Apparently, vegan banana nut muffins do not exist in Phoenix, until now. Let me share with you why this matters…at least to me. But first, behold, I’ve made some mini vegan banana nut muffin bites, perfect for a healthier holiday office party treat.
One of the foods I would get often at the Whole Foods bakery when I lived in the SF bay Area were vegan banana nut muffins. Here’s a picture of said muffins. Those vegan banana nut muffins are heavenly goodness because they don’t taste “vegan.” You can’t tell the difference, the muffins are just simply good! I’m not vegan, but I can eat these muffins because they are egg and dairy-free….me with the food allergies.
I mention the “vegan” tasting thing mainly because many people have preconceptions of what vegan tastes like and it usually swirls around things like grassy, bran-ish, or “something’s missing.” To me, the hallmark attribute of any excellent food is that it has wonderful taste and a pleasurable texture. If you can nail those two things, the ingredients are less important, vegan or not. People just want to have a fabulous food experience.
Not even Whole Foods
has the vegan banana nut muffin
When I loved to Phoenix a few months ago, I went to all 5 Whole Foods in the area and all the other natural food stores I could find, and not one had a vegan banana nut muffin, not even frozen ones. In fact, compared to the Bay Area the vegan selections are very small in Phoenix. There’s plenty of gluten-free offerings, but little in vegan choices.
Not to be discouraged, I then went in search on Yelp, blogs, and food sites as well as tweeting , hitting up local foodies, and asking every human being I’ve met in Phoenix where I could find any place that sold vegan banana nut muffins. Amazingly, vegan banana nut muffins do not exist ANYWHERE here. It is the weirdest thing especially since banana nut is a popular flavor. It’s not like I’m trying to find an Acai berry macadamia vegan muffin.
Phoenix metro is the 5th largest city in the US and not one place makes a vegan banana nut muffin. I’m absolutely astonished! So, for my final post for Viva paper towels, they are sponsoring this post and my quest to bring a vegan banana nut muffin to Phoenix.
Here, I made some, and we
can now say the vegan banana nut muffin exists in Phoenix, and is no longer a
unicorn. Can you smell the delicious aroma right out of the oven? Thanks Viva! For some fun,
fork-free recipes including videos and snappy entertaining ideas, check out the
VIVA® Diva Café. And even cooler, today, someone will get the opportunity to win a $50 Gift Card to buy whatever you want courtesy of Viva. That's just so cool of them! More on how to win at the end of the post.
Ingredients* (makes
about 3 dozen mini muffins)
- 2 cups 100% whole wheat flour or 1 cup all-purpose flour + 1 cup whole wheat flour (See note below)
- 2 tsps baking powder
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp nutmeg
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 cup organic sugar
- ½ cup + 1 tbsp canola oil
- ½ cup organic applesauce
- 1 6oz. container of vanilla flavored coconut milk yogurt (I use So Delicious brand)
- 2 tsps vanilla extract
- 3 medium bananas smashed
- 1/2 cup walnuts pieces + half a handful to put on muffin tops (use more if you like nuts)
*Notes: For my batch, I used 2 cups of the 100% Whole Wheat flour, and they were good but they did have a slight bran-like taste to them which is fine for the health nuts but if you’re trying to impress to non-vegans or non-health nuts for the first time, I’d go the half & half route (1/2 all purpose & half whole wheat). I also use as much organic ingredients as possible because I like it. You don’t have to.
Let’s get cooking!
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees
- You’ll need a mini muffin baking pan. I got a 24 muffin pan at Target. You won’t need to spray the muffin pan if it’s non-stick.
- In a mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients together going down the list: flour, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, sugar. Stir them all together.
- In another bowl, mix together the canola oil, applesauce, vanilla extract, yogurt, and mashed banana. Pour into the dry ingredients bowl, and mix everything together. Add in the walnut pieces, and stir again until the nuts are blended in.
- Spoon the batter into the muffin pan. Fill so batter is flush with the pan top. During baking the batter will rise to make nice looking muffin tops.
- Bake for 16 minutes or when done when tested with a toothpick.
Let the muffins cool for about 10-15 minutes before noshing. Enjoy!
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Since it's the holiday season, I think one of the best gift's is gratitude, feeling grateful for the abundance we have like health, love, and friends. So, to enter to win the $50 Gift Card from Viva, in comments share one thing you are grateful for.
You have until midnight 12/22 MST to leave a comment. After that, I will close the comments. The winner will be picked randomly. I need a valid email address to notify you if you win. Not to worry, in my privacy policy I clearly state we're cool, and I never give out emails to 3rd parties.
U.S. residents only. Sorry, international noshers. Next time.
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UPDATE: The winner of the $50 Gift Card: Congratulations to Mendie!
Thank you again to Viva Paper Towels for sponsoring the giveaway.
