Strawberry Rhubarb Muffins (Gluten Free, Vegan & Refined Sugar Free)

I have been loving just about everything from the blog Feasting on Fruit. I've had to stop pinning because it was getting out of control. I was pinning every. single. recipe! I've tried several recipes from Feasting on Fruit that I love and now we can add these Strawberry Rhubarb muffins to the list! These muffins are the most perfect balance between sweet (from the strawberries) and tart (from the rhubarb) and they make the most delicious snack during the day!

You can find the original recipe HERE. I made one little change from the original recipe - I swapped the ginger for cinnamon. I'm intolerant to ginger so I switched it out and the cinnamon is a great alternative!

Something that I really love about this recipe is that it uses gluten free oat flour instead of a gluten free flour blend. While sometimes a gluten free flour blend works great, I find that they are so often finicky! These muffins using oat flour makes them consistent without requiring any hard to find ingredients.

Start by mixing 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce and 2/3 cup of coconut sugar together in a medium mixing bowl.

Add in 2 egg replacers (I use Bob's Red Mill egg replacer but you could use flax eggs instead), 1/2 cup of full fat coconut milk, 1 Tablespoon lemon juice and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Mix to combine.

In a separate, small mixing bowl, combine 2 1/2 cups of Gluten Free Oat Flour, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda and 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Add the dry ingredients to the medium mixing bowl and stir to combine.

Chop up 1/2 cup of rhubarb and 1/2 cup of strawberry. I used frozen of each but you could use fresh if you have it! Mix the chopped rhubarb and strawberries into the muffin batter.

Prepare a muffin tin with coconut oil or cupcake liners and fill each cup to be about 3/4 of the way full with muffin batter. Once the muffin batter was distributed, I topped each muffin with a few extra chopped strawberries and guess what?

The strawberries burnt to a crisp - ah! I ended up cutting most of them off with a knife but it was okay, they didn't taste burnt at all! I might recommend not adding a little extra strawberry garnish on your muffins.

Bake the muffins for 35-40 minutes in an oven preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. When the muffins come out of the oven, they should be firm but bounce back when you press lightly on them. Let the muffins sit in the tray for 10-15 minutes before enjoying them or transferring them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.

I know I write the sentence Since cutting gluten and dairy and blah blah blah a lot! But bear with me as I do it again. Since cutting out all of those inflammatory foods, nothing I've baked has smelled as good as these muffins. For real, as these were in the oven I was doing some school work and I kept saying how darn good it smelled in the house. So yes, these are gluten free, vegan and sugar free but they are so good! They are worth it just for the smell of them alone!

STRAWBERRY RHUBARB MUFFINS
[gluten free, vegan & refined sugar free]
yield 12 muffins

ingredients
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2/3 cup coconut sugar
2 egg replacers (Bob's Red Mill or Flax Eggs)
1/2 cup full fat coconut milk
1 Tablespoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups gluten free oat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup rhubarb, chopped (fresh or frozen)
1/2 cup strawberries, chopped (fresh or frozen)

directions
1. Prepare the egg replacer and let it sit for 10-15 minutes before mixing it in with the other ingredients.
2. Combine the applesauce, coconut sugar, egg replacers, coconut milk, lemon juice and vanilla extract in a medium mixing bowl. Once combined, set aside to mix up the dry ingredients.
3. In a separate, small mixing bowl, combine the GF oat flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.
4. Add the dry ingredients to the medium mixing bowl and stir to combine.
5. Chop up the strawberries and the rhubarb. Add the chopped strawberries and rhubarb to the muffin batter. Fold the strawberries and the rhubarb into the batter.
6. Spoon the batter into a muffin tin lined with coconut oil or cupcake liners. Fill each cup to be about 3/4 of the way full.
7. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Once the oven is preheated, bake the muffins for 35-40 minutes. The muffins should be firm, but bounce back when pressed on lightly.
8. Let the muffins sit in the muffin tray for 10-15 minutes to cool. Transfer them to a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Store the muffins in an air tight container for up to 1 week.

Enjoy!