To celebrate the majesty that is the spring season, albeit a little late, I took photos of all things green around the house.
Oh, and inside of course.
I love the color green. It’s the color of life, found on many of the fruits and veggies we eat on a daily basis. And besides purple and dark blue (and sunflower yellow, dusty pink, sunset orange... I think you get it.), all shades of green are beautiful to me.
Except, that is, for this color. I call it "muck monster vegan muffin green".
I shudder to think of the monster I created with spinach, banana, and way too much almond milk in my experimenting with vegan baking. It tasted… okay, I suppose. But it was a spongy pudding type of creation that even I couldn’t pass off as a delicious accident.
Maybe it was just an off day (or week), but I’ve been feeling like my recipes/posts have been less than awesome. There was a sense of “going with the flow” experimenting and naïve optimism in the beginning of this blog. Now it seems to have progressed into wanting perfection every time I take something out of the oven.
But perfection doesn’t happen every time. Sometimes there’s something missing and you don’t know what it is. Sometimes it takes two or three (or five) times until you get it right. And if everything I made was a godsend to the tongue, I think I’d get rather bored.
No, having flops keeps me humble. It’s like a science equation or mathematical theory you were [un]certain of its success, and when they sometimes fail I look on to figuring out why.
But perfection doesn’t happen every time. Sometimes there’s something missing and you don’t know what it is. Sometimes it takes two or three (or five) times until you get it right. And if everything I made was a godsend to the tongue, I think I’d get rather bored.
No, having flops keeps me humble. It’s like a science equation or mathematical theory you were [un]certain of its success, and when they sometimes fail I look on to figuring out why.
I think the reasons why this particular recipe failed had to do with the following: I didn’t pay attention to the ratio of ingredients; the batter was too wet and didn’t have the correct binder to keep the muffin together or help it to rise; and, probably the most relevant, my ignorance of working with vegan binders.
So for those who are vegan AND gluten free, I give you major props.
Despite the recipe not turning out as well as I’d hoped, I did enjoy the combination of flavors and think it would be delicious in a smoothie. It also gave me the stubborn perseverance to make a green muffin, even if it wasn’t vegan (or as green). This time it turned out as scrumptiously as I’d hoped it would, with exceptionally green ingredients to add to its already bangin’ nutrition content.
Sweet Green Spiced Muffins
60 g Garbanzo bean flour
15 g Coconut flour
15 g Flaxseed meal
30 g Pumpkin seed flour*
1 tsp. Matcha powder
1/2 tsp. Sea salt
1/2 tsp. Baking soda
1/2 tsp. Cinnamon
1/4 tsp. Allspice
1/4 tsp. Spirulina powder
75 g Dried cranberries
14 g Cocoa nibs
240 ml Unsweetened vanilla almond milk (or your "milk" of choice)
122 g Unsweetened applesauce
2 Large eggs
Stevia, to taste
Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Mix together the ingredients thoroughly in a medium-sized bowl, and then pour the batter into greased muffin tins.
Bake for 40 minutes, and then transfer them onto a cooling rack for a few minutes until serving.
Serve warm with your favorite nut butter and enjoy at any time of the day.
*If you don't have pumpkin seeds on hand to turn into a fine powder with your food processor, feel free to use pistachio or opt for hemp protein powder instead.
Makes 9 regular sized muffins.
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