Vegan Banana Blueberry Lactation Muffins

Clearly there is a trend going on here! Since staying in Seattle for my sister's birth, I have been trying to help her out in as many ways as possible. One major way is cooking for her and her family, and one thing every new mother needs is energy! These hearty muffins are packed with energy giving nutrients, they are vegan, have good fat, no refined sugar and can easily be made gluten free.

They are also (almost) endlessly adaptable! For example, you can use up to 5 cups of oats and only 1 cup of flour for a much denser, "baked oatmeal" type of muffin. Leave out the brewer's yeast if you don't have it on hand (if you aren't specifically using these for milk production that is, if you are making the muffins to boost your system do leave the yeast in. Read this post for info!). You can vary the fruit from blueberries to any other berry, dried fruit or omit all together. They'd be delightful with some chopped nuts folded in and/or some nuts, oats, or sugar sprinkled on top. Add in some shredded unsweetened coconut, omit the banana and add an extra cup of applesauce... you get the picture!

Vegan Banana Blueberry Lactation Muffins
adapted from Knocked Up - Knocked Over

3 c. oats (1 c. blended into oat flour)
3 c. flour (can be gluten-free, whole wheat or unbleached all purpose- I used a mix of all three)
1/3 c. flax seed meal
1/3 c. brewer's yeast/nutritional yeast
1 1/2 t. baking soda
3 t. baking powder
1 t. salt
1 T. cinnamon
1 banana, mashed
2 c. applesauce
3/4 c. oil (olive or coconut melted is best, I used canola)
3/4 c. maple syrup, agave or honey (to taste)
2 t. vanilla
2 c. coconut milk + 1 T. vinegar (or any alt milk)
1-2 c. blueberries (tossed with a bit of the flour to help them not sink to the bottom of the muffins)

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Whisk oats, flour, flax seed meal, yeast, baking soda, baking powder, salt + cinnamon in a large bowl.

Whisk (or blend in batches!) banana, applesauce, oil, maple syrup, vanilla + coconut milk in a medium bowl.

Gently stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until almost incorporated. Fold in blueberries. Fill sprayed muffin tins and bake for ~20 minutes. Enjoy! This recipe makes 2 dozen, and extras can be easily frozen (if you can't eat them quick enough!)

Vegan Links

It has been just about 3 months since I last posted, and for good reason. After several years of un and underemployment I got a full time teaching job! I am so excited about it, it's a great progressive preschool with a fantastic small staff and lots of possibility. But given that big life change, I haven't had the energy to blog or do much else besides work and rest. So with that in mind, I have a quick post today with links to some amazing Holiday appropriate recipes that we made over Thanksgiving.

I had Thanksgiving with my in-laws and at our table we had omnivores, vegans, folks eating gluten-free and some wanting to avoid sugar. We all compromised a bit and came up with a fantastic menu that was almost vegan, often gluten-free, low in sugar and all delicious! A friend came last minute with severe Celiac disease (we're talking weeks of pain with a single bite of anything glutinous) and he was able to eat a full plate of food. It made my heart feel so good to be able to meet his dietary needs without even trying. And heck, if we had known we could have de-glutenized the whole meal!

Here are some highlights:

Sweet potato & pecan cinnamon rolls, pre-rise

Sweet Potato and Pecan Cinnamon Rolls- For breakfast! I actually used canned pumpkin because we forgot to cook the sweet potatoes in time, but either way they were delicious :)

Tofu Pot Pie filling 

Vegan Tofu Pot Pie- Delicious, hearty and filling, I find this recipe equally appropriate for the holidays or a weekend meal. We added some mushrooms cooked in red wine to add richness and depth, as well.

Amazing crudite spread~ veggies, homemade hummus, gluten-free chips

Sweet Potato Casserole- A vegan version of a staple in our house for the last 13 years. I have to say, I didn't miss the eggs and cream one bit!

The whole meal, Norman Rockwell style

Cranberry Relish with dried cherries, jam, vinegar and Grand Marnier- A few more ingredients than the homemade cranberry sauce I've done in the past, but WAY more flavor. This sauce is so so good and got a lot of compliments. It is also versatile and easy to modify. We used rum for our alcohol and mixed berry jam with apple cider vinegar instead of raspberry vinegar. Also, I completely got ahead of myself and added all the ingredients at once instead of in the cooking order the recipe called for. Still worked just fine.

Tequila, thanksgiving style, cause this is how we roll in the kitchen :)

Chocolate Agave Cream Pie- Oh my. This is possibly the best chocolate pie I've ever had. Very rich and dense. I made it with only 1 box of silken tofu because we ran out which gave a denser feel to it, next time I may try following the recipe exactly for a lighter texture, but honestly this was incredible and I made it again a week later (with just 1 box of tofu) for my husband's birthday.

Gluten free Pumpkin Pie with Praline and Coconut-Pecan Crust, Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie and  Chocolate Agave Cream Pie (from bottom left)

Gluten-free Pumpkin Pie with Praline and Coconut-Pecan Crust- This was the best pumpkin pie I've ever had. And we didn't even make the praline topping! Next time I'd reduce the cinnamon in the crust, but only because I'm a little sensitive to cinnamon.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie- Another winner! The only thing I'd change is omitting the banana and using extra pumpkin and extra sweetener to compensate (I'm not a fan of cooked banana). The texture was brilliant and it was an absolute beauty.

Pumpkin Cheesecake Pie

There you have it! Go, cook, enjoy and hug your loved ones :)

Apple Cherry Crisp: sugar-free, gluten-free, vegan

I whipped this out quickly on Sunday for a little get together with some in from out of town friends. Bonus: one of them is a new vegan, too, so we had lots to chat about! I love the challenge of making recipes with less or no sugar, if only to see if they'll turn out. This definitely did work out, it definitely tastes "wholesome" and you actually taste the fruit rather than all the sugar. That's fine with me. Another Bonus: that means I can eat it for breakfast. Huzzah.

evidence of crisp as breakfast food

I had a brainstorm while making this about my grandma's peach cobbler and if I could veganize it and take out all or some of the sugar. So that is definitely in the works!

Apple Cherry Crisp: easily vegan, gluten-free and sugar-free
heavily adapted from Post Punk Kitchen

Fruit:
3 large apples, peeled and sliced*
1 pint cherry preserves (choose any jam flavor you like, can be sugar-free)
juice of 1 lemon (~2 T.)
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ginger
1 T. cornstarch (or arrowroot)

*I originally chopped the apples on the chunky side and left the peel on, in the future I will peel and slice as I think it will have a better overall tooth-feel. Although certainly do what feels good to your taste!

Crisp Topping:
1 c. flour (I used barley flour, can easily use gluten-free)
1 c. oats
1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/3 c. oil (healthy oil such as light olive oil, sunflower or coconut)
1 tsp.vanilla
2-4 T. maple syrup, honey or agave to taste

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine fruit filling ingredients in a large bowl, set aside. Preferably set this mixture aside for an hour to macerate and get the juices flowing, although not necessary.

In a separate bowl, mix flour, oats, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Add oil, vanilla and sweetener and stir until combined.

In an 8x8 pan add fruit mixture and cover with the topping mixture. Bake for ~45 minutes. Serve with vegan ice cream or coconut whipped cream.

before popping in the oven