Meatless Monday: Sweet Potato Muffins w/ Candied Ginger

Hello friends! Hope you had a wonderful weekend! Mine was good! I relaxed, I went to the new Ft. Worth Food Park and ate at three (yes three!) different food trucks in one lunch. More on that coming soon. On Sunday, I went to the Thai restaurant down the street with a monthly vegan buffet. I also cooked a lot. It’s amazing how much time I have to cook now that I don’t have a boyfriend (does that sound horrible?).

I’ve been toying around with my second cookbook a lot lately. I’ve been unofficially working on it since I moved back home. I’ve created so many amazing, delicious oil-free recipes for the next book. You would not believe the winners I’ve been creating! Someone encouraged me to focus on Blissful Bites, give it my full attention, and make sure it and I become a household name before I spend my energy on a second book. But I really want to share these recipes with you!! So what do you think? Should I officially send out the proposal for my next book?

Today I want to share with you a new muffin recipe I came up with that turned out really moist and delicious. Making oil-free baked goods that actually taste good and are moist can be a challenge. But when you use something like sweet potato puree or pumpkin, you have a better chance of having a muffin that is delicious AND good for you. I used my new silicone muffin pans for the first time, and I’m excited to say that they worked! The muffins just slipped right out. Here’s the set I bought.

As always with my baked goods, I use whole-grain flours and natural sweeteners. I’ve included substitutions you can use if you don’t have certain products on hand. If changing to a different flour, say whole wheat pastry or spelt, you may need to adjust the liquid ingredients. Every flour has a different moisture retention, so keep that in mind.

These silicone pans are awesome. No need to oil it down! I’m trying out the larger one with a casserole this week. We’ll see how that goes! Have you tried this type of pan before? What has been your experience? Supposedly they last a really long time.

Now on to the muffins! These aren’t super sweet. Since these are breakfast muffins, they’re only slightly sweet because I don’t want my blood sugar going crazy first thing in the morning, if you know what I mean. But if you want them sweeter, you are welcome to add more sugar. I tried candied ginger on top and dried cranberries to see which I would like more. I definitely was digging the ones with the candied ginger! You are welcome to go sans any topping, though, or make up one of your own.

Sweet Potato Muffins w/ Candied Ginger
Makes 6-10 muffins

1 cup barley flour
1 cup brown rice flour
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 tablespoon flax meal
1 tablespoon arrowroot (or cornstarch)
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons water
1 banana mashed
1/2 cup sweet potato puree (or pumpkin would be fine)
1/2 cup maple syrup
3 tablespoons coconut palm (or brown sugar)
2 tablespoons barley malt (or molasses)
1 cup candied ginger, chopped

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Whisk together the first six dry ingredients in a medium bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk together flax meal, arrowroot, and water until well combined. Stir in the rest of the ingredients into that bowl except candied ginger, and whisk together until well combined and no chunks remain. Mix wet into dry until well combined. Spoon batter into muffin pans until 3/4 full. Press candied ginger pieces into the top of muffins. Bake for 18-22 minutes or until a toothpick comes out dry when inserted into the muffin.

With this colder weather, I’ve been baking up a storm! What have you been baking lately?