These vegan-friendly banana blueberry muffins are the perfect treat to prep ahead of time on the weekend to savor throughout the rest of your week. They work easily as a breakfast, snack, or dessert option.
Before I get to these fluffy little delights that are my newest sweet creation to come out of the kitchen, I must first saying a giant THANK YOU to everyone for the congratulatory messages and comments on my big news I had to share with you on my recent engagement this past week!
Wade and I are so appreciative of the love! Big hugs to you all!
Wade and I are so appreciative of the love! Big hugs to you all!
Back to the featured recipe of this post--the vegan banana blueberry muffins. First, a little bit of a back story as to how these muffins came about.
It all started with a mission.
I am saying goodbye, adios, and sayonara to most packaged and processed foods for an entire month. So long to white flours and white sugars.
It all started with a mission.
I am saying goodbye, adios, and sayonara to most packaged and processed foods for an entire month. So long to white flours and white sugars.
But fear not! This blog will not be changing up it's usual tendency towards healthy and wholesome foods. And I am most certainly not going vegan or vegetarian. My good friend and I decided a couple months ago that we would both like to do a little experimenting with our diets by cutting out overly processed foods and extra sugars to give our digestive systems a gentle cleansing, so to speak.
The beginning of the new year usually marks a time for diet overhauls for many folks looking to kickstart healthier lifestyle habits. Originally, my buddy and I had planned on trying out paleo for a month.
But...lets' just say I think we both came to the conclusion that we are far too addicted to our favorite go-to breakfasts during these colder months: oatmeal. That and the fact that we both thought as long as we just stuck to 100% whole grains for our new month-long diet, we'd be on the right page.
Therefore we have decided to call this little experiment the Real and Whole Foods Diet!
The beginning of the new year usually marks a time for diet overhauls for many folks looking to kickstart healthier lifestyle habits. Originally, my buddy and I had planned on trying out paleo for a month.
But...lets' just say I think we both came to the conclusion that we are far too addicted to our favorite go-to breakfasts during these colder months: oatmeal. That and the fact that we both thought as long as we just stuck to 100% whole grains for our new month-long diet, we'd be on the right page.
Therefore we have decided to call this little experiment the Real and Whole Foods Diet!
The main things we will be cutting out of our diet (as strictly as we possibly can) for a month include:
--white, refined flours
--white, refined sugars (cane sugar, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, etc.)
--most packed and processed foods with unnecessary, added ingredients
--alcohol
Doesn't sound too bad, right? I generally eat a real and whole foods based diet anyways. It's the little snacks and treats here and there that throw me off. The random cookies my coworker brings into work...that piece of candy leftover from Christmas just calling my name...
But I just want to give my body a long break from the added sugars and unnecessary treats when I know I could be snacking on some healthier options.
--white, refined flours
--white, refined sugars (cane sugar, high fructose corn syrup, corn syrup, etc.)
--most packed and processed foods with unnecessary, added ingredients
--alcohol
Doesn't sound too bad, right? I generally eat a real and whole foods based diet anyways. It's the little snacks and treats here and there that throw me off. The random cookies my coworker brings into work...that piece of candy leftover from Christmas just calling my name...
But I just want to give my body a long break from the added sugars and unnecessary treats when I know I could be snacking on some healthier options.
I'm looking forward to this! I think my body will thank me. I bet you could do it too!
Our diets are officially starting on January 12 and we have planned to *strictly* continue them until February 12. Just in time before Valentine's Day, which we all know is typically a holiday celebrated with some special meal splurges. I'm looking forward to having a glass of wine and some indulgent dessert on that holiday weekend.
Plus Wade and I have our first engagement party on that same weekend. So excited!
Our diets are officially starting on January 12 and we have planned to *strictly* continue them until February 12. Just in time before Valentine's Day, which we all know is typically a holiday celebrated with some special meal splurges. I'm looking forward to having a glass of wine and some indulgent dessert on that holiday weekend.
Plus Wade and I have our first engagement party on that same weekend. So excited!
To give you some inspiration, I thought I'd share with you one of the sweet treats I managed to whip up that fit perfectly into our month-long diet overhaul. I knew the desserts and sweet snacks would be the toughest things to try and replace for the both of us. I, admittedly, have a sweet tooth that could rival a whole classroom full of first graders during their Halloween party at school.
I stumbled upon this recipe on Two Peas and Their Pod's blog featuring some vegan banana blueberry muffins. Because I hardly ever follow a recipe exactly, I felt the need to experiment and come up with my own version.
For these muffins I used a mixture of white whole wheat flour, ground oat flour (which is just rolled oats ground into a fine powder in a food processor), and ground flaxseed. If you wanted to try exclusively using white whole wheat flour and just cutting out the oat flour and flaxseed, please do! Use whatever you have on hand. The oat flour and flaxseed just add more good-for-you nutrients than simply using white whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour.
For the bananas, I had some frozen, overripe bananas I just thawed and mashed. The more ripe the banans, the sweeter the muffins will be. As for the dates, I soaked them in water for roughly 30 minutes before chopping them up because it creates more of a date "paste" before adding to the mixture.
For these muffins I used a mixture of white whole wheat flour, ground oat flour (which is just rolled oats ground into a fine powder in a food processor), and ground flaxseed. If you wanted to try exclusively using white whole wheat flour and just cutting out the oat flour and flaxseed, please do! Use whatever you have on hand. The oat flour and flaxseed just add more good-for-you nutrients than simply using white whole wheat flour or all-purpose flour.
For the bananas, I had some frozen, overripe bananas I just thawed and mashed. The more ripe the banans, the sweeter the muffins will be. As for the dates, I soaked them in water for roughly 30 minutes before chopping them up because it creates more of a date "paste" before adding to the mixture.
Vegan Banana Blueberry Muffins
*adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod Vegan Banana Blueberry Muffins*
Serves: 12 muffins
Ingredients:
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1/4 cup ground oat flour
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
4 large ripe bananas
1/2 cup stevia
3 dates, pitted, soaked in water, finely chopped into "paste" texture
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup unsweetened almondmilk
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract (I use Molina brand)
1 cup fresh blueberries
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or lightly spray muffin pan(s) with coconut oil.
In medium sized bowl, mix together the whole wheat flour, oat flour, flaxseed, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
Peel and mash bananas in a large bowl. Add in stevia, chopped date "paste", melted coconut oil, unsweetened almondmilk, and vanilla extract. Whisk these ingredients together until well incorporated--roughly 30 seconds-min. Really whisk it! Put some effort into it!
Gently mix dry ingredients into large bowl of wet ingredients just until completely combined. Fold in blueberries. Fill each muffin tin 3/4 of the way full with mixture. Bake 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into muffin comes out clean.
Ingredients:
1 cup white whole wheat flour
1/4 cup ground oat flour
1/4 cup ground flaxseed
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
4 large ripe bananas
1/2 cup stevia
3 dates, pitted, soaked in water, finely chopped into "paste" texture
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
1/2 cup unsweetened almondmilk
2 tsp. pure vanilla extract (I use Molina brand)
1 cup fresh blueberries
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or lightly spray muffin pan(s) with coconut oil.
In medium sized bowl, mix together the whole wheat flour, oat flour, flaxseed, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Set aside.
Peel and mash bananas in a large bowl. Add in stevia, chopped date "paste", melted coconut oil, unsweetened almondmilk, and vanilla extract. Whisk these ingredients together until well incorporated--roughly 30 seconds-min. Really whisk it! Put some effort into it!
Gently mix dry ingredients into large bowl of wet ingredients just until completely combined. Fold in blueberries. Fill each muffin tin 3/4 of the way full with mixture. Bake 20-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into muffin comes out clean.
Linking up with Delicious Dish Tuesday
And my blogger buddy, Heather, over at Housewife Glamour for Friday Favorites!
What type of diet do you follow right now? Have you experimented with many diets? Paleo, vegan, vegetarian, Atkins, etc.?
D you have a favorite healthy baked sweet treat you have made before?
D you have a favorite healthy baked sweet treat you have made before?
