Around here, it’s raspberry season! We’ve picked a whopping 60 pounds (yes – pounds?) of raspberries off the 25 shoots we planted just last year. So, needless to say, we’ve been making smoothies, 4-Ingredient Berry Chia Jam, berry-topped steel cut oatmeal and these beautiful baked treats!
When it comes to nutrients, raspberries are rock-stars! ??? They’re full of protective antioxidants and vitamins and minerals. They also are one of the most fiber-filled fruits, with a whole 8 grams per cup! (BTW – these muffins have 4.2 grams of fiber each) This natural fiber leads to satiety (feeling full), a healthy gut and stabilized blood sugar levels.
A recent study compared the effect that different amounts of raspberries had on prediabetic individuals. A group ate no red raspberries, another group had 1 cup a day and the third group had 2 cups. No surprise, more raspberries led to improved blood sugar control. Sign me up for the 2 cup group, please!
You’ll notice these muffins are free of refined sugar as well as oil. It’s amazing, but these highly processed foods aren’t needed to create delicious baked goods! Learn more on these topics by checking out our Why no Oil and Date pages.
Something you may notice when baking with all this fruit (dates, raspberries, bananas) is that you can’t leave baked goods on the counter all week, they’ll go bad. Which is a good sign! I’m sure you’ve seen those fast food meals that can sit out for a year yet not look any different (bad sign). There’s a few options that we recommend to avoid having to toss out your plant-based treats. 1 – store in the fridge and eat within a few days. 2 – keep out what you plan to eat in the next few days and store the rest in the freezer. 3 – share with some lucky friends, family, co-workers, strangers, etc.
To make these muffins, we used this food processor (This is an affiliate link).
Plant-Based Raspberry Muffins
Equipment
- Food Processor
- muffin tins
Ingredients
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 10 Deglet Noor dates pitted
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 T ground flax
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- 1/8 tsp salt
- 1/2 banana ripe or over-ripe
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cup raspberries, fresh divided
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Place rolled oats in a food processor and blend for 20 seconds, or until a coarse flour is formed. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
- Place dates and warm water in food processor, let soak for at least 5 minutes.
- Add whole wheat flour, flax, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt to the mixing bowl. Stir to combine.
- Process dates and water until smooth. Add banana and vanilla extract and pulse 3-4 times, or until no banana chunks remain. Add mixture to dry ingredients and stir to combine, avoiding over-stirring.
- Add 1 cup of raspberries and stir. Scoop 1/3 cup of batter into muffins cups of a non-stick muffin tin. Use the remaining 1/2 cup to top each muffin with 2-3 berries, pressing them lighting into the batter.
- Bake for 22 minutes, or until golden brown. Let cool and enjoy!
Brilliant recipe. Easy, healthy and versatile. I especially love that it uses water instead of milk. My 18 month old loves them made with blueberries as well.
The addition of blueberries is always a good choice! ?