If you are throwing a party or you like to have a snack at hand, savoury muffins are a great little bake. They are quick and easy to prepare and can be eaten cold or reheated.
There are many recipes out there for savoury muffins, mostly using cheese or ham.
But we'll show you how to make vegan savoury muffins with homemade spinach pesto, black olives, and sun-dried tomatoes. No eggs or dairy are used.
We used a little secret ingredient to make our vegan pesto muffins even tastier: nutritional yeast.
If you have never tried it, consider it a parmesan cheese vegan replacement. We made it optional in the recipe, but it works wonders. Give it a try!
By the way, you can use any pesto you fancy. We are making spinach pesto with pecans from scratch, but feel free to use store-bought basil pesto, create your own or get inspired by our vegan tahini pesto or low-fat tofu pesto sauce recipes.
Rich in proteins and fibre but low in saturated fats, the savoury spinach muffins are very filling and a healthier alternative to those made with eggs, cheese, or ham.
Ingredients
| Muffins | |
| Wholemeal Flour | 280 g |
| Starch (Potato or Corn) | 20 g |
| Baking Powder | 2 tsp |
| Soy Yogurt | 180 g |
| Almond Milk | 150 mL |
| Extra Virgin Olive Oil | 70 mL |
| Pitted Kalamata Olives | 60 g |
| Dry Sun-dried Tomatoes | 40 g |
| Nutritional Yeast | 25 g |
| Pesto | |
| Baby Spinach | 40 g |
| Pecans (or Walnuts) | 40 g |
| Water | 3 tbsp |
| Garlic Powder | 1/2 tsp |
| Extra Virgin Olive Oil | 1 tbsp |
Step 1
Rehydrate the dry-packed sun-dried tomatoes in a bowl of warm water for 10 minutes. If you're using sun-dried tomatoes in oil instead, there's no need to soak them, only make sure to drain them well to remove excess oil.
Meanwhile, let's prepare the pesto.
Add baby spinach to a food processor followed by pecans, water, garlic powder, olive oil, and a generous pinch of salt.
Blitz the ingredients into a smooth, creamy pesto.
Step 2
In a mixing bowl, combine wholemeal flour, sifted starch, baking powder, and a pinch of salt.
Mix well to evenly distribute the baking powder.
Step 3
Now, add the prepared spinach pesto, soy yogurt, almond milk, nutritional yeast, and oil.
Drain the tomatoes, finely chop them together with the black Kalamata olives, and add them to the muffin mixture.
Step 4
Work the ingredients with a hand mixer or a spoon until they come together into a smooth batter.
Then, divide the mixture among muffins cases or greased muffins cups, filling them to the top.
Step 5
Bake the pesto muffins at for 20-25 minutes at 200°C (390°F) for static ovens or 180°C (355°F) for fan ovens.
The muffins are ready if a skewer inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Remove the muffins from the oven and wait a few minutes before transferring them onto a wire rack to cool down completely.
Tips
Allow the muffins to cool down completely and then store them away in an airtight container. They will stay fresh for 3-4 days.