Blueberry Streusel Muffins (vegan & 100% whole-wheat)

We are not vegans around here. We rely on meat for protein because too many of us can’t eat, beans, nuts & soy.  However, due to the other allergies and dietary restrictions we juggle in this crazy house (eggs and dairy and who knows what else) sometimes it looks like we are [vegan]. So…when in Rome......we call ourselves vegan. (That makes absolutely no sense but I thought it was funny so I left it there.)

In short, we are not vegan, but sometimes our food is. This food, Blueberry Streusel Muffin(s), is (or are –I’m not an English major and I don’t want to google that grammar rule right now). 

What I'm really trying to say 
is that if all vegan food is this good, then 
SIGN ME UP!

I grabbed this recipe off Annie’s eats yesterday morning and threw caution to the wind. Usually when I make something I’ve never tried I cut the recipe in half (in case it’s yucky-which it never is when it’s from Annie) and I follow the recipe precisely.  Not this time. I wanted a whole-grain muffin right away and since her recipe said it only made 8 muffins, I just went with it. In my hour of wild abandon, I substituted ALL of the all-purpose white flour with fresh milled hard white AND red winter wheat. I wanted to be sure the muffin had a hearty, nutty flavor. I swapped Ener-G Brand Egg Replacer in for the egg, rice milk for regular milk and coconut oil instead of vegetable oil and butter. 

When I read the part in Annie’s recipe that said “pour” the batter into the prepared muffin cups I got a little worried, my batter was no where NEAR pourable, at best I could call it a sticky, sticky cookie dough. It was stiff enough that if I could get it into a shape without sticking to my fingers it was going to stay in that shape. I thought about adding more milk, but I listened to my heart and just shaped the dough into large (1/4 – 1/3 cup) balls and plopped them into the muffin cups, generously sprinkled the tops with the streusel and tossed ‘em into the hot oven. My intuition paid off. The muffins “melted” into shape and in 20 short minutes I had my hearts desire….warm, nutty, 100% whole-grain muffins bursting with blueberry goodness. I loved them so much I ate… too many to admit to today. J

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

(vegan & 100% whole-wheat)

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Ingredients:

MUFFINS

1 ½ cup flour (I used 1 cup fresh milled, hard, red, winter wheat and ½ cup fresh milled hard white winter wheat.)

¾ cup sugar

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/3 cup melted coconut oil

2 “eggs” made from Ener-G egg replacers (or 1 whole egg)

~1/3 cup rice milk (or cows milk)

1 cup fresh blueberries

STREUSEL

¼ cup sugar

1 tablespoon red winter wheat flour

1 tablespoons + 2 teaspoons white winter wheat flour

¾ teaspoons cinnamon

1-2 tablespoons coconut oil (solid)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 400°. Grease or line 12 muffin wells with muffin liners.
2. Make streusel topping, combine sugar, flour & cinnamon. With a fork add, 1 tablespoon of coconut oil to dry ingredients and mix until crumbly. You may need to add more coconut oil but mix as you add to ensure that your streusel does not get too wet that you will be unable to sprinkle it on top of the muffins. Once crumbly sprinkle over tops of muffins.
3. Combine flour, sugar, salt and baking powder. Place melted coconut oil into a 1-cup measuring cup; add the egg replacer and enough rice milk to fill to 1- cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Place ¼ - 1/3 cup of the dough/batter into the muffin cups (fill to the top if your batter is liquid or a little higher if dough is a solid)
4. Bake at 400° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Source: Adapted from Annies-Eats “Blueberry Muffins” which was taken from Allrecipes “To Die For Blueberry Muffins”

Gwenevere

Banana Crunch Whole-Wheat Muffins

What do you do with over ripe bananas?

Is there really a need to even ask that question?

You make banana bread of course!

It’s a great metaphor for life really - once we’ve become “spotted” or “spoiled” we can still be changed and made (in my opinion) into something better. (Better because I’d choose bananas baked into a carb over raw any day.)

As usually happens when I buy bananas, I had some that had not been eaten and had past their prime. When I saw this recipe from The Barefoot Contessa with the word CRUNCH in it, I knew exactly what my over ripe banana's would soon become. To healthy these up a bit I swapped out 1 2/3 cup of the all-purpose flour for fresh milled whole-wheat flour and replaced 1 cup of the refined sugar with 1 cup more of squished bananas (the recipe below reflects my changes. Oh! And due to allergies, I also left out the nuts). If you don’t have whole grain flour and/or don’t care about refined sugar then just change it back to The Barefoot Contessa’s original recipe of 3 cups all-purpose flour, 2 cups sugar and 1 cup mashed ripe banana.

I’m sure either way you mix it-they will be great, but I can only vouch for the whole-wheat version. I also think these muffins would accompany a smoothie of the pina colada or peanut butter variety quite well.

Banana Crunch Whole-Wheat Muffins

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Ingredients:

1 2/3 cup whole-wheat flour (I used fresh milled red winter wheat)

1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour

1 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ pound unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2 extra-large eggs

¾ cup whole milk

2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

2 cups mashed ripe bananas (4 bananas)

1 cup medium-diced bananas (1 banana)

1 ¾ cup granola (divided)

1 ¾ cup sweetened shredded coconut (divided)

½ cup banana chips (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Brush the flat surface of the cupcake pan with oil to prevent muffin spillage from sticking to the pan.  Line 30 regular muffin cups with paper liners.
2. Sift the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and alt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Add the melted butter and blend well but do not over mix or you’ll end up with tough muffins. Then add in the eggs, milk and vanilla. Scrape the bowl. If you are making the day before the muffins will be served, cover the batter and put it in the fridge. When you are ready to finish the recipe add the mashed bananas to the batter. Again be careful not to over mix.
3. Fold in the diced bananas, 1 ½ cups granola and 1 ½ cups coconut into the batter. Scoop the batter into the prepared baking tins, filling each to the very top. Top each muffin the remaining granola, coconut and dried bananas (if desired). Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the tops are brown and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool slightly, remove from the pan and serve warm.

Notes:

I used Back to Nature 100% Natural Chocolate Delight Granola. It is very crunchy and contains no refined sugar (other than what is included in the dark chocolate chunks).

Source: Adapted from Ina Garten Recipe on Food Network