Vegan Whole Wheat Lemon Coconut Muffins

I’m finally up and about a little and starting to feel a bit better. Don’t worry though, I’m still going to take it slow this week. The positive thing is though, it feels like a treat to do just about anything after you’re sick. My first kitchen act was to make these Vegan Whole Wheat Lemon Coconut Muffins.

I find lemon baked goods to be cheery. Honestly, I needed a little treat after weeks of juice, soy yogurt and a few bites of whatever Cheryl brought home in the evenings.

Lemon coconut muffins have been one of my favorites since I lived in Brooklyn. I used to pick up one on my way to work almost every day. This was a long time ago and believe it or not, I actually lived where they consider to be a hip area now. When I was there, it was full of Italian grandmothers instead of hipsters, but it was close to the city.

You could use an all-purpose gluten-free flour to make them gluten-free, and technically they have no added oil. I used coconut butter which is made from 100% coconut. If you don’t use coconut, you can try substituting applesauce or pumpkin puree.

I used coconut sugar, and you could try using vegan white sugar or even stevia. You will have to make adjustments to the batter to accommodate your changes.

If you’re like me, you don’t have a jar of coconut butter laying around. I took about 1 cup large flake coconut and put it in my food processor. Then you just process, taking breaks and scraping in between until it gets smooth. You can get detailed directions at Vegan Family Recipes.

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Whole Wheat Lemon Coconut Muffins

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time25 mins

Total Time40 mins

Servings: 12 muffins

Calories: 155kcal

Author: Kathy Hester

Ingredients

dry

• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/4 cup brown rice flour
• 1/2 cup finely shredded dried coconut
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons ground flax seed mixed with 4 tablespoons warm water
• 1/4 cup coconut butter
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar or vegan white sugar
• 1 cup unsweetened nondairy milk
• 1/4 cup lemon juice about 1 large lemon, juiced
• zest of 1 large lemon
• 1/4 teaspoon lemon oil or 1/2 teaspoon lemon extract optional

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees and put muffin liners in a 12 muffin pan.
• Mix the dry ingredients together in a small mixing bowl and set aside.
• In a medium-sized mixing bowl add the flax seed mixture and coconut butter. Mix with a spoon until creamy, then add coconut sugar and mix well.
• Add the milk, lemon juice, zest and lemon oil to the wet mixture.
• Add ½ the dry mixture to the wet and mix until incorporated. Repeat with the last ½ of the dry mix.
• Spoon into muffin pan, there should be enough batter for 12 regular-sized muffins.
• Bake for 25 minutes or until a fork comes out clean and the top is a tad bit dry.

Nutrition

Calories: 155kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 2g | Fat: 8g | Saturated Fat: 5g | Cholesterol: 10mg | Sodium: 146mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 9g