Firstly, we both want to thank you all for the amazing response we’ve had to our blog after only going live yesterday – we appreciate it so much!

I really went out on a limb here today. I wanted to make blueberry muffins for my husband for the weekend as he loves them but I’ve never made buckwheat muffins so I decided to really experiment which is sometimes risky as it can go wrong and you end up throwing away a bunch of good ingredients! Thankfully though, these turned out perfectly!

Buckwheat flour is the perfect substitute for wheat flour because, although you may think buckwheat is a grain, it is in fact a fruit seed so it’s a great replacement for wheat. Buckwheat also helps lower cholesterol and blood pressure, and contains lots of phytonutrients that act as anti-oxidants to fight fight disease. Blueberries are also brilliant anti-oxidants. I also used poppy seeds in these because they are a good source of B-Complex vitamins and I’m trying to increase my B-Complex intake to help my nerve pains, something I still suffer from as a by-product of having long-term arthritis.  Poppy seeds are in fact extracted from the pods of the opium poppy, we just don’t get the same side effects with them (!) They are high in oleic acid (a mono-unsaturated fatty acid) so they help lower cholesterol and they are high in fibre. And guess what? They’re also anti-oxidants!

Ingredients (these are gluten free, dairy free and refined-sugar free)

2 cups buckwheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
Half tsp Himalayan salt
1 ripe banana, mashed
2 eggs (for vegan, substitute with 2 tbsp chia seeds mixed with 5 tbsp water, mixed and left to set for 20 mins)
Quarter cup almond milk
Quarter cup agave or maple
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup blueberries
1-2 tbsp poppy seeds, depending on your preference

Method

Preheat the oven to 180.
Sift the flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt into a bowl.
In a separate bowl, beat the eggs and add the mashed banana, then add the almond milk, agave and vanilla. Add dry ingredients to wet and mix well. It doesn’t matter if there are a few lumps from the bananas but make sure you mix in all the flour from the bottom of the bowl. Then add the blueberries and poppy seeds.
Place around 9-12 muffin cases in a cupcake oven tray and using a large spoon, spoon in the mixture into each one, filling to nearly the top.
Bake for 20-30 minutes, until golden and fairly moist.
Enjoy warm or cooled.

Have a great weekend everyone!

Love,
Lauren