18 October 2010

Vegan Banana Nut Muffins

From October 2010

Boy it's good to be back baking in my own kitchen again! Which is not to say that being in Utah for months wasn't fantastic, because it was. But 1. I haven't gotten the hang of high-altitude baking yet, and 2. I'm quite fond of my kitchen, especially the mixer, the food processor, and the oven.

Since I've been home, I haven't had much time to bake, but I did develop a vegan banana nut muffin recipe that has all kinds of tasty surprises, like carob chips and coconut. I brought a dozen of them to a birthday party where they had a giant cake from BJ's. While some folks tried the cake, the muffins were very popular. I didn't tell my pals that they were doing themselves a favor by eating one -- getting a nice dose of fiber and good fats from the flaxmeal, walnuts, whole grains, and olive oil. But seeing how much my friends enjoyed these moist, yet cakey muffins was enough to spur me to share this recipe with you.

From October 2010

Vegan Banana Muffins
Yields 12 standard muffins and 8 mini muffins

Ingredients

2 teaspoons flaxmeal
3 tablespoons water
1/4 cup olive oil (the fruitier the better)
1/2 cup agave nectar
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 desperately ripe bananas
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup dried, unsweetened coconut
1/2 cup vegan carob chips
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon Baking Spice (from Pensey's)

Directions

1. Whisk together the flaxmeal and the water, then let stand while preparing the other ingredients.
2. In a large bowl, blend together the olive oil, agave nectar, vanilla, and bananas until well incorporated.
3. In a small bowl, chop the walnuts, and mix them with the coconut and carob chips.
4. In yet another bowl (sorry about that!), mix together the remaining ingredients.
5. Add the nut mixture to the dry ingredients and combine well.
6. Add the flax mixture to the wet ingredients and combine well.
7. Add the dry mix to the wet mix and combine well.
8. Preheat the oven to 345 degrees F and put muffin cups into your pans.
9. Scoop the batter into the cups. They will puff up, so fill the cups only 3/4 full.
10. Bake the muffins at 345 degrees F for 10 minutes, then drop the temperature to 335 degrees F another 10 minutes for minis and 20 for large muffins or until a tester comes out clean.
11. Let cool in pans for 10 minutes before taking the muffins out and letting them cool completely on a wire rack.
12. Enjoy!

4 comments:

Catherine Weber said...

"desperately ripe" -- love it! Ha!

Anonymous said...

Great to see you posting again--this recipe looks delicious. I know what you mean about being back in your own kitchen with your own stuff...there is nothing like it!

Courtney

Deb Schiff said...

Always good to have a laugh when cooking!

Deb Schiff said...

Thanks, Courtney. It's good to be "back".