Vegan muffins

Muffins and cupcakes are some of my favorite things to make. They're easy, tasty, and you can vary them a million different ways. But during my vegan month, I was a little skeptical that vegan baked goods could be that great (without perhaps using way too much oil). Well, I'm happy to say that there's no reason to be afraid of vegan butter and egg substitutes! I used Red Mill All Natural Egg Replacer for this recipe, which is made of whole soy flour, wheat gluten (but there are gluten-free egg replacers too!), corn syrup solids, and algin. It contains NO trans or saturated fats, and has a measly 30 calories and 1 gram of fat per "egg" equivalent.

I found this "easy vegan baking batter" recipe through the Lunch Box Bunch/Healthy Happy Life, a great vegan site. I decided to try it as a base for a few different types of muffins- lemon poppy seed and banana cinnamon.

Ingredients:

• 2 1/4 cups flour
• 1/2 cup agave syrup
• 1/3 cup maple syrup
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup soy milk - (I used unsweetened vanilla almond milk)
  
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 5 Tbsp lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2-3 Tbsp Egg Replacer + water to activate as per instructions on package
• 1 mashed banana (optional)

• For flavors I used you will also need: lemon for zest, poppy seeds, and for the second muffin, banana and cinnamon. I also sprinkled the tops with some clear sparkling sugar.
  

I opted to make the low-fat version, using 1/4 cup of oil and 3/4 cup of the almond milk, which I don't think sacrificed much flavor. I also substituted whole wheat flour for about half of the total flour, which I wouldn't really recommend doing unless you are making a heartier muffin- such as maybe something with oats or raisins in it.

They were very tasty! Especially right out of the oven.


There aren't instructions on the site, but here's what I did:
Steps:

1. Mix together the flour, baking soda, powder and salt.
2. Mix 2 Tbsp egg replacer with the instructed amount of water on the package, and add to dry ingredients.
3. Mix in the rest of the ingredients. (The banana is optional -it makes the muffins really nicely moist, but does give a strong banana flavor. Without it, the muffins are still spongy and moist).
4. Place in mini or full-sized lined or greased muffin pans and bake at 350 until a toothpick comes out clean. (About 12-15 minutes for mini ones).
   

After mixing all the ingredients, I actually split the batter in half (something I do fairly often when I'm baking! I like variety). With half of the batter, I added a very small ripe banana and mashed it into the batter, and then added some cinnamon and just a sprinkle of nutmeg and cloves (don't go overboard with those spices!). With the other half, I added some lemon zest and poppy seeds.

Front row: vegan lemon-poppy seed mini muffins
Back row: vegan banana cinnamon mini muffins

The batter can also be used for pancakes, waffles, and coffee cakes too! Happy vegan baking!