Blueberry Banana Spelt Muffins (vegan + refined sugar free)
Delightful, healthy banana blueberry walnut muffins made with spelt flour so they are naturally wheat-free. If you aren’t a fan of blueberries, you can swap it with strawberries, cherries or prunes and dates. You can also leave out the walnuts and swap the almond milk for coconut milk if you’d like a nut-free version.
YIELDS – 12 LARGE MUFFINS
PREP TIME – 20 MINUTES
COOK TIME – 25 MINUTES
Ingredients:
3/4 cup mashed ripe banana (about 2 medium)
3/4 cup + 2 tablespoons unsweetened almond milk
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup pure maple syrup or honey
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/4 cup coconut oil, melted
2 cups light spelt flour (or plain flour or almond meal)
6 tablespoons coconut sugar (or natural cane sugar or jaggery)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1.5 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 tsp fine grain sea salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup chopped walnut pieces
1 cup frozen or fresh blueberries (see note)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350F and grease a muffin tin.
In a medium bowl, mash bananas and measure out 3/4 cup. If you have any leftover mashed banana you can freeze it for a smoothie.
Place mashed banana into medium bowl along with the milk, vinegar, maple syrup, and vanilla. No need to stir it yet.
Melt the coconut oil in a small pot over low heat. Set aside.
In a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda).
Stir coconut oil into the wet mixture. Pour wet ingredients onto the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Do not overmix as spelt is a fragile little flour.
Gently fold in the walnuts and then the blueberries, being sure not to overmix as this can result in dense muffins.
Spoon about a heaping 1/4 cup of batter into each muffin tin, filling each tin about 3/4 full (they will seem very full, but this is normal!) I like to press a few extra blueberries on top of each so they look pretty after baking.
Bake at 350F for 23-27 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. I baked them for 25 minutes.
Cool in pan for 5-8 minutes and then transfer muffins to a cooling rack and cool for another 15 minutes.
Note: If using frozen blueberries, be sure to leave them in the freezer (do not thaw) until just before you stir them into the batter. This helps prevent bleeding.
