I think the best thing about being a food blogger is finding and connecting with other people who share the same interests in food. This weekend, I attended a picnic with about a dozen other Bay Area food bloggers in San Francisco’s Duboce Park, where we shared some of our best dishes. Needless to say, I was overjoyed.
Unfortunately, I was too eager to eat the food, so I didn’t get a chance to take a photo of my plate when it was still full. Photographed here is a portion of Greek quinoa salad, baked pineapple rice, almond and peanut butter cookies, corn fritters with a pepper sauce, a bit of melon, and the remains of a samosa casserole. All delicious!
Among the group were many established cooks/bloggers who have written at least one cookbook. My cookbook record: a big fat zero. I felt slightly intimidated to be among this group of seasoned cooks, but everyone made me feel welcome. At the end of the day, we all shared the same passion for food, and I could definitely talk all day about it.
My contribution to the picnic were these vegan banana nut muffins and my baked Cajun chips. I have been meaning to try a recipe from the Oh She Glows cookbook, and I thought this weekend would be a great one to tackle something. There’s a lovely oil-free chocolate-zucchini muffins recipe in there that I adapted into these banana nut muffin. I just had to get rid of a few overripe bananas lying around my house before the fruit flies get to them first.
To my surprise, these muffins were delightfully moist even though they didn’t contain any oil! Most importantly, these muffins had legit muffin tops, and you know how much I love them muffin tops!
Vegan Banana Nut Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 TBS ground flax seed
- 3 TBS water
- 1 1/4 cups soy milk
- 2 tsp apple cider vinegar, or lemon juice
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour, regular whole wheat flour works also
- 1/2 cup coconut sugar, cane sugar works also
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3 TBS maple syrup
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 medium ripe bananas, mashed
- 1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 2/3 cup walnuts, chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (177 degrees C). Spray 12 muffin tins with non-stick spray or line them with muffin liners.
- In a small bowl, mix the ground flax and water together to create a flax egg. Set it aside so that the mixture can thicken.
- In a medium bowl, mix the soy milk with apple cider vinegar. Set it aside to allow the milk to curdle a bit, just like homemade buttermilk.
- In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Add the milk, maple syrup, vanilla extract and mashed bananas until well incorporated. Fold in the coconut and chopped walnuts.
- Pour the muffin batter into the 12 tins. I was able to fill them all to the top.
- Bake the muffins for about 15 to 17 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let the muffins cool for a few minutes before eating.
- Store the muffins in an airtight container in room temperature for a few days or refrigerate them.
Notes
Looking for more muffin inspiration? Try these Lemon Zucchini Muffins!
Sarah Grace says
These look delicious Lisa! Anything banana bread tasting and I’m in!
xoxo Sarah Grace, Fresh Fit N Healthy.
Lisa says
Thanks, Sarah Grace! I want to test out other ingredients to add to banana bread, so stay tuned!
Alex @ DelishKnowledge says
Sounds like a great weekend! I would love to do a blogger meet up! I’m in Sacramento so if there is another one in SF, I’m more than happy to drive 🙂
I LOVE the Oh She Glows cookbook! I’ve made the zucchini muffins and they are awesome- can’t wait to try these!
Lisa says
Alex, I didn’t realize you are in Sac! I’ll definitely let you know when the next blogger meet-up is!
rika@vm says
Wow they look absolutely yummy! I love banana muffins, and they are so good with vegan butter & caramel 🙂 🙂
Lisa says
Yum, vegan butter + caramel sounds soooo good in these muffins!
Dietitian Debbie says
Yum! That sounds like such a fun blogger meet up. 🙂 I can’t wait to try these muffins – I happen to have a couple of ripe bananas sitting on the counter that would be perfect.
Lisa says
Yes! Let me know if you try making these muffins!
Pamela @ Brooklyn Farm Girl says
These are totally going to become my new favorite breakfast muffins!
Lisa says
Thanks, Pamela! I love anything with bananas in the morning!
Karla - The Candid Kitchen says
wow Lisa these muffins look great! I love banana and always have some really ripe ones at home that should be perfect for this recipe. A food blogger meet up sounds like a lot of fun 🙂
Lisa says
Thanks, Karla! I know, I couldn’t believe how big the food blogging community was until I started meeting people. We should all have them more often, really!
Christine@ Apple of My Eye says
Ohh, these look absolutely delicious! I love that they’re vegan and still moist, even without adding in oil or butter.
I think it’s so cool that you met up with some other food bloggers. My cookbook total is a big fat 0 as well haha. I’m thinking about one day writing an eBook, though!
Lisa says
Thanks, Christine! I love the recipes on your blog, so I would totally buy your eBook!!!
Kelli @Hungry Hobby says
I need to get out my coconut sugar bag and start baking with it! These look delicious!
Lisa says
Yes! I don’t like overly sweet baked goods, so coconut sugar is good for that. Also, Trader Joe’s sells coconut sugar at a pretty reasonable price. Check it out!
Thalia @ butter and brioche says
nothing beats a good home baked muffin! they look delicious…
Lisa says
Thanks, Thalia! It’s so true–home baked muffins are the best. I actually don’t enjoy eating store-bought muffins anymore because they taste way too processed to me now!