Carrot and Courgette (Zucchini) Muffins

Its World Vegan Month in November.  Why not try these wee vegan cakes? No-one will believe that they are egg and dairy free!

Yum

We've had a huge amount of courgettes (we use the term courgette in the UK instead of zucchini) growing in our garden this year which has left me searching for new recipes to use them up. My favourites have been this lovely recipe from Alexx Stuart for Roast Zucchini and Basil Rosettes. And these amazing wee carrot and courgette muffins. The kids prefer the cakes! I've adapted Chloe Coscarelli's recipe for Maple Glazed Carrot Cupcakes from Chloe's Vegan Desserts, so they work beautifully as just carrot cupcakes (use 2 cups of grated carrots).

I've also made these as gluten free versions, and they work really well.  You may want to add a tiny bit more orange juice to make them as moist, as gluten free flour tends to absorb a little more liquid.

I make a batch of these every few weeks as they are so quick and moreish!

Carrot and Courgette (Zucchini) Muffins
(Egg free, dairy free, vegan and can be gluten free)

Ingredients


1 cup sultanas
1 cup fresh orange juice
2 cups plain flour
3/4 cup of sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground mixed spice
1 cup peeled grated carrot
1 cup grated courgette (peel if old but if young leave on the skin)
1/2 cup oil
1 tablespoon cider apple vinegar


Method

Makes 18

Pre-heat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4.

1. Measure out the orange juice and sultanas using the easy read measuring cups.  Place both in a small batter bowl to allow the sultanas to soak up some of the orange and become nice and plump and juicy.

2.  In a Classic batter bowl, add the plain flour and sugar. Then measure out the baking powder, bicarbonate of soda, salt, cinnamon and mixed spice using the adjustable measuring spoons and add to the classic batter bowl.  Use a stainless whisk to mix them together well and aerate the flour.

3. Peel and grate the carrot and courgette using a microplane course grater and add to the wet ingredients in the small batter bowl.

4. Measure out the oil and cider apple vinegar and add to the wet ingredients.  Stir with a mix n scraper.

5.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry in the classic batter bowl and mix with the mix n scraper until everything is combined.

6. Use the large scoop to measure out the mixture evenly into 18 cupcake wrappers in a stoneware 12 cup muffin pan or muffin pan.

7. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown on top.

8. Cool on a stackable cooling rack. Then watch them disappear in super quick time.

If you want to ice them a basic "butter" icing made with Pure spread and icing sugar and a few drops of lemon juice.  It tastes amazingly like cream cheese icing when added to the cakes.

Alternative Easter Treats - Hot Cross Cookies (Egg Free, Dairy Free, Vegan and can be Gluten Free)

My blog has been getting a massive amount of hits in the past few weeks with people popping in to have a look at my Hot Cross Bun recipe which I posted two years ago.  I love it to bits but I reckoned it was time for a change this year.  So I've made Hot Cross Cookies instead!  I spotted a recipe for them in Good Housekeeping magazine, but it was completely unsuitable for my family, being full of eggs and butter, so I had a go at inventing my own based on the Good Housekeeping recipe and my favourite Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe, and they worked out pretty well...

To make these gluten free simply substitute in your favourite gluten free flour mix.  I tend to use Dove's Farm but have recently tried Bob's Red Mill and loved the texture.

Hot Cross Cookies (Egg Free, Dairy Free, Vegan and can be Gluten Free)

Makes 30 cookies when using the small scoop

Ingredients
2/3 cup Pure Spread
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 small jar baby applesauce (unsweetened) or 1/4 cup applesauce, mashed to remove lumps
1 3/4 cups plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 heaped tsp mixed spice
1/2 cup sultanas
1/2 cup raisins
1/4 cup mixed peel

Icing
3 tbsp icing sugar
2 tsp water

Method
1. Preheat the oven to 190°C

2. In a classic batter bowl, mix together the Pure Spread, brown sugar, granulated sugar, vanilla and applesauce with a mix 'n' scraper till smooth. I use a Measure all Cup to measure all of these ingredients out.

3. In a stainless mixing bowl combine the flour with the bicarbonate of soda, salt and mixed spice, measured using an adjustable measuring spoon, and whisk together with a stainless whisk.

4. Add mixtures together and combine until creamy. Stir in the raisins, sultanas and peel until well mixed.

5. Using a small scoop drop the dough onto flat stoneware such as the medium round stone, medium bar pan or rectangular stone.  Flatten each cookie slightly with the heel of your hand or a spoon dipped in a little water to stop it sticking. Make sure you leave spreading space between each cookie as they do like a bit of extra room!

6. Bake for 10-12 minutes or until lightly golden brown. Cook a tiny bit longer if you like your cookies on the crispy rather than chewy side.

7. Leave to cool on the stone for a few minutes before removing with a large serving spatula to a stackable cooling rack.

8. Once cooled, ice a small cross one each biscuit using water icing in a squeezy bottle with a small plain nozzle from the decorator bottle set.

Raspberry Mallow Crispies (egg, dairy, gluten, soya and nut free)

These yummy Mallow Crispies make a great allergy friendly party food.

I love this recipe - it is the ultimate in children's party food for those with allergies as you can make it free of the big four and no-one is any the wiser.  I came across it as I was wading through many different recipe books at the beginning of my allergy mum journey, and I fixed on it as simple and easy and fitting our requirements of no egg, dairy or wheat at the time.  I had almost forgotten about it in the experimentation with cakes and biscuits, but I came across some marshmallows at the back of my cupboard yesterday and I suddenly remembered about it.

The recipe comes from Alice Sherwood's Allergy-Free Cookbook, which covers a multitude of allergies but always annoys me in the difficulty of having to swap in different things depending on the allergy, as I have to do at least two and it gets complicated!  However, don't let that put you off, as some of the recipes are great.

If you are making it gluten free, make sure your crispies are free from barley, as Kellogg's are not, and are therefore not gluten free.  Try something like these ones from Kallo.

The recipe is nearly identical to the original recipe you may remember from your childhood for rice krispies treats, but this has a wee added extra of some raspberry jam to pep it up!  If you don't fancy that then omit it and you'll have original flavour ones.

Check the marshmallows - some contain egg!  And if you want to make this vegan use veggy marshmallows, a near impossible feat in the UK without spending a fortune, but it can be done.

I like to decorate mine with a little dairy free chocolate and I love Moo Free, although its not guaranteed nut or soya free, so you may want to give it a pass.

Raspberry Mallow Crispies
Egg free, dairy free, gluten free and nut free

Ingredients

115g    marshmallows
55g      vegan margarine  I use Pure Spread Sunflower
4 tbsp   raspberry jam
140g    puffed rice cereal

Dairy free chocolate for drizzling if you fancy - watch out for nuts and soya in the chocolate though.

Method

Oil your Square Baker or Medium Bar Pan lightly to start with, with a nut free oil. (Or any baking tin about 23x23 cm)

1.  Put the marshmallows, vegan margarine and jam in a large saucepan and heat gently.  Stir constantly with a mix 'n scraper so it doesn't catch on the bottom and burn.

2.  Once everything has melted, bring to the boil for one minute, stirring all the time.

3.  Stir in the crispies and stir quickly until everything is well coated.

4.  Scrape the mix out of the pan and into the square baker, or medium bar pan for a shallower crispie.  Press down firmly with the back of the mix 'n scraper, wetted slightly to stop it sticking if you need to.

5.  Mark out your squares (I get 16 from the square baker and 24 from the medium bar pan).

6.  Leave to cool and place in the fridge for two hours to set.  Drizzle with a little dairy free chocolate if you wish, and cut into the squares with a nice sharp knife such as our Santoku knife.

7.  This stores well for three days in an airtight container.  I'm not sure about any longer as its always all eaten by then!