Blueberry Muffins

Three times a charm? In this case, twice was a charm and three times was an adventure! I tried three separate variations of vegan blueberry muffin recipes that were inspired by a recipe I found on egglesscooking.com. This was my first attempt baking with vegan ingredients and it certainly won't be the last- I've officially caught the bug.

I was adventurous with the substitutions starting from my first batch. The recipe I found online called for bleached all-purpose flour, canola oil, and rice milk. I went for a healthier twist and used whole wheat flour, coconut oil, and almond milk instead. Coconut oil is tricky because it becomes a liquid at 76 degrees so it needs to be heated in order to mix it with the other wet ingredients. What I totally spaced on was once it hit the cold almond milk, the oil started to solidify! So I needed to heat the wet ingredients as well to keep the batter clump-free. The original also called for baking soda, apple cider vinegar, salt, sugar, lemon zest and, of course, blueberries; I chose to stick with these ingredients but I did mess with some of the measurements. The original recipe called for 3/4 to 1 cup of sugar and I tried cutting it down to 1/2 cup. Also, I accidently put in a Tablespoon of baking soda instead of a teaspoon... (I know, rookie mistake #2.) They came out looking nice but they had an awful aftertaste that was definitely caused from the baking soda OD. Still proud of myself, I called my mom and bragged about how they "at least didn't fall apart!" That's when she suggested I try using baking powder.

Since the market had offered a special on blueberries and I had another carton of them anyway, I went ahead and tried again. This time, along with my mother's suggestion, I made a few ingredient, measurement, and prep changes. Here is what I used for the take two:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 lemons for lemon zest
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup almond milk
• 1/3 cup coconut oil
• 1 Tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 2 cups blueberries

After preheating the oven to 375, I combined the flour, baking powder, salt, and lemon zest in a medium bowl. Next, I liquefied the oil and heated the almond milk. Using a separate large bowl, I mixed the oil, milk, sugar and apple cider vinegar. Then, I added the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and combined without over stirring. Lastly, I mixed in the blueberries and poured the batter into the muffin tin. They were perfect after 25 minutes in the oven! I let them cool on a wire rack as long as I could but devoured one almost immediately.

Today I took it one step further and tried the same recipe but made it gluten free by substituting 2 cups of oat flour for the wheat flour. I knew it was going to be a stretch, but honestly, they came out OK! Oat flour is always going to be a bit more fragile and with no egg for binding, I knew they would be more delicate, but they were tasty! I recommend letting these cool in the muffin tin rather than a wire rack- it will help them keep their shape. I still enjoyed recipe #2 (the whole wheat version with baking powder) the best, but if you're gluten free, these are worth trying!