Date, Walnut, Pumpkin and Banana Oat Muffins
1 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (or half whole-wheat or wholewheat pastry flour)
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon*
1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg*
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves*
1/2 teaspoon salt (optional)
1 cup chopped organic dates
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1 vegan egg (1 heaped tablespoon ground flaxseeds mixed with 1/4 cup water and allowed to stand for five minutes)
3/4 cup soy milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil (can use applesauce for lower fat version)
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 cup mashed banana
3/4 cup pumpkin (a can of pumpkin yields about 1 3/4 cups – so if you use 1 cup for something here is a great way to use up the rest!)
Preheat oven to 400F or 205C.
Spray 12 cup muffin pan with non-stick spray.
In a large bowl sieve together flour, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt if using. Add oats and sugar and stir well.
In a medium bowl, stir together the soy milk, oil, and vanilla and flaxseed egg.
Add the mashed banana, and combine thoroughly. You can use the bowl you have used to mash the bananas in to save on washing up!
Stir the banana mixture into the dry mix until well combined. Divide the batter among the 12 muffin cups.
Bake at 400 degrees F (205 degrees C) for 18 to 20 minutes.
Remove from pan after about a minute and finish cooling on rack to avoid soggy muffins. These freeze extremely well.
* Add more if you like more spice but please try recipe with these amounts first so you know how much more to add the next time!
SO HOW'D IT GO?
Really impressed by these babies. Oftentimes muffins have too much sugar in them for me and not enough other good stuff....these are rich, fluffy, moist, and hearty without spiking my blood sugar in the morning too bad--yet they are STILL perfectly sweet!....thanks so much!
oh i just wanted to add that this recipe made 16 instead of 12 muffins for me.. if i had put all the batter into 12 muffin cups it would have overflowed everywhere.. maybe if i had big muffin cups it would be 12..
Yum yum yum.. these will be perfect for breakfast.. I accidentally switched the banana and oil amounts and used currants instead of dates, but they are super moist, fluffy and delicious! Thanks for the yummy recipe
:)
I was looking for a way to finish off a can of pumpkin puree and these muffins were a fantastic way to do it! In the instructions it did not say when to add in the pumpkin, dates, or walnuts (I used pecans) but I added the pumpkin right before the banana and the dates and nuts when the wet and dry ingredients had been mixed together which worked out well. Great texture and taste! Next time I might use dried cranaberries instead of dates for a little more zing, but otherwise I wouldn't change a thing.