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Cooking with silicone bakeware and a delicious muffin recipe

* updated from February 2012

Hello blissful beings! If you remember back in the day in 2012 I had a yearly theme for my blog where I shared amazing recipes and showed you how to use all kinds of cookware. Do you remember the Cooking Tool of the Month series!?

I’ve decided to update my old blog posts with some of my favorite and most popular recipes. Because honestly, things get lost after blogging for this many years. And it’s a good blogging practice to update posts. So it’s really a win/win for everyone. Just don’t laugh at how old this cooking video is!!

In February of 2012 was when I first donned my oven mitts and tried baking with silicone bakeware! I heard about these from Chef AJ because I wanted to bake with less oil. I was leery to give them a try, I had all kinds of questions: are they safe, worth the money, will my muffins really not stick?? I’m an adventurous baker so I thought what the heck!

First, research suggests that silicone bakeware is totally safe up to 428 degrees F, will not leach any toxins into your food, is an environmental alternative since you do not need to use oil or parchment paper, and is the only non-reactive non-stick cookware available (though I’m curious about these new ceramic pans). Is the jury still out? Do some say silicone is not safe? Yes. So make your own judgment and do what you feel is best, as always. This is the set that I bought because I knew I would use the muffin and loaf pans the most.

I have a love/hate relationship with baking. It’s not my forte but healthier baked goods have become a passion of mine. I eschew white, refined and cane sugars, use whole grain flours, and reduce the oil/fat without sacrificing taste or texture. I want to enjoy my desserts, but not have to worry about it adding pounds or putting me in a sugar coma.

Do not be afraid to play around with different flours and sweeteners.

I must give credit to the woman who sparked my interest in a healthier way of baking. More Great Good Dairy-free Desserts Naturally by Fran Costigan was the first vegan baking cookbook I ever bought. Fran introduced me to using barley flour and mixing granulated sweeteners with liquid sweeteners. She’s just brilliant and not called the “Queen of Vegan Desserts” for nothin’!

I use this method of mixing different flours and sweeteners together in almost all my baking now. It makes it fun and more enjoyable knowing I’m making something that doesn’t cause my health to suffer. I have an enormous sweet tooth, so if I didn’t make healthier baked goods my health would be shot. Believe me.

Orange Coconut Cornmeal Muffins
Makes 6 muffins

1/2 cup corn meal
1/4 cup barley flour
1/4 cup garbanzo flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon flax meal
1 teaspoon arrowroot
Dash sea salt
1/4 cup unsweetened dried coconut (+1 tablespoon extra for topping)
1/2 cup full-fat coconut milk
1 teaspoon orange zest
1/3 cup orange juice
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup coconut palm sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with liners or use silicone bakeware. Set aside. Whisk together the first eight dry ingredients in a medium bowl. In a smaller bowl whisk together the rest of the ingredients. Mix wet into dry until well combined. Spoon batter into muffin liners until almost full. Sprinkle extra coconut on top of each muffin. Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out dry when inserted into the muffin.

Do you like playing with different flours or sweeteners? Do you value whole grain flours and more healthful sweeteners or do you not care so much?

Don’t forget to try these cookies that are sort of like a Samoa girl scout cookie. Kind of. But you can see the combination of different flours and sweeteners represented here.

Hope you enjoy these updated blog posts. Definitely leave me a comment if you try them!

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21 Comments

  1. Those look delicious! I bake with wheat flour (very happy that whole wheat pastry flour substitutes well for all purpose), but there's an Ethiopian recipe I want to try that calls for garbanzo flour, so I might end up getting some to play around with. I also use silicon for baking. I do have a caveat…the muffin cup liners that I got are pleated like paper muffin cups, and they're actually kind of a pain to clean. Straight sided ones would have been a much better idea! 

    1. You can totally use ww or whole wheat pastry flour in place of barley and even try it without the garbanzo flour. You might have to adjust the liquid measurements some, but what I have found with all these experimentations is that it’s pretty hard to mess up vegan baked goods. As long as you know what kind of texture you want with the batter you can add a little of this and a little of that.

  2. Could you substitute coconut oil for the coconut milk?  Any other suggestions of a substitute for the coconut milk?  Thanks for your help!  They look delicious!!

  3. I just bought the baking set and cookbook. I have been on a vegan baking rampage and I can't wait until these items arrive! I love baking for my little ones without the sugar high.  I rely too much on maple syrup so I am looking forward to new ideas. 

    1. Wonderful! This is actually a new recipe not in my book and there are quite a few new ones on my website as well. Just look under the Recipes tab. I actually don’t mind maple, I prefer it along with brown rice syrup, dates and date syrup. and coconut palm sugar. It’s fun to play around πŸ™‚

  4. My Mom bought me some silicon muffin tins for Christmas and I threw them out as I thought they were too "plasticky" and toxic!!!!!!!!!! My bad.  Guess I should have done research first lol.  These look yummy for a treat.  Like you – I need my treats to be as healthy as possible otherwise what's the point of going to all of the work to make green juices every morning!  Haha.  That was a random thought process……….

    Thanks Christy.  Love Blissful Bites too!

  5. I think Central Perks made these for the New Year/New You conference recently. They were amazing and yes, I shamefully had Donn cut everyone in line to grab me two because they went fast! 

  6. Those muffins look gorgeous. I guess I need to get one of those silicone muffin pans. I do have Fran Costigan's cookbook and everything I've made from it is absolutely delicious and so much healthier than most "treat" recipes.

  7. I am baking these for someone allergic to coconut. Is there a substitute for the dried coconut or can I leave it out without having to change the other ratios of ingredients? Thanks for your help!

    1. You should probably just pick a different recipe. You could use another non-dairy milk and leave out the dried coconut but I have no idea how that will affect the recipe. You most likely will have to change the liquid measurements and may need to add oil for moisture, and you are completely changing the taste of the recipe by removing the coconut. The full-fat coconut milk is creating the texture of the muffin as well.

  8. Made these for breakfast and loved them…. Thanks for the recipe. Love the video to see how it's done. I remember recipes better this way!

  9. Christy, your Orange Coconut Cornmeal Muffins look so good! That’s a very interesting combination that I have to try. And I must consider getting a silicone muffin pan because your muffins look great.

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