Muffin Monday: Cherry-Almond-Chocolate Chip Muffins

This fourth installment of Muffin Mondays might be my best yet.

A series of serendipitous purchases gave me the ingredients to create a sweet and sophisticated muffin, one that rises above its more homely brethren and exudes an air of calm self-assurance. This muffin is damn tasty, and it knows it. If this muffin were a person, she’d be a Hamptons-going, slinky-gown-wearing, champagne-cocktail-sipping dilettante. But she’d also be grounded – her participation in philanthropic events would be genuine, and she’d donate that slinky dress to one of those centers that gives out free prom dresses to low-income teenagers. Basically, she’d be a kind-hearted, generous, lovable lady.

Who is she? Why, she’s a Cherry-Almond-Chocolate Chip Muffin, of course.

Well, hello!

Exuding a sweet almond perfume, she’s filled with tart dried cherries and dark chocolate chips, ensuring that each bite offers a unique sensation and combination of tastes. You know you want her. So why don’t you make her?

Cherry-Almond-Chocolate Chip Muffins
(makes six good-sized muffins)

1/2 T ground flax + 1 1/2 T warm water

3/4 + 1 T C all-purpose flour
1/2 C whole wheat pastry flour
1/3 C almond meal
3/4 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt

1 1/2 t almond flavor (see note below)
1/2 t vanilla extract
2/3 C almond milk
Heaping 1/3 C vegan sugar

1/4 C sliced almonds
1/3 C dried unsweetened cherries
1/4 C dark chocolate chips (seriously, use the good stuff here – I got mine from the bulk bins at the co-op)

Preheat the oven to 350° and lightly grease a 6-muffin tin.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flax into the warm water and set aside. In a large bowl, sift all the dry ingredients together and mix well. Add the wet ingredients and the sugar to the flax mixture and stir well, making sure all wet ingredients are mixed. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the well. Mix until just incorporated. Fold in the almonds, dried cherries, and the chocolate chips. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin – it’ll come up to the top of each well. Bake for 30 – 35 minutes or until a thin knife inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Ingredient note: Oddly, my co-op only carries almond flavor, not almond extract. The main difference seems to be that the flavor is slightly thicker, as its base is glycerin (eek?). The brand I have uses natural almond essence, so I know that at least this isn’t a totally synthetic almond flavor. Small comfort, but there it is. Next time I’ll shop elsewhere – or maybe my co-op was just out of stock! If you make these muffins and use almond extract, you might want to cut down the amount given here.

Nom nom.

There you have it. My most decadent muffin yet, one I know I’ll recreate in the future to enjoy again and again. I hope you will, too! These are best eaten warm with a smidgen of Earth Balance, when the chocolate chips are a little melty and soft. Mmm.

What’s your favorite muffin variety? Have you ever bought a lesser version of a food item (e.g. almond flavor instead of almond extract)?

Note: This is a scheduled post, because I’m currently in Italy. Apologies for any weirdness with auto-publishing!

Muffin Monday: Banana-Chocolate Chip

I hope you don’t judge me too harshly for this unoriginal installment of Muffin Mondays. Everyone and their mom’s dentist has a banana muffin recipe, so who am I to add one to the collection? I have no compelling answer to that question, so I’m going to show you a picture and hope that it’ll distract you from judging my boringness too harshly.

Sliced.

These are pretty simple, but they’re tasty. Brown rice syrup gives them a sophisticated sweetness, and a smattering of chocolate chips makes them a little more playful than your standard banana muffin affair.

Banana-Chocolate Chip Muffins
(makes six)

1/2 T ground flax + 1 1/2 T warm water

3/4 white whole wheat flour (Note: I found that WWWF made my muffins a bit grainy. Next time, I’ll use whole wheat pastry flour.)
1/2 all-purpose flour
1/2 t baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t salt
1/4 t cinnamon

1 large very ripe banana
1/4 C dark brown sugar
2 T coconut oil
2 T almond milk
1 heaping T brown rice syrup
1/2 t vanilla extract

1/3 C chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350° and lightly grease a 6-muffin tin.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flax into the warm water and set aside. In a large bowl, sift all the dry ingredients together and mix well. Add the wet ingredients and the brown sugar to the flax mixture and stir well, making sure all wet ingredients are mixed. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the well. Mix until just incorporated. Fold in the dried coconut and the pineapple. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin – it’ll come up to the top of each well. Bake for 20 or so minutes or until a thin knife inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Bowl o' muffins.

I’m sorry for posting these so late – I usually draft my posts at night and then edit and publish them when I get into work in the morning, but I hadn’t added the recipe to this post last night, and it was saved on my home computer. Alas! So I had to wait until I got home from work to add it and publish. But here they are!

What’s your favorite banana muffin (or bread!) recipe?

Muffin Mondays: Never Let Go [of Summer] Muffins

This is the second installment of Muffin Mondays – each Monday during MoFo, I’m posting a brand new muffin recipe. Carb lovers, rejoice!

Last week’s first installment of Muffin Mondays featured Fruit Medley Muffins, a hearty, wholesome, fiber-packed morsel to help you ease into another week of work on a crisp autumn morning. But what if you happen to live in a region that’s experiencing a return to summer, with temperatures in the upper 70s, clear blue skies, and nothin’ but sun? Then I suggest you celebrate pseudo-summer by baking up a batch of tropical-inspired muffins.

Bowl full o' sunshine.

Never Let Go [of Summer] Muffins
(Makes 6 good-sized muffins)

1/2 C whole wheat pastry flour
3/4 C all-purpose flour
1/2 T baking powder
1/4 t baking soda
1/4 t ground ginger
1/4 t ground nutmeg
scant 1/4 t salt
dash cinnamon

1/2 flax egg (1 T ground flax + 1.5 T warm water)
1/2 C coconut + almond
1 T vegetable oil
1/2 T freshly grated ginger (optional but recommended)
3/4 t vanilla
1/4 C + 2 t sugar
1 T maple syrup
2 T freshly squeezed lime juice

1/4 cup coconut flakes
Heaping 1/2 C diced pineapple (I used frozen pineapple chunks cut into smaller pieces; you could use fresh or even try canned – just be sure not to add excess liquid)

Preheat the oven to 350° and lightly grease a 6-muffin tin.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flax into the warm water and set aside. In a large bowl, sift all the dry ingredients together and mix well. Add the wet ingredients to the flax mixture and stir well, making sure all wet ingredients are mixed. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the well. Mix until just incorporated. If the batter seems extremely liquidy, add a tablespoon or two of all-purpose flour. When it’s wet but not liquidy, fold in the dried coconut and the pineapple. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin – it’ll cup up to the top of each well. Bake for 25 – 30 minutes or until a thin knife inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Sweetness.

Each of these cheery muffins is filled with bright flavors; pineapple and ginger take a star role while coconut and lime provide subtle background notes. Feel free to play with the proportions; you could reduce the amount of ginger and add extra coconut, or include lime zest to up your citrus quotient. Whatever way you go, these muffins are a summer-inspired treat to keep you smiling on a sunny Monday morning. I’ll never let go, Jack! of summer!

Do you embrace seasonal changes? What’s your favorite muffin? What should I make next?

Easing into Monday with Fruit Medley Muffins

This is the first installment of Muffin Mondays – each Monday during MoFo, I’ll post a brand new muffin recipe. Carb lovers, rejoice!

Sometimes, Sunday night rolls around and the thought of heading back to work the next morning really bums you out. You’ve had a great weekend, taking long walks with your sweet dog and spending quality time with your even sweeter significant other. You just want that blissful state of relaxation to continue, and visions of your desk and the work that awaits just fill you with dread. So you head to the kitchen, sure that a bout of baking will cure your woes. And the result – muffins, in this case – will accompany you to work, giving you something delicious to nibble when it’s time for elevenses (or even second breakfast).

Rooting around in the fridge, you discover remnants and leftovers – half a can of pumpkin puree, a holdover from the time you made pumpkin spice lattes, sits next to a third-full jar of coconut milk, languishing on the shelf ever since you made a sauce that only needed 1/3 cup. And there’s that bag of mixed dried fruit you purchased at the drugstore weeks ago when you were on a road trip and needed a quick energy fix en route to the Renegade craft fair in Chicago. What to do, what to do…

Fruitlicious.

Fruit Medley Muffins
(makes 6 good-sized muffins)

1 C whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 C white whole wheat flour
1/2 T baking powder
1/4 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 t ginger

1 flax egg (1 T ground flax plus 3 T warm water)
1/2 C coconut milk
1 T oil
2 T agave
1/4 C sugar
1/2 t vanilla
2 T pumpkin

1/4 C chopped Medjool dates
1/4 C chopped apricots
1/4 C chopped prunes

Preheat the oven to 350° and lightly grease a 6-muffin tin.

In a medium bowl, whisk the flax into the warm water and set aside. In a large bowl, sift all the dry ingredients together and mix well. Add the wet ingredients to the flax mixture and stir well. Make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients into the well. Mix until just incorporated, then fold in the dried fruit. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tin. Bake for 22 – 25 minutes or until a thin knife inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Substitution notes: For a lower-fat muffin, you could substitute your favorite alt-milk for the coconut milk. If you don’t have pumpkin puree, I’m sure applesauce would work equally well. Finally, feel free to substitute any dried fruits you have in the house. Medjool dates add a really delicious caramel flavor, but any dried date (or no dates at all!) will do.

As long as you don’t forget to pack a few of these hearty snacks in your lunch box, you’ll have a sweet, mostly healthy treat to enjoy with your morning cup of tea or during your mid-afternoon “Is it time to go home yet?” slump. The pumpkin adds a nice smoothness to these muffins, and the dried fruit and flax fills them with fiber to keep your innards clean. Is there a better way to start a week than with clean innards? I didn’t think so.

What’s your favorite muffin recipe? Do you bring homemade treats to work? Do you have suggestions for a muffin I should create?

P.S. Only two more days to enter my giveaway!

Lemon & Lavender

Last Christmas, I had one of those “you know you’re a vegan foodie when…” moments: my mom stuffed my stocking with spices, and I was thrilled. She’d purchased six fun spices for me at a local craft fair, and after Christmas I lovingly transported them back to Madison from RI and have been using them ever since. All of them, that is, except for the lemon peel and the lavender. But this weekend I put those less-loved spices to good use.

Crappy-photo-taken-at-work alert!

This, friends, is a lemon-lavender muffin. I don’t have a recipe to share because I basically made the delicious Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins from Vegan Brunch, omitting the lemon zest and poppy seeds and substituting lemon peel and lavender instead. Bursting with lemony flavor from the peel and freshly-squeezed lemon juice, this is a delicate, sophisticated muffin I’d happily serve at a tea party or bring to a formal brunch. (Do formal brunches exist? If not, THEY SHOULD. Let’s have one.) Although I was concerned that the lavender might be overwhelmingly floral in flavor, instead it’s subtle and refreshing and works perfectly with the lemon. Lemon and lavender are, in my book, a winning pair.

They are not, however, remotely seasonal. This seems like a flavor combination more suited to spring than winter. But I welcomed that little hint of spring this week, because winter’s come out to play, and I start my days defrosting my car in subzero temperatures.

Despite that indulgence in thoughts of spring, my mind is definitely full of sugar plums and snowflakes. I’m helping to plan our family’s Christmas dinner, even though I’m currently 1300 miles away and won’t be home ’til next Tuesday night. My family is traditionally very open when it comes to Christmas dinner; we’ve done Mexican-themed meals and Italian-inspired dinners in the past. This year, I’ve come up with a great idea – we’ll make foods that represent all the different parts of our heritage. I am the quintessential American mutt, a mix of Irish and Portuguese and Russian Jew and French-Canadian and English and Scottish and, perhaps, Welsh. I’ve come up with lots of ideas for dishes we could make, but I’m interested in hearing your ideas! What foods from those cultures would you recommend? I’m interested in appetizers, soups, breads, desserts, entrees, sides, desserts, drinks, whatever! Do share your thoughts!

Cranboozlement!

When I was a kid and anyone asked me what was my favorite fruit, I happily replied, “Grapefruit!” While most children preferred the more conventional apple or maybe a banana, I’ve always been a fan of all things sour. Perhaps, then, it’s no surprise that I share a similar, if recently cultivated, love for cranberries. I sort of forgot they existed for a while, partially due to having a low-key Thanksgiving, but then I remembered, and now I can’t get enough of their tart, juicy selves (twss?). It’s appropriate, I think, because I have now officially been a Wisconsin resident for a year (!), and – guess what? – Wisconsin is the #1 cranberry-producin’ state in this here nation! So these ruby-red morsels of delight are local. Win!

I find it a little puzzling that so many cranberry-centric baked good recipes ask you to chop your cranners. I think there’s something enjoyable about keeping them whole and having big cranberry chunks in your bread or your muffin, ready to explode into bright-red bursts of tartness on your tongue. That (and, fine, my lack of a food processor) leads me to keep mine whole in most recipes, and I was pleased to see that the wittily-titled Cranboozy Cake (or, in my case, Giant Muffins) from 500 Vegan Recipes also calls for whole berries. Cranberries, vodka, triple sec, and orange juice? Sign me up!

Festive cranboozlement!

I’ll be honest – I wasn’t head-over-heels crazy about these at first. I tend to be a little leery of baked goods sweetened solely with agave, partially because it’s quite temperamental during the baking experience and partially because I find the flavor lacking a certain something (but maybe that’s the sweet tooth talking). However, by the time I ate the third muffin (not in one sitting!), I was properly cranboozled. I appreciated the muffins for what they are – a sophisticated baked good with a blend of flavors that leaves no room for overly sugary sweetness. And the liquors add a little somethin’-somethin’ extra, a pleasant smoothness that lingers on the tongue. Yep, I’m a fan.

If you don’t own 500 Vegan Recipes, never fear! Celine has the recipe available on her blog. Do you have any favorite cranberry recipes (sweet, savory, or something in between the two)? I’m in the market!

And don’t forget to enter my giveaway for a chance to win some fun crafty goods and a cookbook!

Fibertastic Pumpkin Muffins (or, how I learned to suck it up and use my pumpkin pie mix)

Remember when my inner food snob reared her ugly head, inspired by an accidental purchase? I showed my true colors and disparaged the accursed can of pumpkin pie mix that made its way into my grocery basket one day when I mistook it for the far more acceptable pureed pumpkin.

Sneaky devil!

Well, I still stand by my opinion that pumpkin pie mix has no place in my kitchen cupboard, thank you very much. However, I still had to use up the rest of the mix, so with a little creativity, I came up with another place for it: muffins. Yeah, I totally ignored every recipe in the whole wide world that says, “Be sure to use pumpkin puree, NOT pumpkin pie mix OR ELSE YOUR BAKED GOODS WILL EXPLODE AND YOU WILL DIE.” Pshhh, whatevs. I purposely used this sucker in a batch of muffins. And you know what? It worked. SO THERE.

Nobody suspects the s3cR3t iNgR3d13nT!1!!!11!!

Fibertastic Pumpkin Muffins
Ingredients
1 flax egg (1 T ground flax + 3 T warm water)
1 C pumpkin pie mix
1/3 C nondairy milk (I used almond)
1/3 C applesauce
2 T oil
2 T molasses
Heaping 1/4 C raw sugar
1 t vanilla
1 C whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 C toasted wheat bran
1/3 C old-fashioned oats
1 T baking powder
1/4 t sea salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1/8 t allspice
1/4 t ginger
1/4 t nutmeg
1/8 t cloves

Preheat your oven to 350˚.

In a medium bowl, combine the flax egg, pumpkin pie mix, milk of your choice, applesauce, oil, molasses, vanilla, and sugar until well mixed. In a large bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir until just combined. Pour spoonfuls of the batter into greased muffin tins and fill them about 3/4 full. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Et voila! Healthy, fiber-rich muffins that use up a good portion of your ungodly-sized can of pumpkin pie mix. You could also make this with regular canned pumpkin and just up the amount of milk you include, and maybe add some more spices. This recipe is loosely based on the Pumpkin Bran Muffins from Vegan Brunch, but I changed a fair few ingredients and adapted it for my own nefarious needs. By which I mean (obviously) my need to use up the mix.

I’ve still got a bit left, but I’ve discovered another use – as an addition to oatmeal. I’m accustomed to adding regular pumpkin to my oats, but I won’t lie – the additional sugariness of the mix adds an undeniable bit of sweet yumminess to my breakfast.

Anyway, that’s all I’ve got for ya today. I hope I survive this crazy windstorm the Midwest is battling, because one of my best friends is visiting this weekend, and we’re going to geek it up and hang out with Neil Gaiman at the House on the Rock. Yeah, no biggie. Anyway, my posts might be sparse for the next few days, so have a great weekend and a fantastic Halloween! Do you have Halloween plans? Will you dress up? And – more importantly – do you like Neil Gaiman?!

Yummy Things That I Have Made

Okay, that’s it – I’m officially retiring the whole “I just moved to a new city and started a new job and therefore have no time to blog!!1!111!” excuse. I mean, I’ve been here for a good two and a half months, for crying out loud!  Now that I’m all settled into my new life, I’ve been doing lots more baking and cooking than I was at first. So I hereby promise to post more regularly from this point forward.

…and now let me show you a few photos with minimal text. What? I’ve had a busy weekend, by which I mean I went ice skating for the first time in some fifteen years in a misguided attempt to replicate all the fantastic feats of athleticism seen in the Olympics. Yeah… fail. I ain’t no Apolo Anton Ohno. Anyway, these are some photos that’ve been hibernating in my iPhoto for a while now, so I’m going to show them a little bit o’ love. Totally less than they deserve, but c’est la vie.

Peanutty, eggplanty goodness.

A while back, I bought an eggplant and wanted to do something exciting and new with it. As any self-respecting vegan would do, I headed over to the PPK in search of inspiration. Inspiration came in the form of an intriguing recipe for Spicy Peanut Eggplant and Shallot Stew, a combination of ingredients too bizarre to pass up. Despite the fact that I had no shallots, peanut oil, roasted diced tomatoes, fresh ginger, chilis, green beans, or cilantro, the recipe was very forgiving – I replaced the green beans with peas and improvised for the other missing ingredient, and the results were surprisingly tasty. I still have a serving of this in the freezer, waiting to be brought to work for a yummy lunch one day soon. Two thumbs up!

Samosas... and beyond!

There’s a lot going on here. Let me draw your attention to the foreground – those are some damn tasty Potato-Edamame Samosas from VWaV. I whipped up those beauties for a Super Bowl party a co-worker held, and they were well-received by everyone except her two-year-old, who took one bite and immediately spat it into his hand before dumping the soggy samosa-bit onto a plate. I learned that he later developed a fondness for the samosas and actually enjoyed them – score! Anyway, this is a really excellent recipe. The samosa filling has a great blend of flavors, and I had so much of it left over that I ate it straight-up, as you can see in the photo. This huge dinner featured samosa filling, actual samosas, baby carrots, and roasted cauliflower with so-called Indian Barbecue Sauce. Nom to the zillionth power!

Check out those exposed apple bits! Shocking!

Last but not least, check out this amazing Apple Pie-Crumb Cake Muffin, also from VWaV. I don’t think you can tell from the photo, but this is one giant muffin – for Christmas I got one of those tins that makes 6 big ol’ muffins, and this was my first time using it. Oh my gosh, guys – these muffins are absolutely spectacular. They’re moist and amazingly flavorful, even though I used plain ol’ apple juice instead of apple cider. I also replaced some of the oil with applesauce to cut down a bit on the fat content. And even though I used some seriously old and mealy apples in these guys, they were seriously delicious.

Aaand that concludes my sad little return to srs blogging. Coming soon: a post filled with the fruits of rampant consumerism. Ooer.

Lemon Poppy Seed Letdown

I love the Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins from Vegan Brunch. I may have only made them once before today, but that one time was enough – I was sold at the very first bite. These muffins wowed my family; my omni dad in particular raved about them for days. Although he’s nothing but supportive of my vegan ways, I know that he was slightly wary of vegan baking for a while. But these muffins totally destroyed that wariness. In fact, they pretty much crushed it into tiny crumbs of lemony, poppy seedy deliciousness. So when my friend and I made a Saturday morning tea date, I thought I’d whip out the ol’ recipe and make up another batch of these delightful nuggets of tastiness.

These came together without a hitch. In an amazing feat of preparedness, I set out my ingredients last night, so everything was at my fingertips this morning. The batter came together quickly and tasted divine. I even managed a quick shower while my muffins were baking. I thought nothing could go wrong, especially when I saw how wonderful my muffins looked after I removed them from the oven.

But the best laid plans of mice and men… sometimes yield tough, slightly overcooked muffins. I was SO disappointed when I broke one of these guys in half and noticed that the crumbs weren’t as moist or tender as I’d remembered. A taste test revealed the sad truth – they were overdone.

Now, I know that it’s not exactly difficult to mess up muffins; either over-mixing the batter or overcooking the muffins can lead to unfortunate results. But I definitely did not over-mix this batch; I stirred until the wet and dry ingredients were just combined and then promptly removed my spoon from the batter. So the fatal error must have occurred in the oven. And that really grinds my gears, because I always set my timer for less than the recommended baking time. I know my oven, and I’d rather have undercooked than overcooked baked goods – you can always put ‘em in for another minute, but you can’t take away baking time! For these puppies, I set the timer for 22 minutes. Isa recommends 23 – 27 minutes of baking time, and I assumed 22 would be the perfect time to check them and judge whether or not they needed another minute or two. I also remembered that the first batch I made could’ve used another minute, so I thought I was all set.

Obviously I wasn’t. When the timer sounded and I opened my oven, I was alarmed to see that the tops of my muffins had already browned. When my handy muffin-testing toothpick came out clean, I pulled that pan out of the oven quicker than you can say Isa Chandra. At that point I thought they were probably fine, but… I was wrong. Sigh.

In the grand scheme of failed baked goods, these muffins are really not that bad. The average taster probably wouldn’t even think to comment on their slight toughness; in fact, my friend and my brother said they were perfectly fine. But since my point of comparison was pretty much a perfect batch, I’m judging these guys rather harshly. They don’t have the lovely, moist crumb I remember so fondly, and the lemon flavor is a little lost beneath the toughness, but those really aren’t dealbreakers. It just bothers me that I couldn’t replicate my initial success. I think that next time I make them, I’ll use a 350˚ oven instead of the 375˚ recommended, just so I can better control the baking process.

In the meantime, I’ll just have to “suffer” my way through a batch of slightly overcooked Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins… ahh, the difficult life of a vegan baker!

Five Minute Photoshop: Banana Muffins

Okay guys, I am being a big lame-o today.  I had a fun and enlightening time at my little bro’s frat party last night, but we didn’t leave his college until 3:30 this afternoon, and then the family went out to dinner, so… I’m feeling a little lazy and uninspired for this MoFo post. However, I will tell you that I made some kick-ass banana muffins the other night, based on this recipe. I modified it a bit and will continue to tweak it until it’s perfect, but I loooved the results of my initial experimentation. And I’m not even much of a banana muffin type of girl! But these were fantastic. I’ll definitely share my modifications next time I make them, but for now, here is a “photograph” of a yummy muffin.

…yup, I am that lame. And generally my Photoshop skillz are way more advanced, but like I said – lazy and uninspired. I’ll do better next time, I promise.