Vegan Peach Almond Muffins

The little coffee shop across the street from me has the most amazing baked goods. I enjoy breathing in the heavenly smell of bread, scones, and other yummy things baking in the oven when I walk past every morning on my way to work. Their muffins are especially appealing - combinations of fruit that I rarely see (peach/cranberry, blueberry/apricot, etc) where the chunks of fruit are always peaking out of the sides and top of the muffin.

Unfortuantely, this bakery does not have any vegan items on the menu. I am still waiting for them to offer soy milk for coffee (ahem! come on people!).  So when I found a can of peaches in the back of my cupboard and no idea what to do with it, I decided to try to recreate one of their peach muffins - lower in fat and vegan of course.

The end result was actually amazing - I am using all my self control not to have a third with my afternoon tea today. I adapted the below recipe from one I found on Susan Voisin's blog.


Vegan Peach Almond Muffins

Ingredients:
1 can of peaches - drained and chopped
1 1/2 teaspoon ground flaxseed
2 tablespoons warm water
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups unsweetened vanilla almond milk
1 cup white + 1 cup whole wheat flour
2  teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup sugar
2 tablespoons sliced almonds + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar.

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400F. Spray muffin tins with olive oil (or some other non-stick) spray.

Drain and chop the can of peaches - set to one side.
In a medium mixing bowl, mix the ground flax seed with the warm water. Add the vanilla extract and almond milk to the flax mixture and whisk well to combine.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar or substitute. Mix well. Add the liquid ingredients and stir just until combined; batter will be thick. Fold in the peaches, making sure they are distributed throughout the batter. Fill each muffin cup to within 1/2-inch of the top. Smooth the top of each muffin and sprinkle with sliced almonds and granulated sugar . Bake until a toothpick comes out clean, about 15-20 minutes. Allow to cool before serving.

Yield: around 14-16 muffins