Every year when the mandarin season comes along I find myself with lots of mandarins and no idea what to do with them. Thankfully this year we don’t have too many extra mandarins because our toddler loves them and will happily eat them if we have too many. I really struggle with winter fruit. I spend all year waiting for mangoes cherries and peaches but have been challenging myself to learn to love winter fruit more. I’ve actually come quite a long way!
I’ve made it a point to memorise the seedless mandarin varieties to buy so that our toddler can eat them without me worrying. Thankfully seedless is also great for baking because you can blend them up whole and get all the benefits of the fruit and skin. It helps give a much bigger vitamin c hit as well as a much more intense flavour. I know that sounds very weird but blending whole mandarins is not only more nutritious but it also helps replace the need for eggs and oil because the mandarin skin gives off lots of its own oil. It is preferable to buy organic when eating mandarin skin as to avoid pesticides, but if you can’t find any, a good wash beforehand should help reduce pesticide residue (hopefully) side note: I’ve stopped washing my organic produce before consuming as this can help to up b12 levels
I think poppy seeds are not given enough attention. I rarely see them used in anything besides citrusy baked goods like this and on top of loaves of bread and bagels. Poppy seeds are actually very high in iron! So I think they should be a regular part of women’s diets especially for women struggling low iron or heavy periods. When I was pregnant, I didn’t get many cravings at all if any, at least I never got the crazy cravings I hear other women talk about, but I do remember being drawn to salt, carbohydrates (because they cut my nausea) and poppy seeds of all things! Such a strange little craving but considering that we double or blood supply while pregnant and naturally drop lower in iron I think poppy seeds actually make sense. Interestingly I ate lots of poppy seeds in my first trimester and lots of mandarins and spinach in my third trimester. Vitamin c in mandarins helps increase absorption of iron from things like poppy seeds so muffins like these are a great way to boost iron. Granted you might need to eat a lot of poppy seeds to get enough iron but I still think it’s a wonderful addition. Besides who doesn’t want muffins for a quick on the go breakfast. I love freezing muffins like this. They’re perfect to whip out for really rushed mornings and are almost guaranteed to be eaten by toddlers and children. We love eating them with some pumpkin seed butter, vegan yogurt, and a big fruit salad.
This recipe is refined sugar-free, egg-free, dairy-free and gluten-free. Enjoy.
| Vegan Mandarin Poppy Seed Muffins | Print |
- 1½ cups buckwheat flour
- ½ cup almond meal
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 2 TBSP poppy seeds
- 3 bananas
- 2 small seedless mandarins
- ½ cup maple syrup
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- ¼ cup almond milk
- In a bowl, add the flour almond meal, baking soda, baking powder, and poppy seeds
- In a separate bowl, mash bananas and add maple syrup, vanilla, and almond milk
- Wash your mandarins and place them in a high-speed blender, whole, with skin. blend until mandarin puree forms. Add the mandarin puree mixture into the banana mixture and mix well.
- Pour the mandarin mixture over the flour mixture and mix until a muffin batter forms.
- Divide mixture evenly on to a 12 piece lined muffin tin.
- Bake a 180 C for 30 mins or until a toothpick comes out clean
