Can I ask how you measured the flour? If you scooped it from a bag, it is likely the flour was not only compacted in the bag, but also into the measuring cup. This adds 1/4 to 1/2 cup more flour than called for in the recipe -which would lead to dense texture.

Hi Michelle – if you look at the directions for the blueberry muffin portion of the recipe, the reserved dry mix is for tossing the berries in before adding them to the batter. This will apply to basically all mixins that tend to sink to the bottom of the batter when they aren’t coated in the dry mix first. I will make a notation in the recipe to make it more clear.

Common substitutes would be olive oil, avocado oil, coconut oil, safflower oil, or grapeseed oil. But for these muffins I would probably use coconut oil.

I’m sure you can and they would bake fine. I have not personally tested it, so I can’t say how their texture would be or if they would rehydrate enough through the process.