Vegan Blueberry Protein Muffins

I've been saying over the last week that of all the comfort foods out there, there's nothing quite like the blueberry muffin. I never actually ever got to eat that many growing up, but there's something about them that embodies warmth and loveliness to me. With that in mind, I've pretty much been obsessing about finding a vegan blueberry muffin recipe over the last little while. On top of that, because I'm picky, I was out to find something wheat-free, preferably low sugar (or avoiding cane sugar altogether), and low fat. Yep, I've become one of those people, so sue me.

After scouring the internet, the heavens opened and line shone in when I found this recipe on the Tone it Up girls' blog in preparation for Valentine's Day. The bonus? They're healthy and high in protein. Low fat? Only 3T of oil per batch. Low sugar? Only about 1/3C (which I knew I would cut down on anyway). Wheat-free? That's always easy to tweak with. Vegan? Blueberries? Hah, no, but now I'm up for a challenge.

When I look at it now, I pretty much changed half the recipe and turned it into vegan blueberry muffin recipe rather than one for vanilla cupcakes. Haha.. I also doubled it to make it muffin-size friendly. Apparently, if you want me to follow a recipe, you have to tie me down and tell me you'll hurt a kitten or something... Even in that case, I would probably just change one thing instead of ten.

Veganized (and Blueberry-fied)

Healthy Tone it Up Valentine's Day Cupcakes Muffins

Yield: 12 muffins

Combine ingredients in a mixing bowl...

1/2 C oat flour

1/2 C spelt flour*

1 C unflavoured vegan protein**

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/3 C sugar

Add into the dry mix one and at time, and well, mix...

2 "flax eggs" (1T ground flax + 3T water = 1 egg)***

6T olive oil

1/4 C vegan yogurt (soy, almond, coconut yogurts are great!)

1 banana mashed 

1/2C non-dairy milk

3T vanilla extract

Fold in...

3/4-1C fresh blueberries

* I know spelt is technically a wheat...

** I used Progressive's Harmonized Vegan Protein, because it's a mix of brown rice, hemp, and pea protein. I thought straight up brown rice would be too pasty. (And pea protein is delicious!)
*** "flax eggs" are a perfect baking substitute for real eggs. Just mix 1T ground flax with 3T water and let it sit for a few minutes to make 1 "egg." It should look runny (and snotty for lack of a better term) just like a real egg, plus they're full of fiber and healthy Omegas.

1. Preheat oven to 350.

2. Combine dry ingredients, progressively add in wet ingredients, and stir with a whisk 'til uniform.

3. Fold in blueberries.

4. Oil muffin tray (or use liners) and pour mix until it's about 1/2 to 3/4 full.

5. Bake for about 18 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean.

The new challenge? Not sitting down to a whole batch. These turned out so well I actually had to segregate a box for me and a box for the hubby just so I wouldn't go crazy if I woke up to an empty muffin tray (good thing too, since his is already half empty).

Have a great weekend!