strawberry muffins with strawberry cream cheese frosting

Treat mom to breakfast in bed this Mother’s Day with Strawberry Muffins and Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting!

Strawberry Muffins with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting ~vegan~ Treat mom this mother's day!

The least we can do for the moms and special women in our lives is to cook them breakfast and buy a few flowers!  It’s the little things that light up our hearts the most!  Noah brought home from school such a cute surprise for me this week..a hand painted flower pot with purple pansies and a drawing.  He explained the drawing in such detail it made me cry…my hair, my eyes, my nose and the baby in my belly.  It was too cute for words! My mother’s day is complete!

But, I wouldn’t complain if someone wanted to bake me up a batch of these…

Strawberry Muffins with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting ~vegan~ Treat mom this Mother's Day!

They are a little healthier than your everyday muffins thanks to whole wheat flour, minimal sugar and olive oil.  We have to keep mom healthy, right?!?  Vegan cream cheese is whipped together with freeze-dried strawberries for taste and color.  I found freeze-dried strawberries at Whole Foods.  You can skip this step if you can’t find freeze-dried strawberries and simply flavor frosting with a little extra vanilla extract.

Recipe adapted from Cucina Nicolina

strawberry muffins
 
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Makes 12 muffins
Author:
Recipe type: Breakfast
Cuisine: Vegan
Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • ¾ cup soy milk (or milk of your choice)
  • 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  • ⅓ cup pure maple syrup
  • ¼ cup olive oil
  • 1.5 cups whole wheat pastry flour
  • 1 cup all purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 1.5 cup strawberries, chopped
  • For cream cheese frosting:
  • 1 cup freeze dried strawberries
  • 8 oz vegan cream cheese
  • 1 cup powdered sugar
  • drop pure vanilla extract
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a muffin tin with cups or spray with cooking spray, set aside.
  2. In a large bowl mix together milk, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup and olive oil.
  3. In a separate bowl sift together whole wheat pastry flour, all purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. Add chopped strawberries and toss to coat.
  4. Fold dry ingredients into wet ingredients and gently mix until just combined.
  5. Fill muffin cups ¾ way full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Let cool.
  6. To make frosting:
  7. Place freeze dried strawberries in a food processor and pulse until a powder is formed.
  8. Add cream cheese, powdered sugar, vanilla and blend until creamy scraping down sides as needed. Use a drop or two of soy milk for thinning if needed.
  9. Serve with warm muffins and enjoy!

Strawberry Muffins with Strawberry Cream Cheese Frosting ~vegan~ Treat mom this Mother's Day!

 HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY to all the amazing moms, sisters, aunts, grandma’s and friends out there!

vegan vanilla cupcakes with vanilla cream frosting

Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Frosting

Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Frosting ~ no white flour or white sugar used ~ A healthy treat for your Valentine's Day honey!

Ohhh, the frosting…

Truth be told, the cupcakes are just a vehicle for the frosting!

Whipped coconut milk with vanilla and a hint of sweetness.  I wouldn’t blame you if you forgot about making the cupcakes all together and just piped the frosting onto a spoon!

The best part about these beauties is that no white flour or white sugar was used!  Whole wheat pastry flour, apple sauce and maple syrup instead!  These would make a healthy treat for your Valentine’s Day honey!  I know I’m jumping the gun a bit, but Valentine’s Day will be here before we know it!  They would even make a great kid’s birthday treat, especially for those with food allergies!  Although I haven’t tried it, I’m guessing an all-purpose gluten-free flour and xanthan gum can replace the whole wheat pastry flour.

Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Frosting ~ no white flour or white sugar used ~ A healthy treat for your Valentine's Day honey!

If you don’t have whole wheat pastry flour, you can use half white flour and half whole wheat flour instead.  The original recipe can be found here at the Food Network.  The only change I made was to use whole wheat pastry flour instead of white flour and coconut oil instead of canola oil.  The frosting recipe can be found here.  They recommend freezing the opened can of coconut milk.  Personally, freezing the coconut cream for an extended amount of time made mixing really difficult!  The first time I made these, my poor hand-held electric mixer had smoke coming out the back!  This time, I just placed the coconut cream in the freezer for around 10 minutes and it worked like a charm!

Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Frosting
 
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Serves: 12
Ingredients
  • For the cupcakes:
  • 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cups pure maple syrup
  • ¼ cup coconut oil, melted
  • ¼ cup unsweetened apple sauce
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 1 cup soy milk or milk of your choice
  • For the frosting:
  • 1 can full fat coconut milk
  • ½ teaspoon vanilla
  • sweetener of choice (I used 2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup. You can use powdered sugar, agave or stevia instead)
  • Flaked coconut for garnish (optional)
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350F. Line a cupcake tin with cups and set aside.
  2. In a large bowl, sift flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
  3. In a separate bowl, combine maple syrup, melted coconut oil, apple sauce, vanilla and soy milk.
  4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and use an electric mixer to combine. Do not over mix!
  5. Fill cupcake cups to ¾ full.
  6. Bake for 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool.
  7. For the frosting:
  8. Do not shake can of coconut milk! Open and scoop out the coconut cream. Transfer to a small bowl and place in the freezer to set. The watery part can be stored in the refrigerator and used later!
  9. Using an electric mixer, whip coconut cream with vanilla and sweetener.
  10. Frost cupcakes and enjoy!

Vegan Vanilla Cupcakes with Vanilla Cream Frosting ~ no white flour or white sugar used ~ A healthy treat for your Valentine's Day honey!

Have a cupcake, it’s Friday!

orange zest carrot cake with cashew cream frosting ~vegan~

Presenting…the new BeginWithin Nutrition blog!!!

Big things (well, big for me!) happened in the past few days!  My new blog was launched (many thanks to Karie Sullivan!), I hit over 500 Facebook likes and Finding Vegan shared my Toasted Coconut Chocolate Cream Pie recipe sending my stats soaring!

To celebrate, I baked a cake!  A carrot cake to be exact, my favorite kind…

Orange Zest Carrot Cake with Cashew Cream Frosting ~vegan~

Scented with orange zest and topped with a maple cashew cream frosting, pure bliss!

Orange Zest Carrot Cake with Cashew Cream Frosting ~vegan~

I definitely will be making this again for Easter!

Mom, I saved you a piece this time!

Recipe adapted from Oh She Glows

orange zest carrot cake with cashew cream frosting
 
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Author:
Recipe type: Dessert
Cuisine: Vegan
Ingredients
  • 1.5 cups carrots, shredded
  • 1 tablespoon flax seed meal
  • ½ cup maple syrup
  • ¾ cup soy milk (or milk of your choice)
  • ⅓ cup canola oil or light olive oil
  • 1.5 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
  • ½ teaspoon apple cider vinegar
  • 2 teaspoons orange zest
  • 1.5 cups whole wheat pastry flour
  • 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • ½ teaspoon ground ginger
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • ½ teaspoon sea salt
  • ½ cup raisins (soaked for 10 minutes and drained)
  • ¼ cup toasted shredded coconut, unsweetened
  • Frosting Ingredients: ¾ cup raw cashews (soaked in water for 2 hours and rinsed), 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil, 4 tablespoons pure maple syrup, 3 tablespoons orange juice, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract, pinch sea salt
Instructions
  1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or coat a 10 inch round cake pan with cooking spray, set aside. Note: the original recipe used a 8x8 pan.
  2. In a medium bowl, combine shredded carrots, flax seed meal, maple syrup, soy milk, canola oil, vanilla extract, apple cider vinegar and orange zest. Mix together and set aside.
  3. In a large bowl, sift together flour, cinnamon, ground ginger, baking powder, baking soda and sea salt.
  4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and gently stir until just combined. Fold in raisins and toasted coconut.
  5. Pour into pan and bake for 30-35 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool using a wire rack.
  6. To make frosting: combine all ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Note: Frosting will get thicker when chilled in the refrigerator.
  7. Frost and enjoy!!!

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