Vegan Blueberry Corn Muffins

GF Guy is home, and I suddenly feel like baking again!

It has been over a year since I last made muffins. His first morning home seemed like the perfect time to pull out the old muffin tin and give it a go. I went to my favorite GF recipe blog, The Gluten Free Goddess, where I found a delicious recipe for hearty, whole grain blueberry muffins.

I made a few changes based on the ingredients I had on hand, as I do. GF Guy and I both LOVED them! My changes are highlighted in red. Feel free to follow the link to view the original recipe, and to check out the Gluten Free Goddess’s other delicious recipes!

Blueberry Corn Muffins

(Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Vegan)

A la Karina the Gluten Free Goddess

Ingredients:

• 3/4 cup certified Gluten Free Yellow Corn Meal
• 1/2 cup Brown Rice Flour
• 1/2 cup Sorghum Flour
• 1/4 Tapioca Starch
• 1/4 cup Corn Starch
• 2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/2 tsp Sea Salt
• 1 1/2 tsp Xanthum Gum
• 1/2 cup Turbinado Sugar
• 1 tsp Cinnamon
• 1/4 cup Light Olive Oil
• 1 Tblsp Organic Honey
• 2 tsp Bourbon Vanilla Extract
• 1 tsp Lemon Juice
• 2 Flax Eggs (2 Tblsp Flax Meal combined with 6 Tblsp warm Water)
• 1 cup Warm Water (3/4 cup for low altitude cooking)
• 1 heaping cup fresh, Organic Blueberries

Directions:

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees F. (350 degrees F for low altitude)
2. Grease a muffin tin with dairy free buttery substitute, like Earth Balance.
3. In a large bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients.
4. Add wet ingredients and stir until evenly combined. Adjust liquid ratio as needed. Batter should be thick enough to scoop, but not stiff.
5. Fold in fresh blueberries.
6. Scoop batter into greased muffin tin, filling each cup 3/4 of the way full.
7. Bake in preheated oven 17-20 minutes, until done.
8. Allow to cool 5-7 minutes in the muffin tin before turning onto a cooling rack.
9. Enjoy warm with someone you love!

Vegan Carrot Bundt Cake

I arrived home from weeks of travel to discover a family-sized bag of baby carrots languishing away in the back of my refrigerator.

There was absolutely no way I would be able to eat all the carrots before they met an untimely demise. (The tragedy!) I follow a very strict “no vegetable left behind” program in my kitchen. There was no way I was going to let these poor, innocent baby carrots go to waste. The time had come for a cake. Not being a fan of overly sweet desserts, I shied away from the typical carrot cake progression in favor of an ice-less bundt cake. Just the right amount of sweetness, for my taste, but feel free to top with a powdered sugar glaze is that is more your cup of tea.

Vegan Carrot Bundt Cake

(Gluten Free, Dairy Free, Vegan)

Ingredients:

• 1 cup Sorghum Flour
• 1 cup Tapioca Starch
• 3/4 cup Chestnut Flour (1/2 cup for high altitude baking)
• 2 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 1 1/2 tsp Xanthum Gum
• 1 Tblsp Cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp Cloves
• 1 cup Turbinado Sugar
• 1/2 cup Light Brown Sugar
• 1/2 cup Organic, Non-GMO Canola Oil
• 1/4 cup Earth Balance Coconut Spread, melted
• 3 Tblsp Flax Seed Meal combined with 9 Tblsp Warm Water, let stand 10 minutes before using (= 3 large eggs)
• 1 2/3 cup Unsweetened, Light Coconut Milk
• 3 cups Grated Carrots

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. (375 for high altitude baking)
2. In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients until combined.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the cinnamon, cloves, sugars, oils, flax eggs, and coconut milk until smooth.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until combined.
5. Gently fold in the grated carrots until evenly incorporated.
6. Pour the batter into a greased and floured bundt cake pan.
7. Smooth the batter with a spatula and place in 350 degree oven.
8. Bake 45-55 minutes, until done.
9. Cool 10 minutes in the pan before turning onto a cooling rack.
10. Cool completely before serving.

Mexican Chocolate Cake

…..I baked with real sugar…..

image source

*gasp*

I know! Shocking isn’t it?

Personally, I am not a huge sugar fan. My go-to sweeteners are honey, maple syrup, or stevia.  However, I fully acknowlege that I live in a world that loves sugar. So, when cooking for others, I will occaisionally use real sugar. That is what I did for this recipe, and it is darn good, too! 🙂

As a thank you for my friend who took me on a date to see Jersey Boys, I made this delicious chocolate cake. He is an unabashed choco-holic, who also happens to be lactose-intolerant. Ouch, right?

There was no time to stage a proper photo shoot of the cake. We were in a hurry to get to the theater. But, trust me, this is light, moist, and not even the least bit “gluten-free tasting”. The 2 secret ingredients are Coffee Extract and decadant Taza Chocolate.

 I think I may have created my new favorite cake recipe!

Mexican Chocolate Cake

(Gluten Free, Dairy Free)

Ingredients:

• 2 large Organic Eggs, beaten
• 3/4 cup Sugar
• 1/3 cup Earth Balance Vegan Buttery Spread, softened
• 1 tsp Bourbon Vanilla Extract
• 1 tsp Coffee Extract
• 1 1/4 cups Unsweetened Original Almond Milk (1 1/2 cups if baking at a high altitude)
• 1/2 cup Sorghum Flour
• 1/2 cup Brown Rice Flour
• 1/2 cup Tapioca Starch
• 1 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
• 1/2 tsp Baking Soda
• 1 tsp Xanthum Gum
• 1/4 tsp Salt
• 2.7 ounces Taza Cinnamon Chocolate Mexicano, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. (375 degrees F if baking at a high altitude)
2. In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, sugar, vanilla extract, coffee extract, Earth Balance, and almond milk until smooth.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together flours, tapioca starch, baking powder, baking soda, xanthum, gum, and salt.
4. Slowly whisk dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, stirring until just combined.
5. Fold in the chopped Taza Chocolate.
6. Pour batter into an 8×8 square baking pan lightly greased with Earth Balance.
7. Bake in preheated oven 25-30 minutes, until a knife inserted near the center comes out clean.
8. Cool completely before cutting.
9. Top with a light dusting of powdered sugar to serve.

This post is linked to Allergy Free Wednesday and Gluten Free Wednesday.