Vegan Banana chocolate chip muffins

 It is September and kids are going back to school tomorrow. For us parents it is a tough time as we need to prepare nutritious meals that kids will eat and at the same time pack some nutrition that will help them thrive in school. 

This year I decided to do a series of posts dedicated to back to school recipes. I will be covering snacks and lunches that my son will be taking with him to school.

Today I baked vegan banana chip muffins. Muffins area great snack that most kids love. This provides us parents with an ability to sneak few extra valuable nutrients.

Ingredients:

2 cups of all purpose ancient whole grain flour 

2 ripe bananas 

3 dates

2 tbsp flax seeds, milled

3 tbsp hemp hearts

Handful of chocolate chips 

3-4 tbsp of brown sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda 

Pinch of sea salt

1 tsp vanilla bean paste

Steps:

1. Place milled glazed with water and set aside for a 2-5 minutes

2. Blend bananas, hemp hearts, and dates with half a cup of water until smooth

3. Mix all ingredients except chocolate chips in a large bowl. I usually mix them by hand with a spoon. Add more water as needed - approx 0.5 cup. Let it rest for 5-10 minutes. 

4. Preheat the oven at 375F.

5. Add chocolate chips to the muffin mix. 

6. Divide the muffin mass into muffin forms. Bake at 375c for 25-30 minutes. 

7. Let muffins cool off for at least 5 minutes so they come out if the form easily and you don’t burn yourself. 

Why I used selected ingredients?

I use whole grain ancient flour as it contains more nutrients, including gut benefiting fibre.

Hemp hearts in the recipe act as added fat replacing butter. However, my primary reason is extra protein that most baked treats are deprived of. 

Flax seeds are replacing egg and butter in my vegan recipes. Also, they are a great source of omega 3 and fibre. 

Bananas and dates are used in this recipe to help reduce quantity of added sugar. Both fruits are a great source of potassium that does not exist in refined sugars. 

Chocolate chips - I use semi-sweet Made Good brand as they clean ingredient and not excessive amount of added sugar. 

Muffin forms: I have been using Tchibo silicone forms for 7 + years and love them. I find removing muffins from them is very easy and barely ever I have issues with muffins sticking to them. 

Flat flax seed buckwheat bread

Flax seed buckwheat bread tastes divine served with hummus, spinach, mushrooms, avocado, and black seeds.

Ingredients:
1 cup buckwheat soaked then blended
1 cup oats
2 tbsp chia seeds
2 tbsp flax seeds
2 tbsp pumpkin seeds
1 tbsp sunflower seeds
1 tsp black seeds
Pinch of sea salt
1-2 cups of water

Steps:
1. In a bowl mix all ingredients together. Add water slowly. The consistency should be like for a very thick pancake
2. Spread on the parchment paper/or baking mat. Aim for about 5-7 cm in thickness
3. Bake at 350F for 1 hr and 30 minutes.

Banana Oatbran muffins with Cacao Nibs

This week we let the bananas overripe, not on purpose of course. I hate throwing out food and usually I try to create the recipe to use the food before it goes bad.

Ingredients:
1.5 cups of red fife flour (or eincorn flour)
1 cup of oatbran
1/3 cup of brown sugar
1 cup of coconut water
3 overripe bananas, mashed (I mashed them with a fork)
2 tbsp of cacao nibs
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt

Process:
Mix all ingredients in a bowl. I did not take the blender out, just used a regular spoon.
Place the dough in the muffin forms.
Bake at 375F for 25-30 minutes. Let them cool off in the over for 5-10 minutes.
Enjoy!

Carrot and apple muffin - vegan and gluten free option

#easyfoodcreations #healthyeating #muffin #carrot

Today my son asked for muffins. I asked what does he want in his muffin...he said carrots and apples!

So we pulled a big bowl and set my son in his muffin mixing position with a measuring cup in one hand and a spoon in the other.

Ingredients:

1.5 c millet, milled into a flour

0.75 c buckwheat flour 

4 tbsp flax, milled and mixed with 6 tbsp of water and set aside for a few minutes

2 sweet apples

2 medium size carrots

2 handfuls of raisins

0.25 c honey

1 tbsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1.5 tbsp of cinnamon 

1 tsp vanilla powder

1 tbsp of grape seed oil

1. In a bowl, mix all dry ingredients.

2. Grate carrots and add to the mix. I grated them on the small eye grater.

3. Place cored apples in the blender and blend until you have apple sauce. Add to the bowl.

4. Add flax mix, honey, and oil to the bowl and mix everything well.

5. Add raisins and mix everything together.

6. Place mixture in the muffin forms.

7. Bake in a preheated oven at 177c for 30-35 minutes

8. Enjoy!