Gluten Free Plantain Protein Muffins

In a recent post, I created a recipe for Plantain Recovery Muffins.  The past couple weeks I have been diligently working to perfect this recipe in order to provide you with a perfectly textured AND delicious protein recovery muffin.

The recipe below is the final outcome of several trial batches of these muffins.  The end result is a gluten-free muffin that has a texture like its real wheat counterpart, and a flavor that is perfect for eating after a hard workout.  You can see in the picture just how airy and fluffy these muffins turned out!

I have been enjoying one of these scrumptious muffins after my long hot vinyasa yoga sessions or intense Crossfit workouts.  It's the perfect way to start replenishing your body with the protein and carbohydrates it needs after exercise!

A note to my sweet-toothed friends: Feel free to increase the amount of maple syrup to a 1/4 cup for a sweeter treat.

Plantain Protein Muffins

Yield: 9 muffins
Vegan, gluten-free, egg-free, refined sugar-free

Ingredients

• 1 large green plantain
• 3 dates, pits removed
• 1 chia egg (1 Tablespoon chia seeds + 3 Tablespoons water)
• 1/4 cup vegan buttermilk (1/4 cup almond milk + 3/4 teaspoon apple cider vinegar)*
• 1/4 cup buckwheat flour
• 2 scoops, or 1/2 cup, protein powder (I use Sunwarrior's Warrior Blend Natural - Vegan & unsweetened protein)
• 1 Tablespoon cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 2 Tablespoons pure maple syrup
• 3/4 cup water

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 375°F.
2. Peel your plantain and remove the pits from your dates.
3. Add the plantain and dates to a food processor and process until smooth.
4. In a small bowl, mix your chia egg (1 Tablespoon chia seeds + 3 Tablespoons water) and allow to sit for at least 5 minutes while you measure out the rest of your ingredients.
5. In a second small bowl, make your vegan buttermilk by combining the almond milk and apple cider vinegar.  Stir this mixture and allow to sit for 5 minutes before mixing in with the rest of your wet ingredients.
6. In a large bowl, add the buckwheat flour, protein powder, cinnamon, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; Mix well.
7. In a separate bowl, add the vanilla extract, maple syrup, vegan buttermilk, water, chia egg, and the plantain date mixture from the food processor; Mix well.
8. Add the wet ingredients into your bowl with the dry ingredients and mix well.
9. Pour the batter into a greased muffin tray, filling each tin approximately 3/4 of the way full (this should equal about 9 muffins).
10. As an optional step, you can top the batter with 1-2 cashews.  They taste delicious after roasting in the oven while the muffins bake!
11. Place in the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean and the tops begin to turn golden brown.
12. Depending on the length and intensity of your workout, enjoy 1-2 of these muffins afterwards! *Note: Any non-dairy milk substitute can be used if you do not have almond milk, such as cashew or flax milk.

Nutritional Information per muffin (with 200 grams of plantain when peeled):

83 calories

.5 gram fat

15 grams carbohydrates

5 grams protein

-Brought to you from Erin's Kitchen