Brilliant Banana Bread Muffins VEGAN & Gluten Free
Well, it certainly seems like summer here in the UK with temperatures staying in the 20’s (68f+) all week BUT that doesn’t mean we haven’t had rain! Oh we’ve had two thunderstorms with sheet lightning AND a hail storm with hail the size of chickpeas! Oh yes! It was noisy! Real noisy! No warning either just a sudden torrent of white balls bouncing on the grass like Ping-Pong balls amongst the rain causing flash floods like a river outside our house! Woe betide anyone who was walking past as the cars couldn’t help but spray water up and over the pavement and the front garden wall! Unbelievably less than 4 hours later we had perfect blue skies and the road was as dry as anything as it once again baked in the sun.
Perfect weather for digging! We are now the proud owner (well, lessee) of an allotment! Thanks Sophie for the inspiration!!! Woohoo! 😀 We’ve only been on the waiting list about as long as I’ve known you! So I’d say well over two years!?! Most definitely not without its challenges though! Somebody said nobody’s attended to it since September last year, then somebody else said at least two years! Weeds, weeds, weeds and carpet! Yes, carpet! What a lot of rubbish! Bits of rotten wood, metal strips, bricks, even a live wasps nest!
Not your typical allotment!!! LOTS to do before we even think of planting!
Thankfully I have some good workers (you know who you are)! and we have at least a skip full of rubbish already! Almost ready for planting (I know its late-we’ve got plants growing at home waiting to be moved)! Do you grow anything? Any tips? Suggestions for the best flowers to plant with the veg to get rid of bugs? 😀
And so to cake! Well, you see, after all that hard work efforts need to be rewarded! Over on my instagram I said I would experiment with more cake recipes and this is the first. In fact these went down SO well, they’ve been made twice in three days!!! Yes, these are a winner! Please don’t be put off with the seemingly long list of ingredients, the cakes themselves are so simple to make, literally blend everything together! If you have a play around with the ingredients let me know how they turned out in the comments below and tag @LifeDietHealth or #LifeDietHealth so I can see your creations! 😀
I’m sharing these muffins around this week (they’re so good you know you want to)! So come on over to Deborah’s new look Plant Based Potluck Party , then come and see Angie and everyone over at Fiesta Friday… there’s no co-hosts this week so you get to help choose the features for next week! 😀 So many people to meet, so many yummy things to try!!! 🙂
Brilliant Banana Bread Muffins (Vegan & Free-From)
Gather
- 1 tablespoon ground flaxseeds
- 3 tablespoons water
- 350g (3 or 4) ripe bananas (the riper the better)
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 50ml coconut oil
- 75g maple SUGAR
- 75g coconut syrup
- 1.5 tablespoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
- 1/2 teaspoon Maldon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon mixed spice
- 180ml plant based milk ( we use unsweetened carton coconut)
- 100g ground almonds
- 140g gluten free flour mix
- 50g brown rice flour
- 100g porridge oats (gluten free if required)
- *optional extras – more fresh banana, nuts, choc chips, raisins etc.
Prepare
- Put the ground flaxseeds in a glass and add the water, stir well and leave.
- In a blender (or food processor) put bananas, vanilla, coconut oil, sugar, syrup, baking powder, xanthan gum, salt, spice and milk. Blend until you have a very smooth batter.
- Add the flaxseeds to the batter and mix again.
- Put the almonds, gluten free flour, brown rice flour and oats in the blender and pulse several times until it is combined.
- Pour into muffin cases about 3/4 full. Add some extras to the filling if you’d like but entirely optional (my son loved fresh banana chunks pushed in, I chose pecans, oh and dark chocolate pieces)!
- Add a final touch to the top again optional (but especially good if you’ve made a few different variations) such as a slice of fresh banana, a pecan, or a dusting of cacao powder.
- Bake in a preheated oven on the top shelf at Gas 4. (350f / 180c) for 20-30 minutes. A skewer test won’t work here and you don’t want to dry them out! Check their colouring instead – they should be golden brown.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack. Allow to cool completely (if you can resist) before eating (the paper will stick otherwise)!
- Enjoy!
Serve & Store
- Munch them as they are! A great snack!
- Take on a picnic or add to a packed lunch.
- Have them for dessert on their own or with ice cream.
- Change the size and make mini ones or giant ones (adjust cooking time as necessary).
- Add different centres – try a combination such as chocolate and hazelnut or raisin and dried apricot.
- Split them and ice them, frost them too!
- Serve with fresh fruit (we found strawberries growing on the allotment)!
- If you don’t have ground almonds, sub with more gluten free flour.
- Make a double batch as they wont last long!
- Store covered at room temperature.
