Vegan Blueberry Banana Muffins (with Carazuc): The things we do for love
In an effort to help Husband adjust to the commuting life back in the US, I've found myself doing things I never thought I would. I've analyzed bus routes, compared alternative modes of transportation, looked at carpooling possibilities and hunted down a bus line in order to see how his commuter life could improve. On Tuesday, I got out the map that charts the bus that travels around our city and takes its passengers to the BART (Bay Area Rapid Transit) station. I wanted to find every single stop near our house - ones that could be reached by foot, others that could be driven to. I wanted to check ease of parking, ease of access, and the best scheduling in terms of his early morning commute. As I drove the route, I began planning in my head, my future as a bus driver. Just kidding. As I drove, I had a moment of wondering - WHY AM I DOING THIS?
Let me be clear. Husband didn't ask me to do it. I wanted to do it. I wanted to find the best way for him to get to work. I wanted to help him negotiate a tough commute and give him lots of options. I wanted to get him to work faster, easier, with less stress. And so I took an hour out of my day to figure it out. Turns out there is a bus stop right near our house, a quick 4 minute walk away, that he doesn't have to drive to, and he can catch the bus there. When I found the stop and measured and calculated time and scheduling efficacy, I did a huge fist pump in the air as I felt it was pretty darn awesome.
Why do all of this nuttiness? Because I'm crazy? Maybe, but not likely. Because I love driving around aimlessly up and down streets, as if I'm on a treasure hunt for bus stops? Not quite. Because I have time to spend and gas to burn? No way. I do it, because I love Husband. I find myself wanting to do something lovely for him, even if that loveliness is something as mundane as working out his morning commute. I don't want to go into a full sappy speech about why he is so wonderful and how much I love him. I know it. Because there is no one else on earth that would get a personalized bus route and parking analysis except for Husband.
After driving like a bus driver all over my city, I came home and whipped up some of these muffins. I'm continually experimenting with Stephen James Organics Carazuc, because I love the flavor and the sweetness it adds while being a healthier choice than refined sugar. You can use maple sugar or brown sugar in place of the carazuc if you can't get your hands on carazuc. The muffins turned out to be something that Children loved, so it turned out to be a pretty darn good day after all, with the bus routes, yummy muffins, and a lot of love.
Vegan Blueberry Banana Muffins (with Carazuc)
Makes 12 to 14 regular sized muffins
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
⅓ cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
⅓ cup unsweetened coconut milk (from a carton - Trader Joes or So Delicious)
½ cup carazuc (or brown sugar)
3 large ripe bananas
1 cup fresh blueberries, or frozen unthawed
Method
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line cupcake/muffin pan with liners. In a medium bowl, measure out and mix together flour, baking soda, baking powder cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, mash and squish bananas and carazuc (or sugar) together. Add vanilla, oil, and coconut milk.. Mix well.
Add blueberries to the dry mixture. Toss until blueberries are well coated with flour mixture. Add dry blueberry mixture to the wet mixture. Use a VERY light hand to mix at this point. The more mixing you do the tougher the muffin so try not to over mix. You want everything well mixed together but not over mixed.
Divide batter equally in liners. Bake until golden brown, about 22-30 minutes.
Cool for 5 minutes in the pan. Then enjoy.
Printable recipe
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