Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins (Vegan)

Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins (Vegan)

This recipe comes from a blog called “Gluten Free on a Shoe String”.  Here is the recipe link:

https://glutenfreeonashoestring.com/healthy-blueberry-muffins/

I’ve been making a few sweet treats lately.  For me, it’s always fun to see if I can make a healthier version of something.  For this recipe, I also had to swap out a few ingredients to make the muffins vegan.  For the eggs called for in the recipe, I used flax eggs. I combined 2 tablespoons of ground flax seed/flax seed meal with 5 tablespoons of water and let it sit together to “gel” for about 10 minutes before adding in the other wet ingredients.  The recipe also calls for Greek yogurt.  This week I purchased a tub of Silk brand plain yogurt which is made from soy milk.  Since Greek yogurt is much thicker than the soy yogurt, I did allow the soy yogurt to drain a little bit before using it in the recipe.  I put some paper towels in a fine mesh sieve. The yogurt really did not drain, but the paper towel did wick away quite a lot of moisture.  Next time I want to drain yogurt, I think I will try a coffee filter instead of paper towel.  

With the modifications I’ve noted above, my muffins turned out great!  They are dense and moist and have just the right amount of sweetness to me.  I like it very much when I find a muffin with a great texture and I can see how I could easily swap ingredients to make different varieties.  I can see this being a great carrot cake muffin or perhaps apple and cinnamon.  I only tried these muffins after they had cooled.  My husband said the muffins did not have a good texture when they were still very warm right out of the oven; he says the texture is much better once the muffins have cooled.  I bet these muffins will also freeze very well... if there are any left in a few days.  

Healthy blueberry muffins

Modified from a recipe found on www.glutenfreeonashoestring.com”

INGREDIENTS

2 1/4 cups (225 g) certified gluten free old fashioned rolled oats (or regular rolled oats if GF is not an issue)

1/2 cup (80 g) granulated coconut palm sugar (or light brown sugar)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup (240 g) smooth applesauce, at room temperature

1/2 cup (114 g) plain Greek-style yogurt (1%, 2% or 0% fat—but I prefer 2%), at room temperature I substituted an equal amount of Silk brand plain yogurt which is made from soy milk.

2 eggs (100 g, weighed out of shell) at room temperature, beaten I substituted flax eggs (I combined two tablespoons of ground flax seed and five tablespoons of water and let it rest for about 10 minutes before adding it to the wet ingredients.

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

About 3/4 cup fresh (or frozen) blueberries 

• Preheat your oven to 325°F. Grease or line the wells of a standard 12-cup muffin tin, and set it aside.
• In a blender (or food processor fitted with the steel blade), place the oats and process into a fine powder. If you’re using coconut palm sugar, place that in the blender, too, and process it too. Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the applesauce, yogurt, flax eggs, and vanilla, and mix until just combined. Add the blueberries and mix gently until the blueberries are evenly distributed throughout the batter. The batter will be thick but very soft. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared wells of the muffin tin. Shake the tin back and forth to evenly distribute the batter in the wells.
• Place the tin in the center of the preheated oven and bake until the tops of the muffins are nicely domed and they spring back when pressed gently with a finger, about 18 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes in the tin before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.