Vegan Gluten-Free Savory Muffins

I've been vegan for about three years, which came with its own challenges in the beginning. Then I met my SO, who developed an allergy to anything with wheat. From then on, I struggled for a while with baking something that is both vegan and gluten-free.

Many brick-like and chalky cakes after, I received the best birthday present ever. A friend made me the most delicious cake starting from this base recipe (in French).

After spending months experimenting with the types and amounts of fat, sugar, and flour, an idea came to mind: why not turn these into savory muffins? This thought was prompted by my longing for chec aperitiv, a Romanian savory bread recipe (in Romanian) I used to make in high school for Easter. Back then, the recipe I made wasn't vegan, but why not veganize it?!

I have to say that I have PERFECTED the following recipe for ease and delirious deliciousness. Consider yourself WARNED.

Ingredients for 7–8 vegan gluten-free muffins:

Base components

• 1 cup¹ of yogurt 
• the juice from half of a lemon
• 2 cups of rice flour
• 1 tbsp of vegetable oil or almond meal (or pulse any nut to a powder in a food processor)
• 1 tsp of baking soda
• 1/2 cup of any plant milk (adjust until you obtain a thick creamy texture)

Spices for the savory version

• sprinkle of salt
• sprinkle of pepper
• onion powder (freeze-dried onion if you can find it)
• garlic powder
• paprika powder
• diced olives (very important for the umami taste)
• diced smoked tofu (or other specialty tofu or fake meat)

OR

Remaining ingredients for the sweet version

Optional: 1 tbsp brown sugar or to taste; nuts on top

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Bake for 30–35 minutes at 180 C (356 F).

¹ You can use the cup the yogurt came in to measure the rest of the ingredients.

² The coconut flakes contribute to the fluffy texture of these muffins in the sweet version. 

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Combine the list of base components with either the spices for the savory version or with the remaining ingredients for the sweet version. The yogurt and the lemon work in synergy with the baking soda, their reaction leading to little air bubbles inside the muffins. A trick is to add the baking soda with the flour at the very end to delay said reaction as much as possible.

If you want to learn more about the impact of our diet on the planet, here is an article from the Guardian and the original paper published in the prestigious scientific journal Science in 2018.

The main findings are that moving away completely from meat and dairy products can reduce global farmland by 76%. That would mean freeing an area of land equal to the US, China, Europe, and Australia combined.

And letting that much of our planet regenerate as natural vegetation reestablishes is not the only benefit. Such a bold shift in our diets would also reduce greenhouse gas emissions and water pollution by 50%.

But you don't have to go vegan cold-tofurky. Why not play a role in a second scenario? We could reap 71% of the benefits above by replacing half of the meat and dairy we consume as a planet with vegetable equivalents (such as these tasty muffins!).

If you are curious about how to eat vegan and not miss out on any important nutrients, here is a simple guide published by the NHS.

And if you decide to give these muffins a try, I would love to know how they turned up and whether you made any changes. Follow and tag me on IG and Twitter!

© Lola Sense

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