Sometimes life calls for muffins

Delicious home made, muffins. And who am I to thwart life when it calls for something?  

I was craving something hearty, but also healthy and delicious. I knew I wanted oats, and I was thinking about Anzac day and how I didn't make any biscuits this year so somehow in my mind, the two ideas combined and morphed into something new.  Muffins are also very forgiving when it comes to substitutions, so I knew I could get a little experimental with the ingredients.

I call these Vegan oatmeal muffins. Delicious warm, chewy oatmeal muffins. Not too sweet, and actually pretty healthy as there is no oil or actual sugar. Behold!

Ingredients

• 1 cup soy milk
• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1 tbsp corn flour
• 3 tbsp water
• 1 tbsp maple syrup
• 1/3 - 1/2 cup unsweetened apple puree
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• pinch each of cinnamon and nutmeg
• 1/2 cup coconut
• 1/2 cup dark chocolate chips

Method

1. Heat the oven to 200. If you need to, grease or line your muffin tray, but as I have a silicon one, I skip this step.
2. Whisk together milk and vinegar in a bowl and set aside to curdle slightly. Whisk in the corn flour and water to the mix, then stir in the maple syrup and apple puree.
3. Add oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda and cinnamon, then stir until just combined. Don't worry too much if it's a little lumpy.
4. Fold in the coconut and choc chips. 
5. Fill each muffin cup about 2/3 full, then bake until a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean (about 20 minutes).  I got 12 muffins from this mix.

Verdict?

Yum! These were exactly what I felt like. Light and delicious with just a hint of sweetness from the maple syrup. I probably could have made them even healthier by using nuts and dried fruit instead of the coconut and choc chips, so I guess I'm going to have to make another batch to test this out.  I think walnuts and dried cranberries would be a good combination...

As they are vegan, they don't rise as much as non vegan ones will, and are very susceptible to becoming too rubbery if over-mixed, so just stir enough to combine.

I'll be adding these to the recipe file and making them again for sure. 

Do you have a favourite muffin variation? I'd love to hear about it!