The Best Blueberry Muffins Ever!

These muffins are the best I've ever had or made- vegan or otherwise! Dairy free, gluten free, with no refined sugars, and the best part is the bottoms don't come out dry like most muffins, these are cakey and moist beneath the muffin top. Because, let's face it: we all wish every part of the muffin was as satisfying as the top!
I started with a recipe from the Sweet Vegan cookbook, with a couple of substitutions:

The Best Blueberry Muffins (makes 8-10 standard-size)

• 1 1/2 cups gluten free flour (cheap at Trader Joes!)
• 3/4 cup cane syrup* 
•  1/2 tsp cinnamon (it gives the flavor that extra something)
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 coconut oil
• 1/3 cup soy milk
• 3 tsp Ener-G egg replacer, whisked w/ 4 tbsp warm water
• 2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup fresh blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Line a muffin pan with liners or, in a pinch, torn pieces of parchment paper.
2. Mix flour, cane syrup, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl.
3. Add the coconut oil, soy milk, egg replacer (pre-whisked) and vanilla and mix until well combined.
4. Fold in the blueberries.
5. Scoop 1/4 cup of batter into the liners. Bake 17-20 min, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. I could see clear moisture on the toothpick but no batter, and mine were done perfectly.

Enjoy immediately with your spread of choice and coffee!


*the original recipe called for 3/4 cup evaporated cane juice, which is a solid sugar, whereas I used the liquid cane syrup because that's what the store had, but I think this sub worked great and wonder if this contributed to the delightful texture on the bottom. If you try the other way let me know!

Carob Celebration Cake w/ Peanut Butter "Buttercream" Frosting

As promised:

Cake!

I made this for our end-of-the-school-year staff party at work.
For taste it earned an A+.
The composition... well, maybe a C-.
Still, this recipe makes the honor roll for being delicious and soundly vegan!

Our oven is terrible and I partially blame it for the way this cake stuck to the pan. The other reason is I think I used the wrong kind of pan. I didn't have a round cake pan but wanted a round cake, so I used a Springform pan. I have only used these to make cheesecake, and I think they are not meant for regular cakes. Someone enlighten me on pan ettiquette, please.

Meanwhile, the taste proved that I am getting better at substitutions. I started with this recipe for the frosting and this recipe for the cake itself, then tried to make them healthier. These are the modified recipes I came up with:

No-Chocolate Carob Cake (Vegan, Gluten Free): 

1 1/4 cups gluten-free flour
1 cup turbinado sugar
2/3 cup carob powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup warm water
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 cup coconut oil
1 tsp distilled white or apple cider vinegar
1 cup carob chips

 

Vegan Peanut Butter Buttercream Frosting

1 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup vegan margarine or coconut oil
2 cups powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
3 tablespoons vanilla almond milk

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
Mix together flour, sugar, carob powder, baking soda, and salt with a fork, making sure it is really blended together.
Add the water, vanilla, oil, and vinegar, and mix together very well. Gently stir in the carob chips. Pour into a cake pan. A real one. Do as I say, not as I pan'd.

Bake for 30 minutes (until a knife or toothpick comes out clean) and let cool completely, on a rack if possible. I think. With my bad oven/choice of pan, it took more like an hour and got stuck to the Springform bottom. Which was kind of good, because otherwise it was so moist it might have fallen apart when I unlocked the spring. But oh! The flavor itself was sooooo good.

Meanwhile, the frosting. Add all ingredients to a bowl and mix until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. You can adjust the consistency by adding more powdered sugar if it’s too thin, and adding more milk if it’s too thick. Mine was too thick, in retrospect, but it tasted out of this world!

Lastly, if you wanna get fancy, use this cool star and banner printable I found on good ol' Pinterest. I used jewelry wire, tape, and tacky glue to hold up the stars, and decorated them with yellow sugar (because glitter on your cake would be the worst!!!) and drew the word "Summer" on the banner to mark the party occasion. Fancy, easy. Enjoy!

See more photos on my Instagram: @veganlifeisgood