Killer Kale Muffins. No really.

I don't even know how the hell I came across kale muffins on YouTube, but somehow I did a while ago. An urban farmer named Bronwyn from B.C. dreamt up the ingenious idea of putting kale in muffins. OMG! Her recipe is very '80s homestyle health food muffin and isn't vegan, but I loved the concept a lot and have been playing with it a bit. Here's the recipe I used to make muffins last night:

Killer Kale Muffins

1/4 c. orange juice
1/4 c. olive oil
1/2 c. agave syrup
1 flax egg (1 tbsp. ground flax + 3 tbsp. water, mixed well)
1/2 c. almond milk
1 tsp. natural almond flavouring
1/2 c. shredded carrots
1 c. kale, steamed 'til tender then pureed with 2 tbsp. almond milk in food processor
1 1/2 c. light spelt flour
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 c. pumpkin seeds
1/2 c. fresh or frozen blueberries
1/4 c. uncooked millet (this will make the muffin really crunchy!)
1/2 c. chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 375 F. Sift together dry ingredients except seeds, blueberries, chocolate chips. Beat oil, juice, agave, flax egg, milk and flavoring together. Stir in carrots, kale puree (mine didn't get super pureed because my minichopper is quite crappy), chocolate chips, pumpkin seeds. Stir in dry mixture. Fold in blueberries. Portion batter into 12 greased or lined muffins cups (may I suggest acquiring some silicon cupcake liners?!) filled 3/4 full. If you have batter leftover, bake it into something small like a mini loaf pan. Bake for 18-20 minutes. May I suggest enjoying one warm with almond milk? You're eating kale in a muffin and you're loving it! Can I get a hellz yeah?!


So, I baked these muffins to share with my brother, Blake and my lovely bf, Bruce. Blake's allergic to cinnamon (as well as other stuff), and Bruce said he'd try one if I replaced the raisins with blueberries, so I did it. The blueberries were a huge improvement over the raisins. I'm working on this recipe until it's the healthiest I can possibly make it with Bruce still wanting to eat them. He'll decide when I've gone too far. When I asked Blake if he wanted a muffin, he said "What kind of question is that?" as he extended his hand. As he was biting into one, he asked what was in them, and, as the word kale left my lips, he said "nice time to mention it has KALE! Next time don't tell me until after!" but he still devoured it and loved it. Bruce loved it too, and wanted more. Total success. Neither of the boys like kale (although I will hopefully help make it happen some day), so I think these muffins are a total win. As you can see in the photos, it's really difficult to detect the kale, even close up-- most of the green you see is from the pumpkin seeds--- so these would be ideal muffins to bake for li'l ones who won't eat anything green. You could substitute the pumpkin seeds for other less green seeds, too, but they're ideal to feed to men, as they're good for the ol' prostate, and are full of zinc which is good for immunity and sexual health (which is important for ladies too). But yeah, they're tasty muffins--and even though the list of ingredients may be lengthy, the muffins don't take that long to prepare. Please ask me about any substitutions you're not sure of. I hope you'll try 'em.