Allergy-friendly Vegan Blueberry Muffins

The kids are on summer break right now, which means our mornings are a lot less hectic than usual.  No more dragging them out of bed to get ready, then rushing to finish breakfast so they can make it to school on time. You feel like waking up after 8 o'clock?  No problem!  You can even stay in your pajamas till noon because Mommy will still be in her pajamas too!  Hey, we're on vacation time :-) 

Lazy days like these call for even lazier breakfasts.  If all I have to do is grab something quick from the fridge in the morning, that's all good.  But sometimes I need to put in just a little bit more effort, like maybe warming up some pancakes in the microwave or toasting some waffles in the oven, to make everyone happy.  That's when planning ahead really pays off.  So on my more productive days, I make a double batch (sometimes triple) of pancakes or waffles, so I can store them in the fridge to reheat and eat later.  Smart!

It's been a while since I've made blueberry muffins so I decided to take my egg-free blueberry muffin recipe and make it vegan.  I switched out the milk, butter and yogurt for dairy-free ingredients like vegetable oil and applesauce.  While I was tinkering with the recipe, I discovered that adding one new ingredient really made these muffins come alive with flavor.  Lemons!  A little bit of lemon juice and lemon zest to be exact.  Without them, these muffins would just taste blah and boring.

When you take a bite of these blueberry muffins, you'll probably be just as stunned as my friends and family were.  "These are vegan? No way!  They taste like regular blueberry muffins."  If they can't tell what's missing, then I know I have a good recipe in my hands.  And it's definitely worth making ahead of time so we can wake up and enjoy them for lazy mornings in our pajamas :-)

Allergy-friendly Vegan Blueberry Muffins
Makes about 1 dozen muffins
Allergy Note: contains wheat 

2 cups flour
1 Tbs. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup vegetable oil
1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/4 tsp. fresh lemon zest
1 cup blueberries *

* I recommend wild blueberries if they're available.  They're smaller but much more flavorful than the regular blueberries. I usually find them in the frozen section in my local grocery store. Note: If using frozen blueberries, do not thaw them. Dredge them in a little flour before gently folding them into the batter.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.  Grease and flour muffin pan or use paper liners.  In a small bowl, sift together flour, baking powder and salt.  In a medium bowl, blend together sugar, applesauce, oil, lemon juice, vanilla extract and lemon zest.  Add in the dry ingredients; mix until combined. Gently fold in blueberries.  Divide the batter equally to fill the prepared muffin pan.  Bake for 20 to 25 minutes or until golden brown.  Allow to cool completely on a wire rack before serving.

You can store these muffins in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or the freezer for up to a month.  Just make sure they're stored in an airtight container or freezer-safe plastic bags. Simply reheat them in the microwave for a few seconds and enjoy :-)