Betty Goes Vegan~It's a real thing!

About a year ago I was meandering around the Books A Million bookstore in South Portland, Maine.

My apologies to my small local bookstores for the lapse in judgement. If it's any consolation I didn't buy anything, just happened to be in town and was trolling for inspiration.

Shameless plug for my local book shops in the Brunswick area..

"Twice Told Tales".. a non profit to benefit the Curtis Memorial Library & Gulf of Maine Books, both right in downtown Brunswick within walking distance of each other. These shops are my endless sources of free therapy, guidance, laughter, solace, a little bit of book addiction dealer action and just an endless source of serenity that you just don't get in the bigger spaces, no matter how many books they can stuff into four walls.

Click on the links above and you'll get a better idea of what I'm talking about and also where they are located.

I think that makes up for my BAM faux pas. :)

Back to Betty~ Well, my dear mother in law of 28 years, way back when on my 20th birthday, bought me a copy of "Betty Crocker's" cookbook. This copy was brand new in softcover and was in it's third printing in 1987. Can't believe I've had it all of these years and have used it consistently throughout. Obvious wear and tare. Nothing a little duct tape can't fix.

When I was beginning my navigation into the vegan sphere of baking and cooking I pulled out this standby cookbook and substituted away until I created my dairy free, egg free concoctions and thought myself quite inventive. That was until I thumbed through the cookbooks at BAM and what to my wondering eyes should appear... 

Well, you guessed it. "Betty Goes Vegan", or something like that.  It happened. :)

Below is my original Blueberry Muffin recipe from home. It differs from the newest vegan Betty version a bit.  I'm partial to Chia seeds and she's more of a flax lady. Try it out and see what you think. Hubby loves them and truly prefers them to the cup of veggie oil, a cup and a half of sad dairy cow excretions and two eggs that never had a chance... A sad muffin no doubt, but who knew!

I'm totally saying that to gross you out and tease, I hope you know, but this version is way more heart healthy, better for your overall nutrition and because they still maintain their awesomeness in taste and texture you can actually eat MORE of them!! Bonus!





Heat oven to 400

3/4c. plain unsweetened Almond milk (soy, rice, cashew, coconut) all work too.
1/2c. unsweetened applesauce
1 Chia egg (2 Tablespoons of Chia Seeds in 1/4c warm water. Soak for about 5 minutes to make.
2 cups unbleached white wheat flour. if you are gluten free, use the same amount of your flour of choice.
1/3c. unrefined or regular sugar
3 tsp. aluminum free baking powder
1 tsp. fine sea salt
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries tossed first in a little bit of flour to coat.

Spray muffin tins or line with baking cups. I don't use the baking cups because they tend to stick to those.

Beat milk, applesauce and chia egg together. Stir in flour, sugar, baking powder and salt all at once. Stir ingredients all together leaving the batter somewhat lumpy in texture. Fold in coated blueberries after.
Divide batter into twelve muffins. Sprinkle with a small amount of sugar on top of each.
Bake for 20-22 minutes. Check for doneness with a toothpick. Sometimes they take a little longer to brown up.

I don't have the nutritional details with the change, I just know they are better for you. Try the recipe for yourself and let me know in the comments what you think or how they came out!

Not to fear... Betty even tries new things.

Good Luck! Denice