There is nothing nicer than a warm muffin on a cold day especially when you know that your muffin is packed to the brim with only good ingredients! Baby-led weaning muffins were one of the very first foods I gave to Oscar and with good reason. They don’t have to be unhealthy, filled with sugar and butter. It’s easy to make refined sugar free muffins when you use fresh fruit; additionally, many pureed fruits can replace some or all of the fat (like oil or butter) in baking recipe and they bake up SUPER moist like these vegan muffins!
Every single time I post a muffin recipe, I get inundated with messages from parents, mostly Mums asking for an egg-free option. I don’t want to just willy nilly give an egg-free version though until I have thoroughly tested it and voila there you go! Egg-Free and dairy-free muffins!
Besides children with egg allergies, I also get a lot of requests for a plant-based muffin and I really have been trying to eat a more plant-based diet myself this year. These vegan muffins were surprisingly good and you would honestly be none the wiser to the fact that they are made with a flax egg and ‘nare a chicken in sight’ as my Dad would say.
Flax Seed
I’m a huge fan of flax, to begin with as I try to incorporate it into my kids’ diets so much more now that we are vegetarian. It is a good source of omega-3 which is important to our health and growth of our little humans.
*Omega 3 fatty acids are considered essential fatty acids. This means they are necessary for human health but the body can’t make them – you have to get them through food. Omega 3s come from a family of fats called PUFAs (polyunsaturated fatty acids). Omega 3 fats are also known as EPA (Eicosapentanoic acid) and DHA (Docosahexanoic acid)
Evidence suggests that omega 3s may be helpful in protecting your heart from heart disease. They do this by:
Helping the heart to beat more regularly;
Reducing the ‘stickiness’ of the blood, making it less likely to clot;
Protecting arteries, which carry blood to the heart, from damage;
Reducing levels of triglycerides in the blood (a fat that can increase risk of heart disease);
As well as benefits for your heart, omega 3s are:
Thought to help with bone/joint health;
Important in healthy brain development during pregnancy;
Sometimes used in the management of certain cancers, Alzheimer’s disease and inflammatory bowel disease.
Flax Egg is super easy to make: 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed with 3 tablespoons of hot water. Leave until it turns into jelly and voila = one egg!
It’s super easy and super nutritious as well. Plus it makes these vegan muffins completely inclusive so everyone can have them. You can also switch up the flour for a buckwheat flour too if you need a gluten-free version 🙂
300g (2 cups) flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 cup desiccated coconut
Wet Ingredients
2 x Flaxeggs* (or 2 regular eggs if not egg free)
60ml rapeseed oil
1tsp vanilla extract
375ml (2.5 cups) milk of your choice
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 ripe mango pureed
1/2 ripe mango chopped into chunks
Method
Pre-heat oven to 170ºC.
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and coconut.
Add the wet ingredients including the mango to a separate bowl and whisk until fully combined.
Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and slowly whisk in the wet mixture until it turns into a smooth batter.
Divide the mixture into an oiled muffin tin, then bake for 20-25 minutes or until a skewer comes out clean.
Cool fully before eating.
Recipe Notes
To make the flax egg, mix together 2 tablespoons flaxseed with 4 tablespoons of hot water - leave until it turns to a jelly, then use as you would egg in a baking recipe.
Hello , thank you so much for this recipe. I just did it and am not satisfied entirely by my results. I tripped on the mangoes. There are so many sizes… can you give me more info. Is it 1/2 cup , 1 cup ?
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