Disclosure: This is a paid advertorial with Breville. All opinions expressed in this blog post are my own and I was in no way influenced by the company.
Christmas is - hands down - my most favourite time of the year. I love the cosy feeling of sitting in front of the fireplace and drinking endless cups of tea. I also love hanging out with my family and finding an excuse to finally arrange that get together with my besties. Of course, Christmas is also baking season; I mean Christmas - Baking, they are practically one and the same, wouldn't you agree ;)?
But let’s be honest, Christmas can also be a bit hectic, which is why Breville created their brand new HeatSoft™ Hand Mixer, helping you save time in the kitchen by bringing all baking ingredients to room temperature 12x times quicker than usual. The aim is to take the stress out of baking and make it the joyful experience it was meant to be. Breville also promises to give your bakes a fluffier result, which got me even more interested and intrigued. So to see if Breville’s HeatSoft™ Hand Mixer is up to the intensity of Christmas baking and does all it promises, I put it to the test whilst developing the perfect vegan Christmas baking recipe (vegan gingerbread muffins anyone?) just for you.
THE BREVILLE HEATSOFT™ HAND MIXER - BAKING VERDICT
The vegan gingerbread muffins that I made with the Breville HeatSoft™ hand mixer came our super delicious and super fluffy! I tried them, my husband tried them, my son and his school friends who came over for a play date the day I made these muffins tried them too and all - without exception - loved them! Now, the question is, did the muffins come out fluffier than they would have, had I used a regular hand mixer? That, I honestly can’t say because I didn't create a comparison batch on the day. I can however confirmed that they had the light and airy consistency I was after and hence I can recommend the Breville HeatSoft™ hand mixer for busy Christmas bakers!
To get your hands on Breville HeatSoft™ hand mixer please click here. To get the recipe for these vegan gingerbread muffins, please scroll down….
Thank you for reading everyone and happy Christmas baking.
VEGAN GINGERBREAD MUFFIN RECIPE
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Baking time: 20 minutes
Makes: 12 regular sized muffins or 9 large muffins
INGREDIENTS FOR THE MUFFINS:
12 paper muffin cups OR coconut oil to grease your muffin tin
210g plain flour
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
a pinch of salt
1 tbs ground flax/linseeds + 3 tbs water
95g vegan butter
75 caster sugar
120ml date syrup
120ml almond milk (or any other plant based milk to make the recipe nut free)
INGREDIENTS FOR THE ‘MELTED SNOW’ VEGAN FROSTING (OPTIONAL):
50g vegan butter
50g vegan cream cheese
55g caster sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
A handful of cranberries, some fresh rosemary and a sprinkle of cinnamon to garnish (optional)
INSTRUCTIONS
Pre-heat the oven to 175C/350F and either line your cupcake pan with paper muffin cups OR grease with coconut oil.
In a large bowl, combine the flour, bicarbonate of soda, all the spice and salt. Mix well with a spoon and set aside. In a small bowl, mix together the ground flax seed and water, set aside.
In a separate bowl beat the butter and sugar with your hand mixer, until a soft creamy mixture has been formed (see image). When ready add your flaxseed/water mixture as well as your date syrup and combine. Add the milk slowly before combining everything with the dry flour mixture.
Divide the mixture evenly into the 12 (or 9) muffin tin and bake for appropriately 20 minutes or until golden and a toothpick put into the centre of the muffin comes out clean.
Whilst the muffins are baking, make the icing (optional) by combining all ingredients in a bowl and mixing with your hand mixer until evenly combined. Place the icing in the ridge until you’re ready to use it.
Allow the muffins to cool for approximately 10-15 minutes. Divide the icing evenly over the muffins and garnish with cranberries, fresh rosemary and a sprinkle of cinnamon if you wish. Then, enjoy!
Tip 1: If you’re not vegan you can replace the flax and water for 1 egg. Equally for non vegans, regular butter and regular milk can be used in place of the plant-based version.
Tip 2: Want to keep the recipe vegan and nut free? Then use soya milk in place of almond milk.
Tip 3: I used date syrup so the muffins aren’t too sweet and can deal with the added sweetness of the icing. However, you can use molasses instead of date syrup if you have that to hand.
