When your favourite fruit comes into season, you grab the opportunity by the horns and stock up! This is how I feel about my current obsession, blueberries. Since embarking on a more real food, plant based lifestyle – I needed to come up with a nutritious snack to fill the lunchboxes. The ever popular MUFFIN. You will understand my frustration when you meet the fussy two men I live with.
The perfect healthy snack
If you have also made the switch, you would be happy to know that the initial struggle of cooking from scratch, planning and prepping is short lived. I found with all the menu ideas and planning of our main meals, that we were seriously lacking in the healthy snack department. Getting yourself to eat a variety of greens, healthy muffins like these Gluten Free Vegan Blueberry Muffins – are perfect to nibble on in between meals to keep the hunger pangs at bay.
Gluten Free Muffins
I mean, it’s great to have a delicious muffin to your disposal – but I needed to make these muffins extra healthy by replacing my normal cake flour with something a bit more nutritious, and without the gluten. My newest find is Chickpea Flour and I try and utilize it in most of my baking adventures, and I am loving it. These Vegan Chickpea Pancakes is a true testimony at that. It’s still such a hit!
No Dairy Muffins
Not only are these blueberry morsels gluten free, but I also tried and cut out any and all animal products, like the usual milk/yogurt/butter vibe in my baking recipe. For this version, I used almond milk and coconut oil. If you aren’t used to all these new health ingredients, it might seem daunting at first. I for one was skeptical. But, I am happy to report that these Blueberry Muffins came out perfectly. The result is a pretty dense, cakey muffin – so best to store these in an airtight container in the refrigerator. You should also check out these Vegan Banana and Choc Chip Muffins – to die for!
Benefits of Blueberries
Known as a Superfood, blueberries are most beneficial for the high amounts of antioxidants they contain. Antioxidants are basically molecules that helps fight the free radicals found in the environment that can be damaging to our health. Think about smoking, pollution, alcohol and chemicals found in processed foods. These ‘oxidants’ are pretty damaging to our cells and it causes the chemical altering of DNA that can lead to cancerous growth. Blueberries contains loads of anthocyanins (antioxidants), Vit C, Vit K, Potassium and a whole list of other magical things. Some nutritionists say that it’s the healthiest fruit in the world. PREACH!
| Prep Time | 10 min |
| Cook Time | 20 min |
| Servings | small muffins |
- 2, 1/2 cups chickpea flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup coconut sugar
- 2 flax seed eggs 1 tablespoon flax seed meal + 3 tablespoons water = 1 x flaxseed egg
- 1/4 cup coconut oil melted
- 1/4 cup olive oil or any other plant oil
- 1 cup almond milk
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 2 teaspoons vanilla essence
- 1/2 cup frozen blueberries
- 1/2 cup fresh blueberries
- zest from one lemon
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 cup frozen blueberries
Ingredients Muffins
Blueberry Jam topping
| Rate this recipe! |
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius and prepare a muffin tin with cupcake liners or non stick spray.
- In a small bowl, prepare the flax eggs by placing 2 tablespoons of flax seed meal and combine it with 6 tablespoons of water. Leave to stand for one minute.
- In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt.
- In another medium sized bowl, whisk together the sugar, flax eggs, coconut oil and veg oil until thick and glossy.
- Mix the almond milk with the apple cider vinegar, and leave for 10 minutes to create a dairy free buttermilk.
- Next, whisk the almond buttermilk and vanilla essence into the wet ingredients.
- Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, add the blueberries and zest - mix until incorporated, but don't over mix.
- Meanwhile, prepare your blueberry jam by bringing the frozen blueberries and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan and reduce by half.
- Scoop the batter halfway into your muffin tin and add a teaspoon of blueberry jam on top of the batter.
- Bake for 17 - 18 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius - on the middle oven rack.
These muffins are pretty dense and keeps well in an airtight container, refrigerated for up to a week.
