We have grandchildren with severe allergies, and have had to adapt our favourite family recipes to avoid eggs and dairy (and quite a lot of other things that I won't go into here). As we also have veg...
Read moreVegan blackberry & apple oatmeal muffins
The Story
A quick and delicious fruity, spicy treat, which just happens to be egg- and dairy-free.
Vegan blackberry & apple oatmeal muffins
Just the thing to pick you up at elevenses, mid-afternoon or even breakfast. A lovely chewy-textured muffin, packed with apples and backberries, with a background hint of cinnamon and spice. And the best bit? By the time your oven is up to temperature, they'll be mixed and in their tins.
Ingredients
For the muffin batter
- 200 g Self-raising flour
- 100 g Medium oatmeal (or oats that you've smashed up in the food processor)
- 150 g Demerara or other light brown sugar
- 3 tsp Mixed spice (or a teaspoon each of cinnamon, nutmeg and ginger)
- 1 tsp Baking powder
- 2 tsp Cornflour (corn starch)
- 150 ml Non-dairy milk (I used barista-style oat milk)
- 2 tbs Aquafaba (the juice from any type of canned beans or chickpeas - and don't worry if it is pink juice from borlotti or kidney beans, that's fine)
- 100 ml Vegetable oil
- 200 g Fresh or frozen blackberries
- 3 Small apples (eg Cox's, Braeburn)
For the glaze
- 1 tbs White sugar
- 0.5 tbs Water
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 190 degrees (fan setting). Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper muffin liners.
- Put the flour, oatmeal, brown sugar, baking powder, cornflour and spice into a mixing bowl and whisk to combine.
- Measure the non-dairy milk, oil and aquafaba in a measuring jug.
- Peel, core and chop two of the apples. Cut the remaining apple (unpeeled) into quarters, remove the cores, then cut each segment (vertically) into thin wedges (you may not need all of it, you can snack on the rest!)
- Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and stir briefly until just combined (do not overmix, this will make your muffins tough). Stir in the two chopped apples and about two thirds of the blackberries.
- Divide the mixture between the muffin cups (a spring action ice cream scoop will make your life less messy here). Push a couple of apple slices into the top of each muffin, so that they stand proud (see photo 2), then scatter over the remaining blackberries.
- Put the sugar and water for the glaze into a small cup or ramekin dish and microwave until melted (about 20 - 30 seconds should do it). Gently brush the apple slices with a little of the glaze. If you don't have a microwave, you can measure just-boiled water from the kettle into the sugar and stir like crazy.
- Bake for 25 minutes, remove the muffins from the oven, and brush all over with the glaze. Return to the oven for a further five minutes. The tops of the muffins should be a deep golden brown and feel firm to the touch when pressed in the centre, and the apples should have slightly caramelised on the edges. If the muffins do not feel firm when pressed, give them another three or four minutes and test again. Leave to cool in the tin for ten minutes, before turning out onto a cooling tray. Once cold, give the muffins a final brush with the glaze.
