Name: Date-sweetened vegan kombucha muffins
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 10,5 oz / 300 g pitted dates and peeled bananas (I used 3,5 oz / 100 g banana and 7 oz / 200 g dates); 2 cups / 240 g flour; 2 tsp baking powder; 1,5 tsp Ceylon cinnamon; 1,5 tsp ground cardamom; 1/2 tsp salt; optional (gives a lovely flavor): 1 tsp vanilla extract (or 1/2 tsp vanilla bean powder); 1 cup kombucha (tip: use a flavor you really like! I used ginger.); heaped 1/2 cup raspberries (tip: if using frozen berries, you can coat them in flour so that they won't sink into the bottom of the muffin); 1,5 cups plant-based whipped cream; 1/4 cups plant-based cream cheese; juice of 1/2 lime; zest of 1/2 lime; 1-5 tbsp maple syrup (adjust the sweetness level as you wish ); Optional (for color): about 1/2 tsp of matcha powder; Optional (for color): about 1 tsp of raspberry powder

When our breakfast table looks like this, I’m happy! You can also grab these date-sweetened vegan kombucha muffins as a snack or enjoy as a healthy treat. These muffins can be made sweet or not so sweet, I’ll share the tip below! But first a few words about kombucha 🙂

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Creative ways to use kombucha

I received a message from a very lovely reader: she had baked my vegan cider bread and she used kombucha instead of cider. So inspired by her I used kombucha in my breakfast muffins, and I was really amazed by the fluffiness.

I’ve used sparkling water often when baking vegan cakes or cupcakes. I love sparkling water with a little natural flavor (but no extra sugar), like lemon, cranberry or raspberry. Using flavored kombucha is even better! It is very similar to using apple cider, but you can choose the flavor as there are so many varieties of kombuchas available. I used a ginger flavored one, and will definitely experiment with berry flavors as well.

The reason for using any bubbly drink in a vegan bread/muffin/cake/cupcake/waffle/pancake batter is pretty simple: the carbonation in the drink gives a good a rise and fluffiness. And of course if you’re using a flavored sparkling drink like kombucha, your baked goods will have a lovely flavor too!

Sweetened with dates..and banana

What I really love about these muffins is that I can make them very wholesome and healthy or sweet and dessert-like by varying the ratio of dates and bananas. The basic tip is to use 10,5 oz / 300 g of dates and bananas and puree them to make a smooth “caramel” sauce which is easy to mix with the flour.

How to vary the level of sweetness

You can use any ratio of bananas and dates you like! These are my experiments:

10,5 oz / 300 g bananas – not sweet at all, more bread like
7 oz / 200 g bananas and 3,5 oz / 100 g dates
7 oz / 200 g dates and 3,5 oz / 100 g bananas
10,5 oz / 300 g dates – sweet like a dessert but still not overly sweet

My children tasted the muffins and numbers 3 and 4 were their favorites (not a surprise). I liked all of these, and number 2 or 3 would be my choice to bake from now on, because I often have brown spotted bananas which I like to use when baking.

You can also adjust the sweetness of the frosting by varying the cream cheese / whipped cream ratio and by adding more maple syrup.

Muffins or cupcakes?

These might look like cupcakes when they have this lush cream cheese frosting, but these are definitely muffins. In my opinion (not sure what the facts are!) muffins are more bread like in texture, and I also think muffins can easily be made totally oil-free. But I love some oil / butter in my cake or cupcake batter for a softer cake-like texture.

I haven’t tried it, but I think these muffins can be turned more cupcake like with just two adjustments:

Instead of the whole 10,5 oz / 300 g fruits you can use 7 oz / 200 g fruits and 3,5 oz / 100 g liquid sweetener like maple syrup and oil (coconut oil / some other neutral oil) – or any other ratio you prefer 🙂

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