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Healthy Gingerbread Muffins

December 1, 2016 · Natalie 53 Comments

Soft simple Healthy Gingerbread Muffins that are holiday perfect plain or extra special dressed up with a sprinkle of sugar and dreamy frosting dollop! Vegan, gluten-free, oil-free.

Just when you thought I had forgotten about gingerbread…nope, not even close! Now that it is actually December, posting countless gingerbread things feels less weird than when I started like a month ago. There are at least a couple more ginger spiced recipes coming up on FF, and those are just the ones I know about at this point. There’s no telling what else my brain may gingerbread dream-up and beg me to make before Christmas.

I may have mentioned it before, but growing up there was lots of cookie baking in my house for the holidays, and every year my sister and I made cookie houses. Well maybe not every year, but from the age at which I was coordinated enough to use a piping bag up until the age at which it was no longer cool.

I say houseS with an ‘s’ on the end because there was absolutely no sharing or joint effort involved. She hated gingerbread, I thought making a “gingerbread” house out of sugar cookie was a disgrace, so we both did our own thing.

She was much more ambitious than I was, making boats and tree houses and sky scrapers. They sometimes collapsed mid construction and rarely made it past 24 hours. But you know what collapsed cookie house tastes like? Still-standing cookie house. Cookie is cookie, and cookie is yummy. I on the other hand made most of my design decisions based on what candy I really wanted to eat afterwards (and during!), purposely over-buying just in case.

I always looked forward to cookie house day immensely–starting off with big plans and ending with a big stomach ache. Good times!

So I thought I would embarrass myself completely and dig up some old cookie house photos to share with you. Because that’s what the holidays are all about right, sharing? Sharing things that no one really asked for, that’s what I’m doing here today. And yes, yes I did crop myself out of the later ones because six year old me is much cuter than dorky glasses-wearing middle school me trying to pull off bangs…not a good look.

In the early days I kept things simple. Classic. Four cookie walls, white frosting glue, gum drop and candy cane landscaping, an obscene amount of M&Ms–that house could’ve come right out of a kit and saved ~~my mom~~ me lots of rolling, cutting, baking time. Where’s your imagination little Natalie?? Also I have no clue where that photo was taken because we never had black countertops or a black table…?

Then I got a little more ambitious, pulling off a two story house with upper level balcony. Although the lack of an actual door or windows is a little concerning. And the next year I kept it simple (and rather squat) in shape but with a retro diner-floor-inspired roof. Don’t mind the actual pound of frosting in the background with a spoon sitting in it…snacks for later.

There was the year I tried to go modern but the whole house ended up looking like it was melting. Except the Lifesaver chimney, that thing was on point! And the year I went 2D as if I was a theater set designer. And the year I made a castle complete with moat and penguin wearing a fuzzy chocolate hoodie. The year I ditched cookies completely, pretended pretzel sticks were Lincoln Logs (they are not), and built a log cabin. And no, the marshmallow insulation did not actually stay put between the logs.

And then the vegan year that I tried to make a veggie house. NOT recommended…stick to cookie! There were some years in between that I couldn’t find photos from, but I think that is enough abysmal architecture for one day.

For days afterwards dessert would consist of tearing the entire thing apart, salvaging the best candy first, and leaving the boring candy canes behind along with stale cookie and dried-out too crusty icing.

So that’s a little peak into holidays in my house growing up. And a peak into where my sweet tooth got it’s start. Not the most nutritious tradition, but one that made for a lot of fun and delicious memories. And quite a few messy, crumbling-cookie disaster memories too!

There was even this one time in college I had my whole class build cookie houses as the hands-on component of a presentation in my interior design class, so I suppose I have these messy years of practice to thank for that grade.

Did you ever build a cookie house? If so, I need to hear all about it. Photos welcomed!

Anyways…back to the present day, non-horrendous photos, and more mature things. Muffins.

Why so much cookie talk in a muffin post? Because I posted these cut-out gingerbread cookies last year and that is still my go to vegan gluten-free gingerbread cookie recipe so I had to sneak this cookie talk into a non-cookie gingerbread post. Although it does makes me wonder, gingerbread muffin house…?

But these Healthy Gingerbread Muffins don’t need the edible embellishments or frosting fanfare, they are already humbly holiday perfect just as they are. A sprinkle of sparkly sugar or a dollop of coconut frosting doesn’t hurt of course, but simple, soft, warm from the oven still wins my most-delicoius-way-to-eat-a-muffin vote!

Healthy Gingerbread Muffins

★★★★★ 5 from 1 review

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 25 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 8 muffins 1x

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Description

Soft simple Healthy Gingerbread Muffins that are holiday perfect plain or extra special dressed up with a sprinkle of sugar and dreamy frosting dollop! Vegan, gluten-free, oil-free.

Ingredients

Scale

1 ¾ cups oat flour
1/2 cup maple syrup
¾ cup pumpkin puree
¼ cup molasses
1 tbsp lemon juice
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 inch chunk fresh ginger
¼ cup tapioca starch
2 tsps baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
½ tsp cloves
Optional: coarse sugar for sprinkling on top

Frosting

¼ cup coconut butter
1 tbsp maple syrup
2–3 tbsp nondairy milk
1 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp lemon zest

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Instructions

Preheat the oven to 350F.
In a blender combine the maple syrup, pumpkin, molasses, lemon juice, vanilla, and fresh ginger. Blend until combined and no chunks of ginger remain.
In a mixing bowl, combine the oat flour, tapioca starch, baking powder, baking soda, and spices. Stir.
Add the wet to the dry and mix until well combined and no lumps remain.
Line or lightly oil a muffin pan. Fill each muffin cup 3/4 of the way with batter, you should get 8-10 muffins depending on your pan.
Optional: sprinkle the tops with coarse sugar.
Bake for 25 mins at 350F.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool completely before frosting.
For the frosting, melt the coconut oil. Add the maple syrup, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Add the non-dairy milk 1 tbsp at a time until smooth and creamy. Use as a glaze or refrigerate for a firmer frosting.

Nutrition

Serving Size: 1 muffin
Calories: 200
Sugar: 20g
Sodium: 170mg
Fat: 2g
Saturated Fat: 1g
Carbohydrates: 43g
Fiber: 2g
Protein: 3g

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The Vegan 8s Vanilla Chocolate Chip Cake by Cake in a Crate

November 29, 2016 · Natalie 18 Comments

This cake. This cake is A M A Z I N G. The simple ingredients. The perfect crumb. The talented recipe creator behind it. The chocolate ganache. The ultra rich flavor. The elegant presentation. The chocolate chips. The feels-like-its-your-birthday vibe in every bite. The chocolate confetti curls. The classic flavor combination of vanilla and chocolate. Did I mention chocolate?

Meet the Vanilla Chocolate Chip Cake. This cake is a creation of the incredibly talented Brandi from The Vegan 8. She partnered up with Cake in a Crate to bring this cake to us in a minimal-effort maximum-deliciousness way, and I was so excited for the chance to try it out!

The timing worked out just right that this cake ended up being the main dessert at my family’s Thanksgiving meal, and everyone loved it. No one even touched the pie next to this ganache-topped goodness! Judging by all the “oohs” and “ahhs” and “This is the best cake you’ve ever made!” through sweet mouthfuls, I’m pretty sure they liked it even more than any past cakes I’ve tested on them. Thanks guys, thanks a lot. Nah I can’t argue, Brandi’s recipes are always top notch and this is no exception!

Perfectly fluffy and moist with added richness from the ganache on top and a bit of fun factor from those mini chip speckles–I think this cake could pull off any occasion. Classy party, kid’s birthday, or just one of those random weeknight cake-cravings! Vanilla and chocolate lovers would both be happy with a slice, and for those who can’t decide and love both like me it’s the perfect balance.

The crazy part is that the entire decadent thing is vegan, gluten-free, refined sugar free, and actually uses many of the same ingredients I use all the time in my own recipes! It’s made with familiar favorites like oat flour, maple syrup, applesauce, and of course chocolate. It was also a lovely introduction for me to baking with coconut butter. That stuff is like cake-moisture magic! You will absolutely not miss butter or oil here, and it doesn’t even take very much coconut butter to totally transform the texture. Three days later–yep still totally yum! Plus the subtle coconut flavor is really lovely too.

But now onto what makes this post extra special and not just me rambling about cake: Cake in a Crate. This cake came to be in my kitchen courtesy of a company called Cake in a Crate that pre-measures, (adorably) packages up everything you need to make this cake, and ships it right to you. Yay for lazy baking! Between Thanksgiving leftovers and this cake in the fridge for sweet snacking, I haven’t been to the grocery store in 4 days as of today (Sunday), which is a lot for me!

So since they took care all the ingredient shopping and measuring for me, I had time to make a little video of the whole process. Everything from slicing through the packaging tape to slicing into the cake. (Except for the part where I cut my thumb because apparently no one taught me how to use scissors. Not essential for yummy cake, so I cut that scene out.)

Annnnnd GO…

So easy, right!? And SO delicious! Even thought the camera can’t fully convey that part, just trust me and try it! I am not the best chocolate curl-maker though, Brandi did a much better job of that. But I was not mad about having to finish off that chocolate bar later…dessert part 2 🙂

If you want to try out this easy-peasy baking and decadent dessert-eating too, you can find out more info and order your own cake in a crate -> HERE

And you can use the offer code THEVEGAN8 to receive 20% off your cake kit!

Spiced Chocolate Pear Overnight Oats

November 27, 2016 · Natalie 32 Comments

Cinnamon spice, fruit freshness, tastes-like-brownie-batter base–this Spiced Chocolate Pear Overnight Oats recipe is an easy, absolutely delicious breakfast in a jar!

It’s that day of the every other month again. I’m talking Collab-With-Some-of-My-Fave-Bloggers-to-Bring-You-A-Bunch-of-Superstar-Recipes-Focused-Around-One-Ingredient Day. CWMFBTBYBSRFAOI day, duh! I personally love this day, and I especially love this day when the ingredient happens to be a fruity one. We’ve done blueberries and sweet potatoes in the past (and I seem to be stuck in a muffin rut…just noticed that). But to keep it somewhat seasonal, this month’s theme is PEARS! Wait…pears are a fall/winter-ish fruit right?

In case my complete lack of pear knowledge and the fact that there are almost no pear recipes on FF up to this point didn’t give it away already, pears are not a fruit I am too familiar with. Anjou, Bosc, Bartlett–I have no clue which is which or what to use when. And if you asked me for tips on selecting the perfect pear the best I could give you is eeny meeny miney mo, because that’s what I do. I have probably eaten 100 times more apples in my life than pears, so this was a fun challenge.

I may not know much about pears, but I do know a thing or two about ~~life~~ ~~breakfast~~ chocolate. When in doubt, add chocolate. When you are working with an ingredient you don’t know what to pair with, try chocolate. When you want to make breakfast taste like dessert–chocolate. So that is what I did. And cinnamon too. And I must say after just one bite I was loving pears a whole lot more than before!

This is one of those breakfast jars that has tons of textures and tastes in every bite. The ingredient list isn’t too long or complicated, but the flavors all mingle so well that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts. And by greater I mean tastier, of course.

Extra thick, date-sweetened, tastes-like-brownie-batter overnight oats. Slightly softened but still crispy pear chunks with a perfect balance of sweet, spice, and citrus. Cinnamon throughout because it needs to be in everything this time of year and because it pears (sorry, couldn’t help myself) so well with both chocolate and pears. I’m telling you, the flavor mingling happening here is just awesome!

And most importantly, this recipe is NOT a muffin. Success!

Now let’s see what everyone else made for this pear recipe party…

Spiced Pear Donuts with Cashew Caramel Icing from The Coconut Diaries

Chocolate Chip Pear Streusel Mug Cake from Athletic Avocado

Pear and Cranberry Crisp from Choosing Chia

Pear Parsnip Pie from Healthy Helper

So if you are on the fence about pears like I sometimes am, I hope one of these recipes catches your eye and changes your mind!