Perhaps you have an easy Sunday, or perhaps you’re having a formal afternoon tea party. In either case, some muffins are a great idea.  Often we find muffins are too bland, or too dense, and when you go into veganizing or wheat-free options the moisture and bready texture seems to suffer along with it.  We have you covered- sweet, moist, tart, doesn’t fall apart… but isn’t like biting into a sponge.  Please note: SPELT flour is used, making them wheat free (debatable) but NOT gluten free.  Feel free to substitute your favourite GF flour mix, but you may want to add in some hearty flours like a coconut to give you some stronger textures.

Preheat to 325 degrees, and set aside 3/4 cup of frozen berries (we use a mix of raspberries and blueberries, but any will do at about that size). See that picture? That’s why frozen, reduce the hollow space around the berries, while keeping them moist and full of flavor. Save some money, get peak season (ie better nutrition), and they’ll keep until you need ’em.

in a large bowl:

2 1/4 cups spelt flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

in a medium bowl, whisk together:

1/2 cup avocado oil

2/3 cup orange juice

2/3 cups agave nectar or maple syrup

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients. Fold in the frozen berries. Line the muffin tray with paper muffin liners and bake for 25 minutes, but turn them around at the 15 minute mark.  Gluten free versions should be reduced by 5 minutes.

For an added perk, when they are fresh out of the oven, brush a little agave onto each muffin and then sprinkle with coconut shreds, and/or crushed nuts.  Pictured below is 1/4 cup agave, 1/4 cup cashews and 1/8 cup coconut shreds.If you keep to just a little agave, it’ll give it a nice sheen and maybe even a little sugar crackle if they’re still hot hot!

We just made these, and already he is saying we should make more “in case we run out” and in fairness we ate 4 right away, after a 15 min cooling period, of course.  ENJOY!!