Savoury vegan muffins – Lazy Cat Kitchen Fitnessnacks

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Firstly, if you are a regular reader of this blog, I must apologise for being slow in replying to comments and for being completely absent from social media. My dad was hospitalised early last week and things aren’t looking up so I have not been able to focus on much else.

This savoury vegan muffin recipe is something I prepared a few weeks ago in anticipation of going away on holidays. Neither myself nor Duncan are huge fans of savoury muffins usually, but we’ve been consuming these with pleasure and I hope you’ll share our enthusiasm.

These savoury vegan muffins are great for a gathering, a hike, a picnic or a quick mid-afternoon snack when dinner is too far away to wait. They are quick to make, use easy to get staple ingredients and come together in a single bowl. I hope you’ll enjoy them as much as we have.

MORE ABOUT THE INGREDIENTS

OIL: Oil keeps these muffins moist and prevents them from drying out too fast. I used mild olive oil to make this, but you can use the oil that your sundried tomatoes are preserved in to minimise waste and to enhance the flavour.

LEMON JUICE: A small amount of lemon juice increases the acidity of the batter and comes into a chemical reaction with baking soda helping these muffins rise. You can replace it with one teaspoon of apple cider vinegar, for example.

PLANT MILK: I used soy milk to make these muffins, but any other plant milk will work just as well as long as its flavour is neutral and does not dominate.

GARLIC & ONION POWDER: I added a touch of both garlic and onion powder to these muffins to give them more of a depth of flavour. If you don’t have these seasonings in your cupboard, use a minced garlic clove instead of powder, but I would not recommend using a grated onion as it will add too much moisture to the batter.

HERBS: I used a combination of fresh basil (as it grows on my windowsill) and dried oregano to give these muffins a delicious savoury flavour reminiscent of a good pizza. Feel free to play around with other herbs that you like.

COURGETTE / ZUCCHINI: Coarsely grated courgettes / zucchini is what keeps these muffins moist, packs extra nutrition and keeps them delightfully summery.

SUNDRIED TOMATOES: Sundried tomatoes add a great deal of flavour to these muffins. I dice them finely so that the flavour is interspersed evenly. If you dislike sundried tomatoes, you could use olives, capers or grilled artichokes instead.

VEGAN FETA: The type of vegan feta (cheese) that works best here is one based on nuts rather than one based on coconut oil as the latter turns into a messy liquid during baking. If not using feta, you may want to add finely chopped capers, olives, artichokes or more sundried tomatoes and a couple of tablespoons of nutritional yeast for a hint of cheesy flavour.

FLOUR: I used plain wheat flour, but you can make these with a goodgluten-fre flour mix too. Add a heaped half a teaspoon of xanthan gum or 1 tbsp of ground flax seeds for a better texture.

RAISING AGENTS: A combination of baking soda and baking powder has been used. Not much to say about these other than their amounts have been carefully calibrated to make these muffins just right.

SALT & PEPPER: Salt and pepper are used to season these. I used fine salt and finely ground pepper so that the flavour gets distributed evenly.

Combine oil, plant milk, lemon juice and dry seasonings in a large bowl (the one you see in my photos holds only half of the muffins), add grated zucchini including all of its juices – there is no need to squeeze the moisture out.

Next add in chopped sundried tomatoes, fresh herbs (basil in my case) and vegan feta if using, mix well. Finally add in the flour and baking agents. Mix everything well gently until no flour pockets remain.

Divide the mixture between 12 well greased standard muffins holes. Decorate the tops with leftover sundried tomato pieces and vegan feta chunks (if using) and bake in the pre-heated oven for 25 minutes.

MUFFINS

• 90 ml / 6 tbsp vegetable oil*, more to grease
• 10 ml / 2 tsp lemon juice
• 320 ml / 1 + 1/3 cup soy milk (or any plant milk)
• ½ tsp garlic powder
• ½ tsp onion powder
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp fine salt and ½ tsp ground pepper
• 240 g / packed 1½ cup grated courgette / zucchini
• 20 g / 0.7 oz fresh basil, leaves chopped small
• 30 g / 1 oz (drained) sundried tomatoes, diced small
• 30 g / 1 oz diced vegan feta, optional*
• 250 g / 2 cups all purpose flour or GF flour mix*
• ½ tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder

METHOD

1. Heat up the oven to 180° C / 355° F (or 160° C / 320° F if using fan function). Grease standard 12 muffin tray with oil or vegan butter (greasing works better than paper liners in this recipe).
2. Put oil, lemon juice and plant milk in a large mixing bowl.
3. Add dry seasonings, grated zucchini (no need to squeeze the moisture out), chopped basil leaves, sundried tomatoes and vegan feta (if using) and stir well to combine. Save some sundried tomatoes and feta cubes for decoration.
4. Add flour and both baking agents in two batches, folding well after each addition.
5. Divide the batter evenly between 12 muffins. Decorate with chopped sundried tomatoes and feta if you wish.
6. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean – about 25-26 minutes.
7. Remove the muffins from the oven and allow them to cool down COMPLETELY before eating. Once cool, run a butter knife around each muffin to remove it from the tin.

NOTES

*OIL: I used mild olive oil to make these, but you can use the oil that your sundried tomatoes are preserved in to minimise waste and to enhance the flavour.

*VEGAN FETA: The type of vegan feta (cheese) that works best here is one based on nuts rather than one based on coconut oil as the latter turns into a messy liquid during baking. If not using feta, you may want to add finely chopped capers, olives, artichokes or more sundried tomatoes and a couple of tablespoons of nutritional yeast for a hint of cheesy flavour.

*FLOUR: I used plain wheat flour, but you can make these with a good GF flour mix too. Add a heaped half a teaspoon of xanthan gum or 1 tbsp of ground flax seeds for a better texture.

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