Fruit and Veggie Muffins

I have 2 children in my house.  One picky one, one who LOVES to shove food in his face.  These are loved by both. 

4 T dairy free spread (I like Earth Balance soy free)
1/2 cup brown sugar (or agave nectar or honey, depending on the age of the child...)
3/4 cup veggie puree (I used sweet potato, asparagus and broccoli that I had left over from before Anthony decided purees are for chumps.)
2 single serve unsweetened applesauce cups (I use 365 brand from Whole Foods Market)
1/2 cup banana puree
1 1/2 t vanilla extract
1 egg (or 1 egg worth of egg replacer)
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
3/4 t xanthan gum (can be eliminated if using flour that contains gluten)
2 cup gluten free flour blend (or flour, up to you)
1/2 t cinnamon
1/2 cup blueberries

Preheat oven to 350.  Grease muffin tin with canola oil.
Combine spread and brown sugar til completely mixed. Add veggie puree, applesauce and banana puree. Add vanilla and egg. 

In separate bowl combine all dry ingredients and slowly add to mix.  Combine but do not over mix.  Mixture should be a bit lumpy. 

Fold in blueberries. Divide into muffin tins.  Divide between muffin tins.  Makes 12 muffins.
Cook 18 minute.  Done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Enjoy!

Blueberry Breakfast Cake. My way!

I found this AMAZING recipe on Pinterest the other day for Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake I was sooo sad that I couldn't eat it.  You know, cause of Anthony's allergies and all... And I realized that I could if I tried hard enough, edit the recipe so I could eat it.  I went into it knowing that I may have to make a few attempts to make it perfect and edible, but I thought it was worth a shot.

But...

I GOT IT RIGHT THE FIRST TIME!!!!!


Here's the recipe:

1/2 cup unsalted butter room temperature unrefined coconut oil
2 tsp. lemon zest or more — zest from 1 large lemon lemon juice
7/8 cup + 1 T. sugar
1 egg, room temperature egg worth of egg replacer (follow instructions on the box)
1 tsp. vanilla2 cups flour Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free All Purpose Baking Flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
2 cups fresh blueberries 1 cup fresh strawberries chopped and 1 cup fresh blueberries
½ cup buttermilk Silk Vanilla Almond Milk

I followed the directions from the original recipe, substituting my ingredients for the ones in the directions.  And also made the following changes:

1. Preheat the oven to 350ºF. Cream butter coconut oil with lemon zest juice and 7/8 cup of the sugar until light and fluffy.
2. Add the egg egg substitute mixture vanilla and beat until combined. Meanwhile, toss the blueberries blueberries and strawberries with ¼ cup of flour gluten free flour, then whisk together the remaining flour gluten free flour, baking powder, xanthan gum and salt.
3. Add the flour gluten free flour mixture to the batter a little at a time, alternating with the buttermilk almond milk. Fold in the blueberries blueberries and strawberries.
4. Grease a 9-inch square baking pan (or something similar) with butter canola oil or coat with non-stick spray. Spread batter into pan. Sprinkle batter with remaining tablespoon of sugar. Bake for 35 45 minutes.
Check with a toothpick for doneness. If necessary, return pan to oven for a couple of more minutes. Let cool at least 10 minutes before serving.




I was able to put about 8 servings that were Anthony's size in the freezer in individual bags.  I will let you know how they are out of the freezer.












******Just a disclaimer.  I REALLY wish I could eat the recipe I found on Pinterest.  Like, more than you can imagine.  Blueberries and buttermilk are 2 of the most amazing things the world has to offer.  I love 'em.  I also LOVE lemon zest, but considering I wanted to feed this to Anthony, I wasn't entirely sure how he'd do with that... So I changed it to lemon juice.  I took the vanilla out because there is vanilla in the almond milk.  I added xanthan gum only because I had to make it gluten free, therefore had to add it to hold it together.  I only added strawberries because Anthony loves them, and I had a BUNCH of them that wouldn't be good much longer in my fridge, so I decided to try them in it.  I used this recipe as a guide for the blueberry cake I've been wanting to try to make, and it came out sooooo good!!!!  Thanks to  Alexandra for giving me the tools I needed to make it happen!!