The first time I made a batch of these vegan gingerbread muffins, I wasn’t planning on blogging about them. Then I tried one, and thought, “Damn, these are good! I should blog about them,” but instead I kept eating them. And before I could take photos, they were all gone. Watch out, even though they’re not very sweet, these gingerbread muffins are kind of addictive.
So obviously I had to bake another batch! This time I had a little more self-control, and took photos before we gobbled them all up.
I know gingerbread is associated with the holidays, but I’m pretty sure it’s good all winter. All year, even. It doesn’t stop being good in the summer, but for some reason, no one ever makes it then.
I bet gingerbread is associated with Christmas because spices used to be expensive and hard-to-get, so people only used them for special occasions. Yes, I could research this to find out if it’s true, but you didn’t come here for a history lesson, you came for the recipe!
Sometimes gingerbread can be kind of heavy, but thanks to the lack of eggs and butter, this is a light and fluffy version.
Gingerbread Muffins
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted and cooled to warm
1/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/4 cup unsulphered blackstrap molasses
1 egg replacement – I used Bob’s Red Mill egg replacer, but you could replace with a flax egg (1 tablespoon flaxseed meal + 3 tablespoons water)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup plain vegan yogurt (or sub applesauce)
1/2 cup unsweetened almond milk (any milk will work)
Optional: Coarse sugar or sparkling sugar, for sprinkling on top
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Line a muffin tin with muffin liners and spray the inside of the liners with nonstick cooking spray to ensure the muffins do not stick.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt. Set aside.
In a separate bowl, whisk together melted coconut oil, maple syrup, molasses, egg replacer, yogurt and almond milk. Add to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
Spoon batter into liners, filling about 1/2 of the way full. Sprinkle with a little coarse sugar for decoration and crunch. Bake muffins for 17-21 minutes until a tester comes out clean or with just a few crumbs attached.
Makes 12 muffins.
Notes
This recipe is written vegan, but you can make it conventionally by substituting an egg and dairy for the yogurt and almond milk. You can also substitute applesauce (preferably unsweetened) for the vegan yogurt.
I used a commercial egg replacer, but you could also use a flax egg substitute.
If you don’t have whole wheat pastry flour, you can substitute white whole wheat flour, or you can use half whole wheat and half all-purpose flour.
