Eggless and Sugar-Free Lemon Blueberry Muffins

It's that time of the year that supermarkets are filled with fresh and seasonal dates for the fasting month which is just around the corner.  Besides enjoying the wonderful sweetness these dates offer, I stumbled on a blueberry muffin recipe by cHowDivine that which is gluten-free, egg-free and sugar-free. After glancing through the recipe, my heart started humming a song of joy as this is a super easy, guilt-free recipe.  

I had a quick check at my pantry and kitchen to source for the ingredients which fortunately I had all of them, except the fresh blueberries.  Instead of rushing to the fruit stall to get them, I turned to the frozen blueberries which have been silently sitting in the freezer.

Words can't really describe how easy it is to make this.  All in all, it took me less than 30 minutes to pull things together.  The only thing that may be technical is that you need to use a blender or food processor to make an apple-date puree to replace the sugar in this recipe. The puree tastes so good that you can even spread it on a slice of toast and it's heavenly!

To up the level of wholesomeness, I used whole wheat flour instead of white.  It's definitely more dense but if you make them in small batches and consume them within 2 days, they don't dry up as much.  However, feel free to use regular flour, as you wish.  

Personally, the biggest challenge is to resist the temptation of eating the muffins before they are completely cooled.  It tastes even better on the next day for breakfast and the bonus for me is that my son loves to eat it warmed with butter.  He called it "cake", too cute!  

Here's the recipe, enjoy baking and bon appétit!

Eggless and Sugar-Free Lemon Blueberry Muffins

Makes 6 muffins

Ingredients

1 cup        flour (I used whole wheat flour)
½ tsp        baking soda
1 tsp         baking powder
¼ tsp        salt
8               dates, de-seeded

½              apple (use the sweet variety like NZ rose or 马蹄苹果), peeled and chopped

1/3 cup     virgin coconut oil
½ cup       milk
1½  tbsps flax seeds, roughly grounded

1 tbsp       lemon juice & 

1-2 tsp      lemon zest
½  cup      fresh/frozen blueberries
¼  cup      sliced almonds, toasted (optional)

1.    Preheat the oven at 200°C, line the muffin pan with cupcake/muffin cups. In a blender or food processor, pulse the dates, chopped apple and virgin coconut oil until they become runny smooth puree (like watery porridge), set aside.

2.    In a mixing bowl, add milk, lemon juice, lemon zest and flax seeds to mix well.

3.    In a different bowl, whisk together all dry ingredients--flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Then add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in step 2 and mix until the ingredients are just combined (do not overmix it).

4.    Add the blueberries and almond slices, stir gently. Using a spoon or ice-cream or batter scoop, divide the batter into 6 muffins cups/liners. If you prefer, sprinkle some raw almond slices on top.

Bake at the center rack for 22-25 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean. Rotate the muffin pan midway to ensure even baking. Remove from oven and allow the muffins to cool in the muffin tin for about 10-15 minutes before transferring to a cooling rack and allow the muffins to cool completely.

  

To store the muffins, keep them in air-tight containers outside within 24 hours, after that the muffins must be stored in the refrigerator and steam or bake just before serving.  I wouldn't keep them for more than 3 days.