Easy and delicious immune boosting blueberry muffins (Vegan + Gluten Free)

I remember in high school my best friend Carol worked in the bakery in the local grocery store. She was always making muffins. Big yummy muffins. The muffins she made back then were, I'm sure, not very good for us.

Fast-forward 20 years (ack has it been that long?) and she's still making muffins. But this time they're good for us and they taste damn good too.

Carol put this recipe for muffins on Facebook the other day and I decided to make them with Leo. When I asked where the recipe came from, she said: "It's mine!"I had a feeling it was. So with her permission, I give you her Easy and delicious immune-boosting* blueberry muffins.

Make them. They rock.

EASY AND DELICIOUS IMMUNE-BOOSTING BLUEBERRY MUFFINS (Vegan + Gluten-Free)

Makes 12

Pre-heat oven to 400ºF

1 cup brown rice flour
1 cup chickpea flour
1/4 cup tapioca flour
1 tbsp psyllium husk

1/2 tsp sea salt

1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/4 cup blueberries
3/4 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup coconut oil, melted
1 1/2 cups almond milk

Mix dry ingredients, add in wet ingredients, mix and bake in a muffin pan for 20-25 minutes. (See easy!)

Notes: Use the coconut oil if you have it. If you don't, go get some. It really brings these muffins up a notch and is a huge part of the immune-booster. I didn't have enough maple syrup so I used a combo of syrup, honey and brown rice syrup and they were equally delicious.

*So what makes these muffins immune-boosting anyway?
Coconut oil and blueberries have been said to boost immunes and help fight against cold and flu. Read more here and here.

That's it! Happy Friday and have a great weekend eating these up!

healthy spelt banana nut muffins

I've been on a bit of a baking kick over the past two weeks, likely for two reasons: 1. I'm pregnant and want baked goods 2. My past is coming back to me (I was once told by a psychic that I was a baker in a former life, so this reason is making total sense to me!).

Anyway, I had some gross looking black bananas in the freezer, so I put them to good use in some banana muffins.

I like pretty healthy baked goods, so I typed "healthy banana muffins" into Google and this is what I found: Healthy Banana Muffins by DDHMAMA on Spark Recipes. I changed it up a bit. Here's what I did:

Minutes to Prepare: about 15
Minutes to Cook: 20 (my oven is a bit cooler than most)
Number of Servings: I got 12 out of this but DDHMAMA got 20 somehow

Ingredients:
- 2 cups spelt flour
- about 1/8 a cup of agave nectar (I basically squiggled it around the bowl)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- dash or two of pumpkin pie spice
- 1/2 cup ground flax seed
- 1 egg
- 3/4 cup almond milk
- 1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup mashed bananas (2-3 bananas)
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 400

Directions:
- Combine all dry ingredients in one bowl: spelt flour, baking soda and powder, salt, nuts, spices, ground flax
- Beat the egg in a separate bowl. Whisk in milk, applesauce, agave nectar, and vanilla to the eggs.
- Whisk wet ingredients into dry ingredients. Fold bananas in.
- Divide the batter among a greased or paper-lined muffin tin. I used a flowery, silicone Pampered Chef pan which I have to say I really love.
- Bake for about 18-20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Yield:
- Makes 12 muffins

Review
I could have added more agave nectar (these turned out a bit on the slightly blandish side which is fine by me because I can sweeten them up with some apple butter ;)) and the recipe called for molasses which I totally forgot to add. I also think I could have added one more mushy banana. Overall, they're good for me, pretty healthy and I don't feel bad about giving them to the little one.

not bad

ok so the apple cake wasn't bad but it wasn't as scrumptious as I had hoped. I think it had something to do with using skim milk instead of whole milk.... I will definitely make it again but with the proper ingredients next time!

the baker within my former self

when I was in high school, I went to a psychic fair with my friend Helen. As Helen walked off to get her palms read, I sauntered over to have my fortune told by some psychic dude. While taping my conversation, psychic dude told me all of the things about myself that I did and didn't want to hear: you won't marry your current boyfriend, you will get married to someone, you'll have two kids etc., etc...

One thing he did mention was that in a former life I was a baker -- he said I baked and baked and baked until I couldn't bake anymore. I thought this was crazy because I'm not a big fan of baking. I burn things, my cookies never turn out, I suck at making apple crisp and I messed up my easter cheese cake this year. (I now have become a regular at the local Sweet Tooth Desserts Cafe where they sell scrumptious tarts and cakes).

So this morning for some reason I decided to attempt yet another dessert -- the Apple-Cinnamon Upside-Down Cake, thanks to Martha. Well I must have been channelling my former me because to my delight and suprise, I think it turned out! I'll let you know tomorrow if it tastes as good as it looks.