Epicurean Vegan

Healthy eating for discriminating palates

Vegan “Buttermilk” Cornbread (And more snow on the way) April 30, 2013

Filed under: Breads — epicureanvegan @ 11:58 am
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When I made chili and cornbread last week when it was snowy, I figured it was going to be the last hurrah for cold weather and it’d be a while before I’d be making chili again. Wrongo, Bucko. The forecast is calling for another 3-6 inches! What in the hell is going on with Colorado weather? We had just put away the plastic sheeting and boards we used to cover the veggie boxes, so now we have to drag them out again. Amazingly, my peas have survived the previous onslaughts of snow . . .

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As has the spinach and kale . . .

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I’m really not happy about this weather, but at least it’s expected to be gone by Friday. It does give me an excuse to whip up some of our new favorite soup for tomorrow night’s dinner. I’m also thrilled it will be gone for the weekend since we are headed to Boulder for a weekend getaway which will include another amazing dinner at The Black Cat. So if you’re experiencing the same discombobulated weather, I think you’ll enjoy this delicious cornbread. The Eighth Grader found this recipe and together, we veganized it, made a few changes, and he threw it all together. Easy to make and delicious!

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 C Earth Balance

1/3 C sugar (we cut the original amount in half)

3 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer + 4 Tbs warm water

1 C almond milk + 1-1/2 tsp apple cider vinegar (to make the “buttermilk”)

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 C cornmeal

1 C flour

1/2 tsp salt

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375. Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. Remove from the heat and stir in the sugar; combine it well with the butter. Add the egg-replacer, the milk/cider combo, and the baking soda. Combine well, then whisk in the cornmeal, flour, and salt. You’ll have a thick batter.

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Pour into a lightly greased, 8″ baking pan and bake for 25-30 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

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Slice and enjoy!

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Cherry-Zucchini Bread March 3, 2013

Filed under: Breads — epicureanvegan @ 8:23 pm
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Sorry for my absence. We were all hit with a pretty nasty cold and it’s taken a couple of weeks to return to normal. The break did, however, give me way too much time to veg out and thanks to Hulu and PBS, I watched all three seasons of Downton Abbey. (If they keep killing off beloved characters, I’m going to have to stop watching; my heart can’t take it). Anyway, I’m back in the kitchen and it feels great. We spent the afternoon with our friends (both human and animal) at Beakon Hill Farm and Education Center. Their newest residents are a trio of adorable lambs. They took them in when they were just less than 24 hours old and have been bottle-feeding them for weeks. Randy and Teresa are such amazing people and are working toward making Beakon Hill a non-profit. It is home to some of the most wonderful animals: goats, horses, alpacas, hens, roosters, ducks, and many more.

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The Eighth Grader bottle-feeding one of the lambs

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Shiro’s just like a puppy, but with horns. His latest game is to push against you with his head.

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 Zee Man liked to follow us around as we shoveled poop from the pens . . .

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So I figured I’d bring along this amazing bread to share (with the humans) of Beakon Hill. The recipe is adapted from Hell Yeah it’s Vegan, because I made a few changes and added some ingredients. That’s the beauty of making two loaves; share the love!

INGREDIENTS: (Makes 2 loaves)

4-1/2 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer

1/2 C warm water

1-1/4 C brown sugar

1/2 C applesauce

1/2 C canola oil

1 tsp vanilla

2 C zucchini, grated

2 C flour

1 C whole wheat flour

1 Tbs baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 Tbs cinnamon

2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp salt

1 C dried cherries

1/8 C chia seeds (optional . . . I was out of them, but I would have definitely put them in if I had any)!

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350. Grease two 8x4x2″ loaf pans and set aside. In a large bowl, mix together the egg replacer and warm water. Add the brown sugar, canola oil, vanilla and applesauce. I don’t usually keep applesauce on hand, but we definitely have plenty of apples, so I just pureed two apples in the food processor.

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Add the zucchini and blend until smooth. In a medium bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, and chia seeds (if using). Little by little, add the dry ingredients to the batter.

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Fold in the dried cherries. Divide the dough between the two loaf pans.

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Bake for 35-40 minutes, or until done in the middle (check using a toothpick or knife).

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Let them cool on a rack and lay a piece of foil loosely over the top to keep in the moisture while they cool. Slice and enjoy!

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Me holding Worf, the rooster.

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Lemon Monkey Bread January 12, 2013

Filed under: Breads,Breakfasts,Desserts — epicureanvegan @ 10:58 am
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I was going to post this recipe tomorrow, but after taking a bite, I think you might want to run out and buy the ingredients for tomorrow’s breakfast. So worthy of veganizing! You may have seen the original recipe on Pinterest . . . it’s definitely making the rounds and now I know why! The original recipe was a bit hard to follow because of the way it’s laid out—lots of really closeup pictures with some directions, then at the bottom of the post is the ingredient list and directions. It also wasn’t clear how long it was going to take to let these puppies rise, but luckily, it was only about 45 minutes. These are little pieces of glaze n’ sugar heaven; like a mini glazed doughnut! And the crunchy sugar topping?! Forgetaboutit! Frickin’ amazing and perfect for a brunch get together (that is, if you want to share)!

INGREDIENTS:

12 Rhodes dinner rolls, thawed, but still cold (I took them out of the freezer and stuck them in the fridge the night before)

Zest from one lemon

1/2 C sugar

3 Tbs Earth Balance, melted + some for greasing the pan

1/2 C powdered sugar

1 Tbs lemon juice

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DIRECTIONS:

Grease (very well) the bottom and sides of a 9×13 baking dish. Cut each roll in half . . .

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. . . and place flat-side down into the pan.

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Drizzle with the melted butter . . .

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In a small bowl, combine the sugar and lemon zest. Sprinkle half of the sugar mixture on the top of the rolls.

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Cover and let rise for 45 minutes, or until they have doubled in size. (I turned my oven onto the lowest temp: 190. Placed the covered rolls inside and just cracked the oven door. Works beautifully)!

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Preheat oven to 350. Sprinkle the rest of the sugar on top.

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The original recipe says to bake them for 20-25 minutes, but mine were ready in about 16-17 minutes. Check often as all ovens run differently. And let me tell you, these smelled SO incredible as they baked!

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Remove from the pan onto a plate. In a small bowl, combine the powdered sugar and lemon juice. Drizzle on top. Thoroughly enjoy!!

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UPDATE:

I recently made these with cinnamon and sugar . . . YUM!

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Prepare them the same as above, but use 1/3 C sugar (I reduced the amount from 1/2 C), 1 Tbs cinnamon, and zest from one orange. This is a quick and easy alternative to cinnamon rolls, especially if you’re short on time. Enjoy!

 

Cherry Tomato Tarts August 16, 2012

Filed under: Appetizers,Breads,Sides — epicureanvegan @ 3:33 pm
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Don’t you love summer tomatoes? This is the first year we’ve had a garden. For Mother’s Day this year, The Hubby built me three large raised beds and they are overflowing with a bounty of tomatoes, lettuce, and peas. Several days a week, we’re needing to pick more ripened tomatoes.

So, what to do with all of them? (Besides snack on them, of course)? Make some fresh tarts! I had some leftover puff pastry in the freezer, so I used that. Otherwise, you can make a quick dough yourself. Check out this easy recipe. And thank goodness for fresh herbs…the piece de resistance!

INGREDIENTS:

1 puff pastry dough sheet

Approximately 2 C cherry tomatoes, halved

2-3 Tbs fresh rosemary, chopped

1 C fresh basil leaves, cut into strips

Olive oil (I used Butter-flavored—non-dairy)

Optional: Daiya Cheese shreds

DIRECTIONS:

Thaw the puff pastry dough per package instructions. Preheat the oven to 400. On a flowered surface, roll the dough out to about 11×7. I used the bottom of a tart pan to cut out 4″ circles. I had some dough left, so I made some very ghetto-looking ones with the rest.

This would also work if you wanted to make a full-pan tart, like this asparagus one. Using a fork, aerate the dough and bake for 3-5 minutes. If using, sprinkle a little Daiya cheese on the tarts, then layer on some basil and tomatoes. Sprinkle with rosemary.

Bake for 8-10 minutes, then drizzle some olive oil on the tarts. Bake another 5 minutes, or until they begin to brown around the edges.

Enjoy!

 

Ciabatta Bread February 16, 2012

Filed under: Breads — epicureanvegan @ 4:30 pm
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It all started with a Pampered Chef party I went to through Fort Vegan, my local vegetarian/vegan group. The hostess and rep prepared all-vegan samples, including this amazing bread—made of course, in their covered baking dish. Yes, I ended up buying it, but not just for the bread! It’s great for vegetable stews, casseroles, and even cake. Yes, cake. (Oh and in the microwave). Sounds bizarre, but really delicious! (and it was a gluten-free cake). Anyway . . . my bread didn’t puff up and fill the entire baker like the one at the party, so I’m going to have to try again and see what happens. The recipe calls for only 1/4 tsp of yeast and I wonder if that was a typo since my version was denser. Dense or not, however, it was incredible! I’m guessing you can make this bread without the covered baker, so if you do, let me know how it turns out. Oh and did I mention the dough has to rise for at least 12 hours? Then another 2? Believe me, it’s worth it.

INGREDIENTS:

3 C flour

1/4 tsp instant yeast

1-1/2 tsp salt

1-1/2 C tap water

DIRECTIONS:

In a large bowl, combine the flour, yeast, and salt. Stir in the water until well blended. Cover with plastic wrap and let sit at room temperature for 12-18 hours. When it’s ready, it will have bubbles on the top. The recipe then has you flour a Pampered Chef Pastry Mat and cover the dough with it for another two hours. This, I didn’t have, so I improvised, using a cutting board and dish towel.

1-1/2 hours into this second round of rising, preheat the oven to 450. Place the empty baker in the oven for 30 minutes to get it good and hot. Sounds crazy, but I did as I was told. Then dump the dough into the baker . . .

. . . cover and bake for 30 minutes. The recipe says to uncover and bake another 8-15 minutes, but my bread came out gorgeous after the 30 minutes.

It may not have been light and fluffy like the original, but it was mighty delicious just the same. If you give it a try, let me know how you made it and if you tweaked anything—I’d love to hear from you! Enjoy!

 

 

 

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread November 27, 2011

Filed under: Breads — epicureanvegan @ 9:48 am
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This fabulous recipe is from Colleen Patrick-Goudreau’s The Joy of Vegan Baking. The original recipe doesn’t include the chocolate chips, but I thought it would be a great addition. Because of this, I reduced the amount of granulated sugar a little to 1-1/2 cups. That may seem like a lot of sugar still, but this recipe makes 2 loaves. Patrick-Goudreau also notes that you could reduce the oil (1 cup) by using 1/2 oil, 1/2 unsweetened applesauce. Either way, you won’t be disappointed with this delicious bread!

INGREDIENTS:

3 Tbs ground flax seed

1/2 C water

1 C canola oil

1 Tbs white distilled vinegar

2 C granulated sugar

2 C grated zucchini (about 1 medium zucchini)

2 tsp vanilla extract

3 C flour

2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 C chocolate chips (Ghirardelli’s semi-sweet chips are vegan)

1/2 C chopped walnuts (optional)

1/2 C raisins (optional)

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 325. Lightly grease two 8x4x2″ loaf man, 4 mini loaf pans or 2 muffin tins. In a food processor, combine the flax meal and water and blend until thick and creamy. You can also an electric mixer (which I did). Add the oil, vinegar, and sugar, and combine. Stir in the zucchini and vanilla.

In a separate bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Add the nuts, raisins, and/or chocolate chips, if using. I left out the nuts and raisins. Stir into the zucchini mixture. Divide the batter evenly into the two loaf pans (or pans of choice) and bake for 60-70 minutes. (40-45 mins for mini loaves; 30-35 for muffins).  Enjoy!

 

A Look Back July 29, 2011

Filed under: Appetizers,Breads,Breakfasts,Desserts,Dinners,My Vegan Life,Sides,Soups — epicureanvegan @ 1:11 pm
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When it’s time to plan meals for the week, I sometimes rely on some old favorites of mine. When looking back on my recipes, I always come across yummy ones I’ve forgotten about. I thought I’d bring these oldies, but goodies to you.

Appetizers

Party Cheese Ball

Stuffed Mushrooms

Mustard Greens and Cheeze Filo Pie

Avocado Bruschetta

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Breads

Pesto Potato Bread

Blueberry Muffins with Crumb Topping

Home-made Pita Bread

Chive-Flecked Spud Muffins

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Side Dishes

Israeli Couscous with Pine Nuts & Parsley

Easy, Creamy Pasta Salad

Baked Fries with Sea Salt & Truffle Oil

Easy Cole Slaw

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Soups

Eggplant Parmagiano Stew

Vegetable-Barley Soup

Vegetable-Barley Chili

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Lunch

Smoky-Miso Tofu Sandwiches

Garden Wrap

BLTA with Tempeh Bacon

Green Tea Rice with Lemon, Snowpeas & Tofu

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Breakfast

Quinoa-Couscous Cereal with Dried Fruit

Colorful Kale and Potato Casserole

Hash Brown Casserole

Home-made Granola

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Dinner

Sweet Chili-Lime Tofu

Breaded Zucchini with Lentils and Rainbow Chard

Angel Hair Pasta with Mushrooms & Ricotta

Spinach & Tofu Calzones

Spinach & Pesto Lasagna

Fresh & Healthy Soft Tacos/Burritos

Pecan-Crusted Seitan

Field Roast with Fresh Blueberry Sauce

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Desserts

Glazed Chocolate-Avocado Cupcakes

Chai-Spiced Berry-Oatmeal Cookies

Cheeze Danishes

Sunflower-Cherry Oatmeal Bars

 

Apple Coffee Cake for Monet March 30, 2011

Filed under: Breads,Breakfasts,Desserts — epicureanvegan @ 9:35 am
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I want to dedicate this cake to Monet, of Apples and Anecdotes. She is one of those people everyone should know. I’ve never actually met her face-to-face, but I feel as though we could easily just sit down with mugs of tea, eat this delicious cake and never stop talking. Monet always has a kind word (or several, actually) for fellow food bloggers; always making others feel special, despite the hardships she herself faces. Last year, she nearly lost a nephew, Ryan, to drowning and who continues to suffer from the effects the accident caused. Now, she is faced with the possibly of losing her sister and brother-in-law injured in a car crash that killed another nephew of hers. Please visit Monet with your thoughts and kind words, as I know she’ll appreciates them and hopefully, have a brighter day in the wake of this tragedy.

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Apple Coffee Cake

INGREDIENTS:

1-1/2 C flour

1/2 C whole wheat flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 C walnuts, chopped

1 apple, peeled, cored, and shredded

1/2 C Earth Balance

1 C sugar

3 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer mixed with 4 Tbs water

1 tsp vanilla

1/4 C vanilla almond milk

Crumb topping

1/4 C sugar

1/8 C flour

3/4 tsp cinnamon

2 Tbs Earth Balance

Icing, optional

1/4 C powdered sugar

1 tsp vanilla almond milk

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 350. Lightly grease a loaf pan, set aside. In a large bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and walnuts.

In another bowl, beat the margarine, sugar, vanilla, and egg-replacer mixture until smooth. Pour the margarine mixture into the dry ingredients and combine well with a spoon. Stir in the apples and almond milk. Scoop the batter into the prepared loaf pan. To make the crumb topping, combine all the ingredients with a fork and sprinkle on top of the batter.

Bake for 45 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Let it cool for 10-15 minutes before removing from the pan. Mix together the powdered sugar and almond milk to form icing and drizzle over the top. You can wait until it completely cools, or when it’s still warm. Have a seat with someone you love and cherish, and enjoy this cake together.

 

Guest Post: Banana Blueberry Muffins March 29, 2011

Filed under: Breads,Guest Bloggers — epicureanvegan @ 8:22 am
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Today, I’m bringing you a recipe from Patricia Stoltey, a delightful friend, writer, and fellow critique group member . We’re both original members of the Raintree Writers, formed in 2003, which continues to meet every two weeks.  Pat has two published mystery novels, The Prairie Grass Murders and The Desert Hedge Murders, both excellent reads with fun and quirky characters. You can visit Pat at her blog and see why I call her “Bad Ass Pat.” In the meantime, check out her yummy vegan muffins that she kindly took the time to share with us.

I can’t leave a recipe alone, no matter how good it is.

The first time I made these Mountain Biker’s Banana Muffins from the Simply Colorado: Nutritious Recipes for Busy People cookbook by the Colorado Dietetic Association, I thought they were delicious. But I couldn’t help it. I tinkered with the recipe until I made it mine.

If you find a copy of the original, you’ll see I changed the balance of whole wheat flour to white, replaced the skim milk with soymilk, and ditched the raisins (which I don’t really like) for blueberries. Here’s how it goes:

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Pat’s Variation on Mountain Biker’s Banana (Blueberry) Muffins

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 c. sugar (or slightly less)

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. salt

1/2 c. flour

1 c. whole wheat flour (I use high altitude flour in Colorado)

1/3 c. oil

1/4 c. soymilk

2 large very ripe bananas, mashed

1 tsp. vanilla

1 c. blueberries (I use frozen berries to keep the batter from turning totally blue)

Cooking Spray

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat oven to 375⁰. Measure sugar, baking soda, salt and flours into bowl. Add oil, soymilk, bananas and vanilla; mix just until flour is moistened. Gently fold in frozen blueberries. Fill standard size muffin cups coated with cooking spray to 2/3 full with batter. Bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Because of the frozen berries, it’s best to test the center of the muffins with a toothpick to make certain muffins are done all the way through. Immediately tilt the muffins in the cups or remove from the pan and cool on a rack.

Although I have to tell you, at my house muffins tend to disappear from the pan minutes after they’re removed from the oven. I was lucky to get this photo.

Looks delicious, Pat. :)   Thanks for sharing your recipe with us!

 

My First Guest Blogger! Vegan, Wheat-free, and Nearly Sugar-free Blueberry Muffins February 8, 2011

Filed under: Breads,Desserts,Guest Bloggers,Snacks — epicureanvegan @ 10:58 am
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I’m very excited to introduce you to my first guest blogger, Kerrie Flanagan, director of The Northern Colorado Writers and freelance writer-extraordinaire. Kerrie has been a great sport when testing out some of my vegan creations. Some have been great, others not so much. She’ll even manage to smile when choking down one of the not-so-much ones. Thanks for being here, Kerrie!

Kerrie and I

I am thrilled to be the guest blogger today for my good friend and roof buddy (long, but fun story) April and take a break from working on my writers conference. When it comes to food, April and I agree on a few things; we both like to cook, we both want to provide healthy meals for our family and we both like to experiment in the kitchen. But when it comes to what we eat, we are on different sides of the fence. I am not a Vegan. I do eat meat (but I buy it from a local rancher and it is all free-range, grass-fed beef) and dairy. But I have the utmost respect for April and other Vegans. I love sampling her amazing food and trying some her recipes on my family.

So why am I here on the Epicurean Vegan? (besides the obvious, that I want to help my friend) it is because of my teenage daughter. Her acupuncturist wanted her to go on an elimination diet. So for 6 weeks, Delaney was to avoid wheat, dairy products and refined sugar. This was not an easy task, but we are on week 6 and she is doing great. One of the biggest things she missed was baked goods. The dairy part was no problem, the wheat; a little more of a challenge, but the sugar free part; nearly impossible. I am happy to say though, I found a recipe for muffins with oat flour and made a few adjustments (with April’s help) to substitute the dairy products. Delaney gave them a thumbs up.

INGREDIENTS:

1 cup oat flour

1 cup rolled oats

3 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

3 Tbs honey (or 1/2 cup sugar if you want them sweeter)

2 tsp lemon zest (or 1/2 tsp. lemon juice)

1 tsp egg replacer + 2 Tbl water (whisk together)

1/3 cup vegetable oil

3/4 cup Almond milk

1 cup blueberries (thawed frozen, or fresh)

DIRECTIONS:

Combine everything except the blueberries in a large mixing bowl and mix with a whisk. Don’t use a mixer, as it will chop up the rolled oats.

Cover the bowl and set it aside for 10 minutes to allow the batter to thicken. Once complete, fold in the blueberries with a spoon. Grease a muffin pan with baking spray or use paper baking cups and fill 2/3 full with batter.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit and bake for 15-20 minutes until  golden brown. Makes 12 muffins.
*These were a little crumbly straight out of the oven. Once they cooled they were fine. You might want to try increasing egg replacer a little bit.

 

 
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