My daughter Gia and I have noticed that we are in sync more and more when it comes to our food preferences. When we are scrolling on social media, we tend to send each other more and more vegetarian and vegan recipes to play with in the kitchen. In fact, even in our #TeamGellibean thread where all the kids are present, we have enjoyed sending each other reels with recipes that we want to try. This desire to change the way we prepare our food has also been reflected in the way we have adjusted our recipes for the baked treats that we make on a regular basis. One recipe that has been on rotation in our home has always been Banana Bread or Banana Muffins. 

Aside from using the best and freshest ingredients we can find, we have also been looking for alternative ways to substitute eggs and dairy in our usual recipes, which will of course, be kinder on my stomach while giving greater health benefits.

Here are three ways to substitute for one egg in your recipes:

• 1 Tbsp chia + 2 ½ Tbsp water
• 1 Tbsp ground flax + 3 Tbsp water
• ¼ c unsweetened applesauce

Of course, you can also purchase readily available Egg Substitute. This is a powder that you can hydrate with water according to the package directions. (Usually it is 1 Tbsp powder to 2 Tbsp water) 

We have used all of these substitutes in our cooking and baking and have had successful results without any complaints from the team. In fact, my sons have expressed their preference for Chocolate Chip Chia Cookies as of late. 

Tip: Make a batch, freeze in 1 oz scoops, and throw in a freezer bag after set. This allows the boys to make 1 or 2 cookies when the craving hits in the airfryer.

Another way to make our tried and true recipe for banana muffins a little bit more healthy includes swapping out the butter. I am so happy that there are other ways we can explore non-dairy options to baking. Sometimes, Gia scolds me because I swap out too many ingredients in my efforts to make our sweet treats healthier. I get over-excited and forget that isolating one ingredient at a time is better than doing it all at once.

Here are three ways to substitute butter in your recipes:

• Sagana Coconut Spread 1:1
• Coconut oil 2:1
• Applesauce 2:1 (You can use this, as your butter substitute but not at the same time when you are using it as your egg substitute)

Tip: We have used other oils like canola oil and olive oil in cake and muffin recipes. We have found that in some recipes if you use extra virgin olive oil, it changes the taste just a bit.

We are still playing around with changing the different flours we can use to make our baked goods a little bit healthier. This includes substituting portions of all purpose flour with some coconut flour or even almond flour. (Actually, I found a great recipe that I tweaked for Keto Vegan Blueberry Scones that was so good.) All of these flours change things greatly, and adjustments usually need to be made with the wet ingredients for our baked treats to come out yummy. Hopefully, we can continue to play around and figure this out soon.

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For now, I am happy to share this Mini Banana Muffin recipe that is yummy! The kids love it!

Vegan Banana Muffins

Ingredients:

2 c APF

1 tsp Baking Soda

1/4 tsp Salt

1 tsp cinnamon

1 Tbsp chia in 2 ½ Tbsp water 

3/4 c coconut sugar

½ c coconut oil 

4 Tbsp almond milk 

½ tsp vanilla extract 

3-4 pieces mashed over-ripe bananas 

¾ c dark chocolate chips 

Optional: ¾ cashews, walnuts, or almonds

Process:

Preheat oven to 325

Combine the dry ingredients in a bowl

Mix the egg, sugar, and vegetable oil together 

Add flour mixture

Then add almond milk, vanilla, bananas then chocolate chips & nuts

Bake for 45-60 minutes for a loaf, or 12-14 minutes for mini muffins 

Tip: Set time half way through to rotate your pans for even baking.

Tip: If you don’t need the recipe to be vegan you can substitute chia mixture for one egg, and coconut oil for butter, but reduce the milk to 2 Tbsp instead. – Rappler.com

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