Healthy recipe: mini vegan mix-and-match muffins from Squirrel Sisters

Who doesn’t love a muffin for breakfast? You can decorate these beauties however you like and with whatever toppings you have in the cupboard. Even better, they are small enough to take with you on the go.

No syrups, no pastes, no sugar alternatives, this is a recipe shared with us by Gracie and Sophie Tyrell - the brains behind healthy food brand, Squirrel Sisters. You can find out more about their healthy snacks by following the link to their interview below. In the meantime, why not try this healthy breakfast recipe at home?

Ingredients (Makes 24)

• 125g / 4½ oz grated apple (leave the skin on for more fibre)
• 50g / 1¾ oz coconut oil, melted
• Five tbsp maple syrup
• 130ml / 4½ fl oz/ ½ cup almond milk
• One tsp pure vanilla extract
• 100g / 3½ oz / 1 cup ground almonds
• 60g / 2¼ oz buckwheat flour
• Two tsp baking powder
• 1½ tbsp chia seeds
• One tsp lucuma powder
• A pinch of sea salt

To top the muffins

• Dried fruit (goji berries, cherries, chopped apricots, raisins, etc)
• Nuts, roughly chopped (hazelnuts, almonds, pistachios, walnuts, pecans, etc)
• Seeds (sunflower, pumpkin, etc)
• Cocoa nibs

Method

• Preheat the oven to 170°C/325°F/Gas Mark 3 and grease a 24-hole mini-muffin pan really well with coconut oil.
• Get all your chosen toppings together before you start.
• In a large mixing bowl, combine the grated apple, melted coconut oil, maple syrup, almond milk and vanilla, and stir together really well.
• In another bowl combine all the remaining ingredients. Add half the dry ingredients to the batter and fold in, then fold in the remaining half.
• Using teaspoons, spoon the batter evenly into the prepared muffin pan.
• Top the muffins with whatever fruit, nuts and other flavourings you wish.
• Pop the pan in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until the muffins are risen, golden on top and cooked through.
• Check them after 15 minutes or so, and if they are browning too much, pop a sheet of foil over the top (sometimes the sugar in the dried fruit has a tendency to catch).

Recipe from Naturally Delicious Snacks & Treats by Gracie and Sophie Tyrrell, published by Pavilion Books.

Image credit: HaaralaHamilton.