Healthy vegan beetroot muffins with avocado frosting

These healthy, vegan beetroot muffins are made with only one-bowl, and ingredients you will already find in your pantry. They are topped with a creamy, decadent avocado frosting (a great recipe on its own), and will fast become a family favourite.

WHY ADD BEETROOT TO A MUFFIN?

The beetroot in these healthy, vegan muffins make this an oil-free recipe (if you skip the frosting), and is a great way to get the very nutritious vegetable into your diet (or use up extra beets in the fridge). If you don’t have beetroot, a good substitution would be zucchini (courgette), and although I have not tried it- pumpkin could work too.

Beetroot is an incredibly nutritious root vegetable, and due to its natural sweetness, is very easy to bake with. Beetroot is high in iron, forte, fibre and manganese. I’ve used both raw, grated and coked, pureed beetroot to make these muffins. Both work, however I prefer the pureed version better; the texture is better, and the taste more uniform.

WILL THE FROSTING TASTE LIKE AVOCDO?

If you top the healthy, vegan beetroot muffins with avocado frosting I promise- you’ll taste NO avocado. Avocado makes such a perfect base for no-bake or raw desserts, with its flavour easily disguised by more flavoursome ingredients (like cacao or citrus). The frosting makes a really delicious and healthy dessert in itself- I love it served up with coconut yoghurt and fresh berries.

Avocado has an amazing fat profile! Filled with heart-healthy monounsaturated fat, eating avocado helps to boost mood, promote healthy skin and reduce the risk of developing type 2 diabetes.

YOU’LL LOVE THIS RECIPE BECAUSE;

• It is a one bowl recipe, meaning less dishes and more time enjoying a cup of tea and a healthy, vegan muffin
• There are 2 secret healthy ingredients; BEETROOT and AVOCADO and no-one will even know
• They freeze well (before being frosted), and taste great warmed up, too

WHAT ARE HEALTHY VEGAN BEETROOT MUFFINS MADE FROM?

• flour
• raw cacao powder, or cocoa if you prefer
• coconut sugar
• coconut milk
• apple cider vinegar
• vanilla
• beetroot
• salt
• baking powder and bicarb soda

HOW TO MAKE HEALTHY VEGAN BEETROOT MUFFINS

The recipe is very straight forward, and easy to whip up in one bowl.

Combine the wet ingredients

Start by making a vegan butter milk, using milk and vinegar. I recommend the flavour of coconut milk, but also the high-fat plant milk will work better than other lower-fat plant milks (like rice or almond). Add the pureed beetroot* to this mix, and combine well.

Once the milk has thickened, you can whisk in sugar and vanilla.

Now incorporate the dry ingredients

The next step is to add the dry ingredients. Sift in the flour, cacao, and baking powder and bicarb soda, then add in salt and coffee. The coffee is an optional ingredients, but really compliment the cacao flavour and is thus recommend. Mix your batter until it just comes together- you want to stop once the batter becomes very smooth though, not before.

Bake

Set in the preheated oven for 14-16 mins.

To test the muffins, I prefer to use my finger to gently press the top of the muffin. It should be springy, and touch right back. A skewer works well too- just ensure you take the muffins out when the skewer comes out with a few moist crumbs on it.

Allow muffins to cool completely, and in the meantime make the frosting.

* Note; you can sub for raw beetroot (I have done this in the past, but I prefer the pureed version) While the milk is thickening, grate your beetroot. Use a fine grater, if possible. A grater that creates larger pieces will work- but the texture will be slightly chunkier and you might taste a little bit of the beetroot in the cooked muffin- not necessarily a bad thing, it still tastes great this way.

Make the frosting

Gently melt the coconut oil. Coconut oil is a healthy fat, but only before it reaches smoking point. Melting it over a low flame, and removing the saucepan from the heat while some of the oil is still solid will keep the temperature low- and prevent the coconut oil from smoking. Allow coconut oil to completely melt, and then set aside for a few minutes.

Add remaining ingredients to a blender, and blitz until smooth. You will need to scrape down the blender sides. If possible, add coconut oil while the blender is running- this helps the oil emulsify into the frosting properly, but if all the ingredients are room temperature this shouldn’t be an issue anyway.

Set the frosting in the fridge to firm up a little before topping the muffin.

STORAGE

The healthy, vegan beetroot muffins are best stored without being frosted. I would recommend frosting all the muffins only if you plan to eat them all that day- otherwise, store the muffins in an air-tight container in the pantry, for 3-4 days. The frosting can likewise be stored in an airtight container in the fridge, for 3-4 days.

Muffins can be frozen in an air-tight container for up to 3 months- though in you plan to freeze them for lengthy periods, they are best stored in a an air-tight bag with the air sucked out (like a vacuum seal). If you plan to freeze them for only a week, an air-tight container will do.

Print