As many of you know, I've been living the gypsy life for the past 16 months, and as such, I haven't had time to dedicate to recipe posting (mostly because my partner's been doing ALL the cooking except the occasional pot of gravy that he asks me to make...gravy is my thing, being a Southern girl). A lot has changed since I last posted, but the biggest change you'll see here is that I'm now on a low fat version of my vegan + gluten-free eating style. This came about after finding out how fat consumption effect me hormonally. It's turned out to be a big key in understanding and healing my lifelong battle with hormone imbalance.
Another recent change is that although I still plan to make travel a big part of my life, I'm no longer doing it full time. This shift has created some role changes for my partner and I, and as a result, I'm happy to announce that I'm back in the kitchen again, and will be doing my best to share what I'm making on a more regular basis.
Let's kick off the celebration of being back together with something sweet! I recently opted to purchase an oversize back of organic lemons instead of the single lemon that I needed, because the single lemons were pesticide laden. So, I had to find a way to use up a LOT of lemons in a hurry. Enter lemon poppy seed muffins. I was out of poppy seeds, so the batch pictured doesn't show them, and they're certainly optional.
I modified this recipe pretty drastically from one that I found online. It was loaded with unnecessary fats, sugar and gluten. I hope you enjoy my modifications. My nephew was begging for them and said they "taste like lemonade!" They're really good, especially warm from the oven with fresh glaze. Get ready to have your house smell amazing with these in the oven!
Thanks for being here. It's good to be back with you.
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GLAZED LEMON POPPYSEED MUFFINS
Gluten free, soy free, oil free, low fat and vegan.
Prep time: 10 minutes
Bake time: 25 minutes
Yield: 12 standard muffins
You'll need a 12 cup standard muffin tin and muffin tin liners for this recipe. Glaze recipe below.
Wet Ingredients
zest of 1 organic lemon (conventional lemon peels are pesticide heavy)
1/3 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice (2-3 lemons)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup rice milk (or other plant milk)
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 flax eggs (see note below)
Dry Ingredients
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 Tbsp poppy seeds
1/4 cup coconut sugar (sub stevia if you're sugar free)
1/2 cup rolled oats
1 1/2 cups rice flour (or other gluten-free flour)
Method
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
Combine wet ingredients. In a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. Combine wet mixture with dry mixture, and stir until just combined.
Place 12 muffin liners into a muffin tin, and spoon muffin batter evenly among the liners.
Bake at 375 degrees F for 20-25 minutes, or until tops turn a golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
Remove from pan and apply glaze while warm (recipe below).
Glaze Ingredients
Glaze is optional, leave it out if you need a low / no sugar diet. The muffins are delicious on their own!
1/4 cup powdered sugar
1/2 to 1 tsp lemon juice or rice milk (or other plant milk)
Method
Add lemon juice or rice milk to powdered sugar very slowly, stirring until it reaches a smooth, thick yet pourable consistency. You may need more or less liquid to powdered sugar ratio.
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RECIPE NOTE: If you're new to flax eggs, place 1 Tbsp ground flax meal + 3 Tbsp water FOR EACH EGG NEEDED in a food processor (I use a the Magic Bullet for this job...works like a charm) and process for at least 1 minute. This creates a wonderful "gummy" texture that mimics an egg and works perfect for subbing eggs in most baking recipes. Bonus, no cholesterol!
© 2016 Ahimsa Kitchen and Marty Tribble | Reproduction of this post without written permission is unlawful.
