped on and on about The Cancer Project yesterday, it reminded me that I wanted to post the super-yummy Sweet Potato Muffin recipe I found in their "Nutrition for Your Kids" booklet (which also has a fantastic Cream of Broccoli Soup recipe in it). These muffins are hearty and filling, and so good for you! I love giving them to my little one for breakfast. She picks all the raisins out first, chomps them down, then goes to town on the rest of the "treat." Give it a try! Here's the recipe...

3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup raw or turbinado sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cooked sweet potatoes
1 cup soy- or other non-dairy milk
1 tablespoon vinegar
1 cup golden raisins (I used regular ol' raisins, as you can see)
Vegetable oil spray

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  
• Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Stir to mix.
• Mash sweet potatoes (if they aren’t mashed already) in a separate large bowl, then stir in non-dairy milk and vinegar. Add flour mixture and raisins. Stir together until just mixed. The batter should be moist. Add a bit more non-dairy milk or water if the batter seems stiff.
• Spoon batter into a vegetable oil sprayed muffin pan, filling almost to the top. 
• Bake 25 minutes, until tops of muffins bounce back when lightly pressed and a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

The Cancer Survivor's Guide: Foods That Help You Fight Back

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P.S. Click HERE to get a free copy of the "Nutrition for Your Kids" booklet.

Purple Monster Muffins

These muffins are easy to make and the batter is bright purple! Kids love it. And, best of all, they are full of yummy nutrients thanks to a healthy helping of fruit, nuts and agave nectar.

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 10-ounce bag frozen mixed berries
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts
1 medium banana, peeled and mashed
1/2 cup vegan butter, melted and cooled to room temp.
1/3 cup soy or nut milk
1/4 cup raw agave nectar or maple syrup
sliced almonds, for topping
sucanat, for topping

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Sift flour, baking powder and baking soda together into a large mixing bowl.
• Add remaining ingredients and carefully stir with a wooden spoon until well mixed.
• Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with baking spray, or line with muffin cups.
• Fill all cups with equal amounts of batter. I use a large cookie scoop to measure it out.
• Top each muffin with a tablespoon of sliced almonds, followed by a sprinkle of sucanat, to taste.
• Bake for 20 minutes. 
• Allow to cool completely before removing from muffin pan.
• Enjoy!

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Nutty Carrot, Raisin and Flax Muffins

These are super-duper healthy and tasty good. I only used 1/4 cup of maple syrup to sweeten, so they're refined sugar-free and, thank to the flax seed, full of fiber and omega 3's. I adapted this recipe from one I found in my Quick and Easy Vegan Comfort Food cookbook and I'm so glad I did! The whole family loved them - my daughter kept shoving a bite into her mouth and then running out of the room. I take that as a toddler thumbs up! Here's my adapted recipe...

1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 cup ground flax seed

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 cup pure maple syrup

2/3 cup plain soy milk

1/4 cup canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 cups grated carrot

3/4 cup raisins soaked in warm water for 10 minutes and drained

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
• Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin pan with oil or line with paper baking cups
• Mix the flours, flax seed, baking soda and cinnamon in a large bowl.
• Create a small well in the center and add agave nectar, soy milk, oil and vanilla.
• Hand-stir until smooth. 
• Fold in the carrots, raisins and walnuts.
• Fill the muffin tins three-quarters full. (I used a large cookie scoop)
  
• Bake for 20 minutes.
• Enjoy with vegan butter! Delicious!

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