Every week, I shlep to Shakti Gym in Montreal to train for rock climbing. If you’ve seen me, you’ll know I’m not all bulky muscles. But that’s not what climbers need. I need pull-up strength, sure (an area in which I’m sorely lacking), but I also need finger and forearm strength, balance, endurance and core. That’s why I spend a morning every week with my trainer, Guillaume, and the co-owner of Shakti Bouldering Gym, Lacey.
When I’m in-between campus board sets or traversing, Guillaume and I talk food: restaurants, recipes, how to best cook bison steak, where to source paella, how to make a killer paella or risotto. I occasionally trade Guillaume sauerkraut or jam or honey for tomatillo salsa or his freshly caught trout. And Lacey and I swap vegan cookbooks, ideas on vegan kimchi and vegan side dishes for my dinner parties.
Generally, we finish the training very hungry. I go eat lunch, but Guillaume and Lacey stay at work. That’s why I brought them these muffins last week. The recipe is an adaptation from “The 250 Best Muffin Recipes.” Yes, I know it’s completely foolish (not just a little foolish) to adapt a recipe when there are 249 other tested options in the book that I might not have to alter, but I had roasted sweet potato in my fridge, a ripe banana and quinoa flakes, and none of those 250 was going to be exactly right for gluten free, dairy free me and vegan Lacey.
That’s why it was tricky to give Guillaume the recipe when he asked for it. I made it vegan for Lacey with vegan egg replacer and gluten free for me with chestnut and white rice flour, but Guillaume’s not vegan or gluten free (and why deny him the fluffiness of eggs and wheat?), so below I’ve written out two versions of the recipe: The ‘me’ version and the ‘Guillaume’ version. Choose whichever you prefer. They’re both probably delicious (though I’ve only tested the me version). I even forgot the baking soda and apple cider vinegar in mine and it still worked. Moist and chewy and sweet and crunchy and yum…
GUILLAUME’S SWEET POTATO AND BANANA MUFFINS
Makes 12 muffins
Crumb Topping:
3/4 cup quinoa flakes
1 tbsp butter, melted
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp finely minced ginger
Muffins:
1/3 cup oil
3/4 cup honey
2 eggs
2 tbsp almond butter
2 tbsp golden or dark rum*
1 very ripe banana, mashed
1 cup roasted sweet potato, roughly chopped into small cubes, or mashed**
1 cup all-purpose flour, sieved
3 cups quinoa flakes
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp freshly grated or finely minced ginger
1/2 tsp freshly grated allspice
Zest of one organic lemon
- Combine the crumb topping ingredients in a small bowl.
- In a large bowl, beat the oil, honey, eggs, almond butter, rum and banana on high for 2 minutes. Stir or mash in the sweet potato pieces. (I like keeping them chunky for mouthfuls of sweetness in the muffins.)
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients. Stir the dry ingredients into the liquid ingredients just until blended. Spoon into the prepared muffin tins. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the muffins. Bake in a 350˚F (180˚C) oven for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
AMIE AND LACEY’S SWEET POTATO AND BANANA GLUTEN-FREE, VEGAN MUFFINS
Makes 12 muffins
Crumb Topping:
3/4 cup quinoa flakes
1 tbsp sunflower oil
2 tbsp honey
1 tsp finely minced ginger
Muffins:
1/3 cup oil
3/4 cup honey
2 tbsp almond butter
2 tbsp golden or dark rum*
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 very ripe banana, mashed
1 cup roasted sweet potato, roughly chopped into small cubes, or mashed**
1/2 cup chestnut flour, sieved
1/2 cup brown rice flour
3 cups quinoa flakes
Egg replacer equivalent to 2 eggs (skip the water; that’s why the rum is there)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp freshly grated or finely minced ginger
1/2 tsp freshly grated allspice
Zest of one organic lemon
- Combine the crumb topping ingredients in a small bowl.
- In a large bowl, whisk or beat the oil, honey, almond butter, rum, cider vinegar and banana until smooth. Stir or mash in the sweet potato pieces. (I like keeping them chunky for mouthfuls of sweetness in the muffins.)
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients. Stir the dry ingredients into the liquid ingredients just until blended. Spoon into the prepared muffin tins. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the muffins. Bake in a 350˚F (180˚C) oven for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.
* I use this in place of 1 tsp vanilla extract because it’s cheaper and goes with the spices
** You can use canned, or just bake one whole for 30-50 minutes at 400˚F and then scoop out the flesh
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