Basic Vegan Muffins

I recently found a great vegan blog that has a ton of baked goods. I'm not vegan, nor do I intend to become vegan anytime soon, but I do like the idea of cutting out some animal products. And hey, if it tastes good, why not?!

I made these brownies this weekend, though I admit, not vegan. Using margarine sounds kind of gross, so I instead used butter. The pumpkin gives them a nice fudginess that I love, though there is a slightly strange taste that goes along with it.

My other recipe is for vegan muffins and really, they are just as good as "normal" muffins.

Basic Vegan Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 carrot, shredded
• 3 medium apples, peeled and shredded
• 1- 1/4 cups oat milk
• ¼ cup oil
• 1 citrus fruit (lemon or orange), zested and juiced
• ½ cup dried fruits
• ½ cup walnuts, chopped

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease two muffin tins (I used one regular and one mini).
2. In a medium bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, combine shredded carrot, shredded apple and milk and mix until well-combined. Add oil, citrus zest and juice.
3. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in two batches until just combined. Fold in dried fruit and chopped walnuts.
4. Fill muffin tins 2/3 of the way full. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
5. Turn out onto a rack to fully cool.

Pin It

The Key to Good Cookies...

I've inadvertently "tested" it myself dozens of times. It's a hard lesson to learn and adapt to, and it'll vary depending on the recipe--the texture/moisture, recommended oven temperature, baking sheet used, etc.

What am I talking about? Not over-baking your cookies!

Someone brought in cookies to work this morning and of course I grabbed one. I'm partial to my own cookies above a lot of others, but these were delicious. The secret? They were perfectly baked, still nice and moist in the middle.

My advice is to watch those cookies closely, as there is a very fine line between perfect and overcooked. Martha Stewart advises to cook until golden around the edges but still soft in the middle, leave on the sheet for a couple minutes, then remove to a rack to cool completely.

Pin It

tea in portland

For a cute little shop, filled with tea accessories from tea pots to infusers to mugs and beyond, as well as a large menu of looseleaf teas, Tea Zone and Camellia Lounge is amazing. They have teas from around the world and plus they'll give you delicious samples! I had some vanilla rooibos; now I'm not normally a rooibos fan, but this was good stuff.

They also have a lounge in back which looks pretty cool.

Check it out!

Pin It

Kabocha Muffins

Kabocha = Japanese pumpkin

It's one of my favorite Japanese dishes: delicious, tender, sweet pumpkin simmered in dashi stock with some sugar and perhaps some soy thrown in. I always had big portions of the stuff at "home" in Japan. And let's not forget the oh so delicious tempura fried variety over a bowl of rice. Kabocha is still my favorite part in ten-don and I will gladly trade it for my shrimp. Yum.

I found some kabocha seeds at a local Japanese grocery store, planted them, and now have several pumpkins to consume. So far I've gone through one (as they are supposed to "ripen" for a few months after harvesting) and tried a few recipes.

You can find kabocha at your local grocery store in the fall. If it's not available, you can substitute any kind of cooked fall squash with equally tasty results.

Kabocha Muffins

Ingredients

• 55g butter, softened
• 55g brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 180g kabocha, cooked and mashed
• 110g buttermilk
• 110g whole wheat pastry flour
• 15g baking powder

Method

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line or grease a muffin tin and set aside.
2. In a bowl, cream the butter and sugar. Add in the egg and pumpkin and stir until combined. Stir in the buttermilk.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the flour and baking powder, then fold into the wet ingredients until just blended.
4. Scoop batter into muffin tin about 2/3 of the way up. Bake for 17 minutes until golden and cooked through.
5. Turn out onto a rack to cool.

Makes 12 muffins.

Pin It

chocolate covered marshmallows

Another post about David Lebovitz...I think I mentioned his marshmallows last winter as well. If you've never had homemade marshmallows, you seriously need to try them. They are so much better than those rubbery store bought ones (though those little guys toast up very nicely), and a breeze to make in an afternoon.

For an added twist, I did some chocolate covered marshmallows as well this year! My first attempt at tempering chocolate wasn't a total disaster, though I admit it wasn't a total success either. Tempering chocolate is a pretty exact science, here are some resources:

Cooking for Engineers
David Lebovitz (of course)

Once I tempered my chocolate, I dunked the marshmallows in a few at a time until well coated, then put them on a rack to fully dry. These sure make a nice gift!

Pin It