Vegan Series.... Friends, Not Food! Recipe #1- Vegan Banana Walnut Muffins

Friends, Not Food is a special name I like to give these series. Though I am not vegan, I prefer to open up my mind to trying this at least once a week. Besides, it makes me feel good. Vegan does not automatically mean raw or tasteless. It can still be delicious & perfect if we add the right flavours...

This first recipe is a vegan banana walnut muffin (no eggs, no dairy). But it still contains wheat and nuts, so you might want to replace those if you are allergic. These can make a perfect tea time snack and they are great because they use less sugar. I first made these for a group of friends and they absolutely loved it.

I will be posting tips because vegan cooking differs from vegetarian slightly, so pls stay tuned to those as well :-)


BANANA WALNUT MUFFINS

Ingredients
Almond Milk: makes about 100 ml which is what you need for this recipe
50g almonds, soaked overnight and peeled
50-60 ml water
Bit more than 1/2 tsp vanilla essence

Wet
3 bananas, peeled and mashed (preferably overripe)
2 tbsp coconut oil (30 ml)
Less than 1/3 cup (50 ml) normal cooking oil- I used rice bran; you may use your choice of cooking oil or margarine
More than 1/3 cup or less than 1/2 cup (90-100 ml) maple syrup
2 tbsp brown sugar
100 ml or so almond milk- see above recipe

Dry
1 cup (250g) all purpose flour
5 tbsp (75g) whole-wheat flour (atta: Hindi)
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2-1 tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch of salt
About 1/4 cup (60g) walnuts, chopped


Method:
1)
a. Preheat oven (normal ovens don't have fans, otherwise I have indicated fan)
- Normal Celsius: 180 deg C
- Normal Fahrenheit: 350 deg C
- Gas Mark 4
- Normal Fan Celsius: 140-160 deg C
- Normal Fan Fahrenheit: 284-320 deg F

b. Grease your muffin tins and line with cupcake cases

2) Blend almonds & water together into liquid. Add vanilla essence and set aside.

3) Mix bananas, almond milk, oils, syrup and sugar. Cream until well-incorporated. It will not be as fluffy as butter sugar mixture, but the mixture should be well mixed only. Don't worry about bananas being a bit lumpy, it makes muffins chunkier! :-)

4) Sift all purpose & whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda & cinnamon. Add salt and mix well. You can just do this directly into the bowl, but for best results, you should mix the flours etc separately from the liquid. 

5)  Fold in walnuts and mix gently with a spatula. Scoop batter into muffin tins and bake for 20-25 mins or until golden brown. Keep an eye on it and test with toothpick to make sure they are done.

6) Let your muffins cool and enjoy with tea or coffee :-P


- This recipe is tried & tested. Picture will soon follow...



Note:
Gluten free- if you want, you may replace both types of flour with your choice of gluten free flour

Nut allergies- you may replace with dried fruit like raisins or cranberries, otherwise oatmeal or chocolate chips are good too.