Vegan Aquafaba Blueberry Lemon Muffins

  • Ali

I love these delicious blueberry lemon muffins. Bursting with the last of the fresh blueberries or utilising frozen ones, as I have done here, they’re a classic on my list of quick snacks to make in a  hurry. Here I’ve used the amazing aquafaba, or chickpea water, to make them too. I find it’s best to use the water from organic chickpeas with no added salt where possible. These are not overly sweet so suit my taste as I’ve been reducing my sugar intake over the least 5 yeas and now find things I used to love are tooth achingly sweet! 

 Ingredients

·      250g all-purpose flour – see my flour blend in this blog

·      100g chestnut flour – this adds a really lovely nutty texture

·      2 tbsp poppy seeds (optional) 

·      1 teaspoon baking powder

·      1 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda

·      1/2 tsp sea salt

·      80ml aquafaba 

·      80ml rapeseed oil

·      110g coconut sugar

·      200ml non-dairy milk – I used Oatly

·      Grated rind of 1 lemon

·      3-4 drops lemon extract or lemon oil

·      150g blueberries – I used frozen

Directions

1.     Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C or 375 F. Line a 12 well muffin tin with paper cups and set aside.

2.     Combine the flour, poppy seeds (if using), baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, and salt in a medium bowl. Mix well to combine and set aside.

3.     In a food mixer or separate bowl add the aquafaba and whisk until it is frothy and resembles egg whites. It should take 1 -3 minutes. Slowly drizzle in the oil slowly while whisking to emulsify. Gently scatter in the sugar then drizzle in the milk, lemon extract (if using), and zest and whisk well.

4.     Add the flour mixture to the aquafaba egg and milk mixture and mix the batter until almost no more flour is visible. Try not to overmix.

5.     Add the blueberries and gently fold in. I love the blueberries to leach their colour into the cake but if you prefer this not to happen coat them with a mixture of the flour before adding them to the batter. 

6.     Fill the muffin cases about three-quarters full with the batter bake for 15 – 20 mins. A cake skewer should come out clean when inserted into the middle of them. 

7.     Cool the muffins on a cooling rack for 15 minutes before removing them from the tin. Cool the muffins completely before storing in airtight containers, where they will keep for a few days or freeze and take a couple out every time you fancy them. 

Recipe Notes

Some cooks recommend you reduce the aquafaba liquid you obtain from the chickpeas before using it  but I’ve not found this necessary for this recipe.