Crumb-cake, Fruit-filled Fluffy Vegan Muffins 




This post was made prior to when I began high carbohydrate, low fat, raw-till four vegan diet--- I actually haven't really made these in a while since summertime. I've been wanting to find a good gluten-free flour and 'no-sodium' baking powder to make them again and see how it turns out. But these muffins are still vegan, a lot healthier than the regular non-vegan muffins, and delicious!

Muffin-palooza, not a real word but a compilation of various vegan muffin-related recipes I have tried since the amazing crumb cake muffins. From blueberry, raspberry, and peach filled muffins, along with carrot cake, which all taste great, during this past summer [2013], I tried making them all.

Some of these were made with coconut sugar, which has an interesting taste of its own. Coconut sugar is another refined-sugar alternative that has really spiked in popularity since it is believed to have nutrient properties that aren't present in other refined sugars, therefore making it a better alternative to over-processed sugars.





Ingredients

Muffin:

• 11/2 cups - flour
• 1/2 cup - raw turbinado/organic sugar/evaporated cane/coconut sugar*
• 1-2 teas - baking powder*
• 1/8 teas. - sea salt or just a pinch, 1/8 teas.
• 1 cup - nondairy milk (I like coconut-almond milk)
• 1/4 cup - banana (instead of oil)*
• Fill ins:
• Blueberries, raspberries, strawberries peaches, other berries/fruits that go well with/in muffins

*I used half coconut sugar and half evaporated cane juice
*I might have lowered the overall amount of baking powder due to sodium levels


Topping:

• 1/4 cup - Coconut Sugar or Brown Sugar
• 1/8 cup (2TBS) Flour
• 1 TBS Melted Earth Balance*
• 3/4 teas - Cinnamon**

 *I tried to use almond-coconut milk or banana instead of oil
*I would think that a small amount of flaxseed or Ener-G egg-replacer would work as well.


The only difference between all the other recipes and this one is the fact that I don't fold in the blueberries to make a usual blueberry muffin recipe. Instead, I put a small layer of batter on the bottom of the muffin pan and add in any fruits to fill it with and then add some more batter to the top.








Also, I started a new side-blog. I call it Ambrosia.

Carrot Cake Muffins or
Carrot Muffin-Cakes
Before I started doing raw till 4 and incorporating aspects from the 80/10/10 philosophy into my own diet, I had made a lot of vegan muffins during the past summer, which was when I meant to post this.
At the time, I had been snacking on bunches and bunches of organic carrots so I figured to make a healthier vegan carrot cake or carrot cupcake dessert and I did. I always get organic carrots, they're sweeter, better for environment, and aren't excessively expensive.



Ingredients

• 3/4 cups flour
• 1/2 cups raw/turbinado/coconut sugar
• 1/2 tsp   baking powder
• 1/2 tsp   baking soda
• 1/2 and 1/8 teas - cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp sea salt (I did 1/16 tsp.)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 3/4 cup banana
• 1/2-1 carrots or more

This makes 6 muffin-cakes since I halved the almost fat-free recipe from Happy Herbivore.
These muffin-cakes can also be topped with a coconut whipped cream.



I tried to put coconut cream on the muffins, but I was impatient it melted.. and then turned into a glaze.


 

Vegan crumb cake. Blueberry muffin crumb cake.




INGREDIENTS

Muffin:

• 11/2 cups - flour
• 1/2 cup - raw turbinado/organic sugar 
• 1/2 - 1 teas - baking powder (sodium-free)*
• 1/8 teas. - a pinch pink sea salt 
• 1 cup - nondairy milk (I like coconut-almond milk)
• 1/4 cup - banana or coconut oil* 
• 1 cup - blueberries

* I use the full 1 cup of nondairy milk since bananas are used in place of oil
If you want to use oil, instead of banana you can do that-- the banana helps to keep the recipe lower in fat
**IF you are watching your sodium intake, try sodium-free baking powder.


Makes a dozen muffins.


Topping:

• 1/4 cup - Brown Sugar or Coconut Sugar***
• 1/8 cup (2TBS) Flour
• 1 TBS Melted Earth Balance (or oil of choice)
• 3/4 teas - Cinnamon**

This makes enough topping for half a dozen muffins
**The amount of brown sugar and cinnamon can be increased to add more to the topping and more flavor.
*** The last time I made these muffins (after publishing this post) I used coconut sugar instead of brown sugar for the topping and even halved the coconut sugar with raw sugar for the muffins, which turned out fine and well.




METHOD

The method is the same as my last blueberry muffin post:

Step 1: Mix the dry ingredients: flour, organic sugar, baking powder, pinch of sea salt.
 Step 2:  Add in wet ingredients: coconut-almond/non-dairy milk substitute and mashed banana/can blend the banana in blender with coconut water or nondairy milk.
  Step 3: Fold in blueberries
    Step 4: For the crumble topping, lightly mix in brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and melted earth balance.

Set oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for 25-35 minutes.
Just be sure to watch them as they're in the oven. I have a double burner toaster oven since I live in a suite-dorm that does not have a kitchen, so the cooking time takes longer for me and will greatly differ among different types of ovens/stove tops.

Also, I found the topping recipe from comparing google search results, which led to vegan websites and blogs that had similar ingredients for it. But I noticed the amounts are good for six muffins so if you are making a dozen, you might want to double the amounts for the topping.





This crumble recipe is so good, yet so easy. When I had the very sugary and slightly crumble-topping blueberry muffins at Harry's Farmers Market, I thought it must be difficult to make. But the more I assemble/make, the more I realize these dishes and desserts really are quite easy to create. The only hard part is acquiring all the necessary ingredients and equipment.

Ingredients


I've become so used to assembling in place of cooking that I forgot cooking could be simple and easy as well. The hardest part seems to be acquiring the needed ingredients for whatever dish or dessert that is desired for preparation.

Vegan Blueberry Mini Muffins

Yum!

Ingredients:

• 1/4 C. Earth Balance or oil
• 1/4 t. Salt
• 1 C. Organic, raw, or turbinado sugar - maybe even agave
• 2 C. Flour - I used whole wheat
• 1 Tbs. Baking Powder
• 1 teas. Vanilla extract
• 1/2 C. Soy, almond, coconut, or rice milk
• 2 C. Blueberries

I got the idea for this recipe from somewhere I don't remember a couple years ago...



Mix wet, mix dry - separately. Then mix them together and place in muffin trays.
Set them in the oven on 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes until tops are full.
And they should come out looking like this - minus the green-tinted lighting.