Gut Healthy Lemon Chia Seed Muffins (gluten free and vegan)

My love for chocolate runs deep, but lemon is a REAL close runner-up.

Something about Spring makes me crave ALL the lemon things.

And I’m a big believer that there is no such thing as too many muffins. These ones are packed with lemon and are almost guaranteed to brighten your day.

I love that they're packed with whole grains and my girls love that they’re vegan so they can “sample” the batter. But i’m really in it for the crumb topping.

INGREDIENTS 

• 1 cup oat flour (grind old fashinoed rolled oats in a high speed blender until flour)

• 3/4 cup buckwheat flour (you can just grind raw buckwheat groats in a high speed blender or sub more oat flour)

• 1/2 cup almond meal

• 3 T coconut sugar

• 2 T chia seeds

• 3 T ground flax +  1/4 cup water (mix and let sit for a few minutes until a gel forms) 

• 1 teaspoon baking powder

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• 1/2 teaspoon salt

• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

• 1/3 cup unsweetened almond milk (or other plant milk)

• 1 tsp apple cider vinegar (added into the milk)

• 1/4 cup maple syrup 

• ½ tsp almond extract (feel free to skip if you don’t have it) 

• 2 lemons zest  of both + juice of 1 lemon 

• 1/4 cup coconut oil, melted

Crumb topping

• 1/4 cup rolled oats

• 3 T coconut sugar

• 3 T oat flour

• 3 T coconut oil (melted) 

• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon 

Place all ingredients in a bowl and mix together until crumbly.  Set aside.

DIRECTIONS 

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. 

Add all dry ingredients to a large bowl and combine well.

In a separate bowl add the flax mixture, applesauce, plant milk, maple syrup, coconut oil and vanilla until well combined. Add the lemon zest and juice.

Add the wet to dry mixture and stir until just combined.

Spoon the mixture into the muffin pan. 

Sprinkle the crumb topping on each muffin. 

 Bake for 27-30 minutes or until golden. Enjoy! 

*for an added protein boost you can add a scoop of plant based protein powder too!