One-Bowl Cowgirl Muffins (vegan, no refined sugar, whole grain)

Though I’ve long sworn that I would never shun an entire food group, I recently discovered that my nursing baby’s eczema was related to something in my diet. After all the no-holds-barred holiday gluttony, by January I was already contemplating the benefits of giving my body a break from feasting for a while. Learning of my son’s food sensitivity made it easy to opt for a month-long vegan “diet.” Veganism eliminated the two most likely allergens, milk and eggs, and increased my veggie intake while decreasing my refined sugar intake. Win, win, win.

I quickly realized that most of my ol’ stand-by recipes could be easily veganized by substituting almond milk for dairy, flax “eggs” for chicken eggs, coconut oil for butter, etc. When I picked up an enormous bag of shredded carrots and a bunch of overripe organic bananas from Birch, I was inspired to create a vegan-friendly version of my favorite whole grain, no-refined-sugar muffins. And you know what? They were even better than the original recipe. These muffins are moist, dense, subtly sweet, and so good for you. Store-bought muffins are usually sugar bombs that taste like cupcakes without frosting. Not these bad boys. You can legitimately eat several for breakfast, snack, or dessert.

Cowgirl Muffins

2 Tablespoons ground flaxseed

5 Tablespoons water

1 cup mashed overripe bananas*

1 cup grated carrot

1/3 cup melted coconut oil

1/4 cup honey

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

1 2/3 cup white whole wheat flour

1/3 cup medium cornmeal

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon baking soda

1 cup chopped walnuts

1) Preheat oven to 350. Line a muffin tin with paper liners**.

2) Stir the flaxseed and water together in a medium bowl. Wait five minutes for the flax to gel, then add the banana, carrot, coconut oil, honey, and lemon juice and stir thoroughly. 

3) Sift the flour, cornmeal, salt, and baking soda over the bowl of wet ingredients. Add the walnuts and stir just until combined (do not over-mix).

4) Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until a toothpick inserted in a muffin comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

*Overripe means some dark spots. If the peel is mostly black or brown, the bananas will be too watery and your bread will be dry. Better to freeze your mostly black bananas for smoothies.

**Or, for a loaf of cowgirl bread, brush a loaf pan with melted coconut oil, dust with cornmeal, shake to coat, and tap out the excess. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the batter comes out clean, about 45 minutes.