Berries & Chocolate Vegan Muffins

FIVE MONTHS. That was how long I neglected this space. I know there is no perfect excuse so I shall not persist on explaining my disappearance… LOL… So let’s head straight to the recipe I’m sharing in this “comeback” post.

I found the recipe through this Japanese blog called The Last Order , a site that I visit frequently to marvel at the mouthwatering photos and to find inspirations. Looks like the guy behind this blog, Masaki Higuchi, is also the author of a few Japanese cookbooks that focuses on vegetables which I am really keen but unfortunately, I don’t understand a word of the language. The recipe for the muffins was not posted on his blog though but can be found here from Marie Claire Style JP. He seems to be the regular contributor for the magazine as there were a string of recipes published on the magazine site.

The recipe is of course in Japanese. As I don’t understand the language so I translated the recipe using Google Translate. I have to say the translate wasn’t quite clear. For instance, one part was translated as “It uses soy milk instead of olive oil , milk instead of butter”… Know what I mean now? So I really can’t be sure if the muffins were made correctly in accordance to the original but it tasted fine to me. The texture wasn’t muffin-like, instead it was more like cake but flavor wise, I thought it was rather interesting considering that it used healthier ingredients like olive oil & soy milk and was actually egg-free too! So in fact, it is vegan and I actually ate them for breakfast.

Notes:

• I used extra virgin olive oil.
• For the soy milk, I used Bonsoy.
• According to the translation, beet sugar was to be the sweetener, but this is really uncommon in Singapore. I can’t find them so I used raw cane sugar instead.
• I used Dutch processed cocoa powder.
• You could use any berries. As I always have a bag of frozen mixed berry in my freezer, so I used those without thawing. It was a mixture of raspberries, sour cherries, blueberries, wild strawberries and red currants. I got mine from Phoon Huat.

Mixed Berry and Chocolate Muffins {Vegan}

Makes 8 regular size muffins

Recipe adapted from Marie Claire Style JP

200g cake flour

2 tsp baking powder

250g mixed berries, fresh or frozen

2 tbsp + 5 tbsp beet sugar or raw cane sugar

200ml soy milk

5 tbsp cocoa powder

4 tbsp olive oil

Powdered sugar for dusting

• Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Place 8 cupcake liners onto your muffin tin.
• In a medium bowl, sift together the cake flour and baking powder and mix well.
• Place the mixed berries in another bowl and stir in 2 tablespoons of sugar. Set aside to allow it to macerate.
• Combine 5 tablespoon of sugar, soy milk, cocoa powder and olive oil. Whisk until smooth.
• Fold the flour mixture into the liquid mixture until just combined. About 12 to 15 folds should be fine.
• Add 2/3 of the macerated berries to the batter and fold lightly. Reserve the rest for topping.
• Scoop batter into prepared cups with an ice cream scoop. Fill it to about 3/4 full.
• Scatter the remaining berries on top of each muffins.
• Bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes. At 25 minutes, insert a skewer into one of the muffin. If it comes out dry, it is done. Otherwise bake a little longer.
• Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 10 minutes then remove them to cool on a wire rack.
• Once cooled, dust some powdered sugar on top.
• Serve with tea and a smile.

Keeps well for 2 days.