So, I’ve been on the no dairy, no soy, no sugar, exercise every day ‘lifestyle change’ for about a month now… how’s it going?
No soy: almost perfect. The only time I had any was when we were in Arkansas a few weeks ago. We were renting a cabin from a really wonderful family, and breakfast was provided. I’d given him the list of dietary restrictions with some trepidation (no meat and no dairy, I didn’t bother with the rest), and they’d gone out of their way to make versions of everything that I could eat. This was right after an ice storm that had left most of their neighbors without power (some people still don’t have it!), and when he showed up on the second day with a plate of soy sausages (from who knows where), I didn’t have the heart to turn it down. So I had one. And it was tasty.
No dairy: Again, almost perfect. I did slip and have a slice of pizza at 2am once. And I’ve had some dairy while I was tasting recipes (butter), but I haven’t deliberately eaten any other than that.
No sugar: ha! Well, not so much. Too much ‘tasting’. Especially of the World Peace Cookies. When something is bite-sized, it’s calorie-free, right?
Exercise: Um, right. How about 3x/week? Still working on that one.
One of the things I’ve been trying to do to accommodate all of these changes is to find things to make that I can eat without (much) guilt. So when I saw the recipe for these muffins, I had to give them a go.
The lovely Bittersweet had posted this recipe, to which I made a few alterations.
Strawberry Muffins - vegan!
Strawberry Muffins (vegan), aka Love Muffins
Adapted from Bittersweet
1 ½ cups AP Flour (White Lily)
½ cup Sugar
¼ Teaspoon Salt
1 Teaspoon Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Baking Soda
¾ Cup Coconut Milk (although the original recipe calls for Vanilla Soymilk)
1/3 Cup Canola Oil (next time I will try this with unsweetened applesauce to cut fat)
1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 Cup Frozen Strawberries, Thawed (You may want to chop these up a little smaller if they’re whole frozen strawberries, or only in big chunks. My muffins ended up with big holes where the strawberry had started out but then baked down into something smaller).
Preheat your oven to 375 degrees and grease muffin tins.
Begin by mixing together your dry ingredients (Flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and soda.) Gently stir in milk, oil, and vanilla but be careful not to over-mix. A few lumps are okay! Fold in your thawed strawberries and pour batter into muffin tins, ¾ of the way to the top. Slide your filled tins into the oven and cook for 15 – 20 minutes, depending on your oven. Test for doneness by inserting a toothpick; When they’re ready to come out, the toothpick will remain dry.
Fresh out of the oven, they are still young and impressionable, so don’t try to remove them immediately or you will end up with smushed, dented muffins! Allow to sit for at least 10 minutes inside their cooking vessel. Enjoy with someone you love.
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These were incredibly moist and airy and tasty, and lasted so for a couple of days (they didn’t last past that!) I would like to find a way to cut the sugar content back – I thought of using Agave syrup, but then I figured that the wet/dry ratio would be completely out of whack – any suggestions?
February 13, 2009 at 3:34 pm
Ooh, these sound really tasty! I have to bring the snack in mid-March to my son’s Scout Troop meeting, maybe I’ll make these.
February 14, 2009 at 10:47 pm
Your sweets are beautiful! It i definitely is a challenge baking without dairy and soy. I have recently been experiment with baking using coconut milk yogurt and it gives baked goods a great texture without a noticeable. It might be a good thing to try. Muffins made with that and agave are my new favorite healthy pre workout snack!
February 15, 2009 at 12:32 am
Coconut milk yogurt? I didn’t know that such a thing existed, wow! Going to have to find some. Thanks!
March 22, 2009 at 7:54 pm
i made these tonight.. really good! i made mini muffins so i had to shorten the time to 13 minutes.
April 10, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Has anyone tried this with applesauce yet? Im trying to learn from others hits and misses.
July 13, 2009 at 10:16 am
Thank you so much for putting up this recipe…it was delicious!
September 6, 2009 at 2:51 pm
These look lovely!
exactly what i was looking for
do you happen to know the calorie content of them?
September 7, 2009 at 6:11 am
Nope, not at all. Sorry.
October 30, 2009 at 6:18 pm
Awesome recipe! I like to use 1/4 c. oil and then use applesauce to replace the rest of the oil.
November 21, 2009 at 7:15 pm
has anyone baked with almond milk?
November 21, 2009 at 10:16 pm
I bake with it frequently; it won’t brown like regular milk (no maillard reaction), but it does give a hint of a nice nutty taste.
February 25, 2010 at 3:24 pm
I just made these with rice milk because that’s what we had in the house, and they were delicious. They cooked for about 23 minutes and were still a little soggy because the strawberries weren’t drained quite enough. Next time I’ll press the fruit after it’s defrosted. But the toddlers didn’t complain. Thanks for the recipe!
March 2, 2010 at 7:08 pm
This is exactly what I was looking for. But I’m fresh to baking and not sure about the wet/dry ratio. i want to use applesauce in place of oil and I’m wondering if I use the same portion. thoughts?
March 3, 2010 at 10:21 am
I’ve always replaced on a 1:1 basis and not had any trouble, for what it’s worth.
March 25, 2010 at 7:50 pm
Right now we’re flooded with fresh strawberries. Do you think this would affect the outcome? Frozen ones have a different texture, so I wonder if all the water/juice in fresh ones would create the soggy effect too.
March 26, 2010 at 7:59 am
I think fresh ones would be fantastic! Freezing breaks down the cell structures, releasing a lot more liquid than if they’re used fresh, so I imagine they would give less trouble. Nut let me know
April 3, 2010 at 3:02 am
These look delish… I’m going to try them tomorrow for Easter … I’ll try substituting applesauce for 1/2 of the oil… has someone used vegan yogurt in place of the rice milk?
April 3, 2010 at 10:11 am
I would think yogurt might be too thick; the idea is to a) add moisture, and b) promote browning. But let me know how it works out!
May 10, 2010 at 6:43 pm
Thanks for this wonderful recipe. All the vegan muffin recipes I’ve tried yielded dry, hard muffins which weren’t sweet enough. These are great! So, so moist. They stuck to the muffin cup liners but I didn’t mind too much. They are so yummy!! This is my new go-to muffin recipe.
July 5, 2010 at 1:22 pm
I made these with Oat milk instead of coconut milk, and they are absolutely delicious. I also added a splash of Eldeflower cordial which tasted great with the strawberries. I used sugar but was wondering if they would work well with honey, perhaps a set one rather than a runny one? Thanks for the great recipe
July 16, 2010 at 12:34 am
coconut palm sugar. exactly the same amount as the sugar…works beautifully. Thanks for this recipe. It was delicious.
July 17, 2010 at 8:42 am
Thank you! That’s a fantastic idea for making it even more vegan (for those who eschew white sugar). Great idea.
January 6, 2011 at 10:26 pm
Hello,
I try to replace sugar in recipes as well. I bake constantly (no bagged cookies or bread for us!) and often use honey instead of agave or maple syrup. I know many vegans do not use honey, but I thought I would mention it for those readers who are looking for dairy and egg free recipes more than just being vegan. I would say, that sugar in most recipes, creates a cripier effect, and therefore, reducing the amount of granulated sugar may not have an effect at all. I lean on more sugar for recipes that have a bitter base fruit or veggie (such as pumpkin and carrot) and much less for other recipes such as blueberry pancakes. I have read that it is a good idea to experiment by starting with a one tablespoon reduction in sugar. Good luck!
February 16, 2011 at 6:31 pm
I just came across this recipe and I am so glad that I did. I changed some things- I used 3/4 cup unbleached AP flour; 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour and 1/4 cup rolled oats (not quick oats). I used unsweetened applesauce instead of oil and used succanat in place of the sugar. They turned out great.
Thanks again for posting.
May 26, 2011 at 10:36 am
I just made these muffins and they are delicious! I substituted applesauce for canola oil and added a little cinnamon, they turned out great. My kids gobbled them up!
June 19, 2011 at 6:42 pm
just made these with fresh berries from our local farm, and made fresh strawberry jam to go with them. Delicious!!
April 30, 2012 at 11:05 am
I made these today because I didn’t have any eggs. I used lactose free milk, applesauce, and whole wheat flour. They turned out tasting good, but not my best muffin ever. The recipe yielded 8 muffins.