Recipe: Uglyummy Blueberry Muffins, everything-free and Julia-safe!

A new milestone: the feisty one and I baked together yesterday! I truly never thought this day would come. It was fantastic. She happily sat in her new highchair while I mixed the batter up next to her and taught her about baking. With a name like Julia, she's got to know a thing or two about cooking!

Yep, they're ugly. But they tasted pretty darn good. I promptly ate two after they cooled. And by "cooled," I mean came out of the pan. They taste a little different, but who the hell cares. The texture was also pretty crumbly, so I would like to work on this recipe a bit, but I would definitely make these again, just without the crumb topping. That was a big failure that turned to tar. Delicious sugary tar, but still tar. Photo coming during naptime.

My husband graciously offered to help out with this photo!

Recipe: Everything-Free Blueberry Muffins

I only had one egg, so I used that plus egg replacer. The olive oil was also a bit of a gamble, but you couldn't taste it at all. Apple sauce would also work, as would coconut oil or actual butter, melted. If you want to avoid GMOs, use organic brown sugar. Organic blueberries are also recommended because they're the type of fruit that is greatly affected by pesticides.

2 eggs beaten, OR egg replacer

1/3 cup olive oil
1/3 cup rice milk, or whatever you like
1 tbsp vanilla
zest of a lemon
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1 3/4 cups gf flour blend (I used sorghum and tapioca starch)
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg (optional, I just like nutmeg a lot)
1 tbsp baking powder
1 1/2 tsp xanthan gum
1 tsp salt
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Mix the wet until very well combined, and then in another bowl mix up the dry. Mix together and then stir in the berries. If you're using the topping, sprinkle it over the muffins in the pan.

Bake at 375° for 20-25 mins. Cool in pan for 5-10 and then finish cooling on a rack.

Crumb Topping Tar Fail:

1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1/4 cup flour blend
1 tsp cinnamon
2 tbsp fake butter, melted

Mix up with a fork until it looks pebbly. Sprinkle evenly over muffins, but beware because it might melt and leak over onto the bottom of your oven and make a horrible burny mess.