Zestful Cranberry Muffins

On the tenth day of October, I shall pause the horror-festing, to bring you my latest recipe. These sweet, tangy, deliciously refreshing muffins will test your resolve when you say you'll only have one. They are still fresh from the oven and, as I type this, the Sidekick is on his third. For the record, his stomach and lack of willpower always amazes me. Not that he needs to worry. The man has a metabolism that would rival that of a Ruby-Throated Hummingbird (which reportedly eat 1.5 to 3 times their weight in nectar and insects a day). I am jealous. My metabolism is akin to a blue whale's, as you can tell by these thighs of mine.

As you know, everything I bake is vegan. I am under the impression most any baking can be just as delicious without animal products. It's kind of a life mission for me to prove vegan doesn't mean dry, dense and disgusting. These muffins are moist, fluffy and delectable. Trust me. I have no reason to lie to you. Now, I shall make with the recipe.

Zestful Cranberry Muffins 

Makes 12

Preheat oven 375

Ingredients:

2 Cups - Flour

3/4 Cup - Sugar (I used unrefined)

2 Tsp - Baking Powder

1/2 Tsp - Baking Soda

1/4 Tsp - Salt

1/2 Cup - Coconut Oil (melted, of course)

1/2 Cup - Orange Juice

1/2 Cup - Coconut Beverage

1 Tsp - Vanilla (or more) 

1/4 Tsp - Almond Extract 

Zest of 1 Clementine 

1 Cup - Cranberries

1. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. 

2. In saucepan, heat orange juice and coconut beverage until just a bit warm. This will prevent the coconut oil from hardening when you add the cold liquids to it, which is exactly what I did. It created clumps in my batter. Rookie mistake, right? Well, I learned from it, because I ended up having to heat up my batter to melt the clumps before I could bake the freaking muffins! 

3. Combine liquids to dry ingredients, then add in vanilla, almond extract and zest of the clementine. Mix until smooth. I actually thought I over mixed and the muffins weren't going to turn out, but I was wrong. They are beautiful. 

4. Fold in cranberries - you can chop them, or leave them whole. I did half and half. 

5. Scoop into lightly greased muffin tin and sprinkle the tops with sugar. 

Now, be forewarned, the sugar sprinkling kind of backfired for me. I thought the granules would be intact on top and be like pretty gems. This wasn't the case. In fact, they sunk into the batter and crystallized, which kind of make the muffins look a bit odd, like ripply, but turned out to be wondrous on the taste buds. So, do it. 

6. Bake in over for 20-25 minutes, until they are lightly browned on top. Then scoop them out with a spoon and place on a cooling rack. Don't let them cool. Eat them. Eat them all! 

Here are some pictures of these most delicious muffins. 

Wordy Wednesday - And A Recipe

Rough days can only be resolved by something delicious. I bake to relieve stress. Not to excellent for the waistline, but it keeps the Sidekick happy ... ish. Before I've even had a chance to type this post he's already downed three of my new creation.

The word: Heavenly

This could even apply to the band (the British one, of course) and their twee-pop-alicious melodies. But alas, I am actually talking about the delectable recipe I crafted this evening. Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups. No, not quite like Reese's. Some might even say they are better. Some being me, and the Sidekick. He has to agree with me or else the deliciousness will stop.

The word 'heavenly' is enjoyable to me, especially when describing things I love, like hot baths, cool beds, and edibles that make my thighs bigger.

Because I am a sharer, here is the recipe for these (vegan) treats.

Heavenly Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups

Makes 12

Preheat oven to 350

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup - Melted margarine (Earth Balance for the win!)

1 Cup - Sugar (white)

1 Tsp - Vanilla

1 - Flax Egg (1 Tbsp ground flax to 2 Tbsp warm water)

1/2 Cup - Peanut Butter (creamy or crunchy, it doesn't matter)

1 1/2 Cups - Flour

1/2 Tsp - Baking Soda

1/4 Tsp - Salt 

3/4 Cup - Chocolate Chips 

1. Before you start, spray down a muffin tin with cooking spray. Melt margarine, then combine with peanut butter, flax egg, vanilla and sugar. Here's where I always dip my finger in to taste. It never disappoints. 

2. Add salt, baking soda and flour. Combine, but don't over mix. Over mixing is bad. Not sure why, but that's what I've gathered from all these years of baking. 

3. Stir in chocolate chips.

4. Divide the dough evenly and put into the muffin pans and pat down.

5. Bake at 350 for 15 minutes. Watch them, though. Ovens are finicky creatures and if yours bakes faster you might burn them. Take them out. Cool them for ten minutes, then remove from the pan. If you are having troubles getting them out, just slide a knife around the cup and dump it upside down on a cooling wrack. 

Here's a secret that I haven't shared before. Put all baking into a container right away and put the lid on. It will prevent them from getting too hard. It's a little trick I always find helps in the quality of my baking. 

Now eat them. Tell me they aren't heavenly. I dare you. 

Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes With Faux Cream Cheese Icing

That's a name and a half, huh?

Because we were camping for the Sidekick's birthday, I didn't end up baking him anything until today. I must say, this recipe actually turned out really well. Sometimes you never know with vegan baking if it is going to rise right or have the same texture as the recipe you are adapting it from. Experience has taught me not to count on anything. But it has also given me the confidence to know that I do, sort of, know what I am talking about when it comes to baking.

My ex used to say it was an exact science, but this actually isn't the case. In fact, the only thing you really need to understand is ideal texture for dough/batter. For example, a cookie batter is going to be denser than a cupcake batter and bread dough for dinner rolls is more sticky than French bread.

It's an exciting life with mixing bowls and measuring spoons. I've always wanted to start my own blog about vegan baking and cooking, but I think posting them here is just fine. If people really want to find a recipe they can just Google it and mine may, or may not, show up. It's not like I'm striving for vegan baked good stardom. Though, if that's a thing, sign me up!

Like I have said before, the reason I love baking is to show the world vegans can (and do) make amazing treats that other vegans (and non-vegans) can love. If I can  get one person to say 'this can't be vegan' then my job is done. But enough of all this blabbering on. Here is the recipe:

Lemon Blueberry Cupcakes With Faux Cream Cheese Icing

Makes 12

Preheat oven 350

Ingredients:

1/2 Cup - Oil (I used canola, but I think coconut might be the best)

1/3 Cup - Coconut Beverage (I use unsweetend) (Or other non milky milk, like almond)

1 Cup - Sugar

1 Tbsp - Apple Cider Vinegar

2 Tsp - Vanilla 

1/3 Cup - Lemon Juice 

2 Tbsp - Zest of Lemon

1 1/2 - Cups Flour 

1 Tsp - Baking Soda 

1/2 Tsp - Salt 

1 Cup - Blueberries 

1. Whisk together liquids (oil, coconut milk, apple cider vinegar, vanilla and lemon juice). Then add sugar and zest of lemon. Put to the side.

2. Mix flour, baking soda and salt together. 

3. Combine wet and dry ingredients, but don't over mix. You never want to over mix!

4. Fold in blueberries.

5. Fill muffin tin (with paper liners) then use your 1/4 measuring cup to fill the cupcake papers. It will be about 3/4 of the way full.

6. Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

While you are letting them cool, make the icing. I use the Vegan Cupcakes Take Over The World Cream Cheese Icing with a couple modifications:

1/4 Cup - Earth Balance
1/4 Cup - Tofutti Cream Cheese
2.5 Cups - Confectioners Suger
1 Tsp - Vanilla
1 Tbsp - Lemon Juice
1 Tsp - Lemon Zest

1. Cream together cream cheese and Earth Balance.

2. Add vanilla, lemon juice and lemon zest

3. Slowly add icing sugar by half cup increments.

4. Refrigerate until the cupcakes are completely cool. Once they are, ice them, use lemon zest as garnish and one blueberry.

BAM! Amazing cupcakes for your mouth! But be forewarned, these are super sweet.

Celebration Brownies! - My 800th Post

This is my 800th post! Can you believe it? Who knew I had so much to say? Certainly, not me. It can't all be worth reading, can it?

Looking back on this endeavour which started in 2006, I really wish I had some noteworthy material to showcase for this momentous occasion. The truth is, most bloggers don't make it this far. Do you know how many unattended and forgotten blogs are hanging out in cyberspace? A rough estimate is a gazillion.

The blogging world is a graveyard of good intentions from people who wanted to make a difference and thought they needed to be heard. Back in the late nineties, and into the early two thousands, everyone wanted a blog, and most of them went ahead and created something they thought witty, wry and wonderful. Only after posting a handful of times, they realized they didn't actually want a blog at all. It takes dedication to create and write and post, and it's frustrating when you craft these ingenious articles that get zero traction. Over time, between a week and month, all these wannabe bloggers gave up. They threw the towel in. Now their blog is just a passing conversational note at parties.

"Yeah, I started a blog once but it was stupid."

They didn't understand how hard it is to get readers, to feel connected, to be noticed, and that it's highly unlikely they will make an impact on the worldwide web. When they did come to terms with the fact there is a million other bloggerss out there saying it better, posting it quicker and being funnier, they stopped blogging. They let their punny titled blogs fall to the wayside, much like the diaries of their youth, and decided to just write their thoughts about Gladiator in a note on MySpace.

The irony of the whole situation is: the key to being a 'successful' blogger is to actually post something. Not one or two somethings. Hundreds of soemthings. Very few people create a blog and have a million followers the next day. You need to write, engage and be relevant.

At least this is what I assume. I wouldn't really know. I post regularly (every day as of late), but I don't seem to engage anyone other than my mother, which is actually fine by me. I never intended to take the information super highway by storm. In fact, this is just my diary you're reading. Crazy, right?

Well, that's my problem. I write about everything. And I do mean EVERYTHING. Any thought or half thought in my tiny brain gets written down here. If this was a specific blog, targeting a certain type of folk, whether that be readers, writers, bakers, vegans, movie lovers, music nerds, fashionistas, knitters, or people who are fascinated by the used underwear vending machines in Japan, then I'd probably have gone viral a long time ago. Sadly, I write about all of these things, except that last one. I really don't want to delve into the wacky and wild world of vending machines in Japan.

Anyhow, my 800th post! This calls for brownies. Of the vegan variety. These are super easy to make and turned out adorable. I made them bite size. All you need is one of those cute little mini muffin pans, which you can pick up at any store that sells baking gear. I got mine for free from my mom!

What can I say, I am winning at life.

If you want to use regular muffin tins, that would be cool. Or if you want to do old fashioned brownies because you are feeling nostalgic, then feel free to slap the batter into a square pan. That being said, I am only giving you baking time for the One-Bite Brownies I made.

One-Bite Vegan Brownies

Preheat oven to 350 (Does anyone know how to do the little degree symbol on a standard computer? Like this ° - so it would be 350° - I just copied and pasted that from somewhere else on the internet. But I would like to know if there is a short key on my laptop I can use.)

Ingredients: 

1/2 Cup - Margarine (non-dairy, of course. I used the vegan Becel this time) 

3/4 Cup - White Sugar

1 Tsp - Vanilla Extract 

1 Tsp - Baking Powder 

2 - Egg Substitutes (I actually used egg replacer this time, but flax eggs are what I used every other time I made these brownies. 2 Tbsp flax seed powder to 6 Tbsp of warm water - let it sit)

1/4 Tsp - Sea Salt (I used the chunkier stuff and it gave a really nice sweet salty taste to the brownies)

1/2 Cup - Cocoa Powder (unsweetened)

3/4 Cup - All Purpose Flour (I imagine you can make these gluten free, but mine were gluten filled)

1/4 Cup - Chocolate chips (you don't have to add these. I only did because the Sidekick is a chocolate fiend. You should actually put walnuts in. Or peanuts. Or something equally awesome, like peanut butter chips!)

1. Mix melted margarine, sugar, vanilla, and egg replacer (or flax eggs) together. 

2. Add baking powder, sea salt, cocoa powder. Mix until smooth. 

3. Add flour. Then fold in the chocolate chips, or whatever else you are optionally adding in. 

4. Spray mini muffin/tart pan with nonstick spray. Spoon the batter into the little pan. Make sure you only fill them about 3/4 of the way. They do expand. Not much, but it will make it easier to get them out. 

5. Bake at 350 for 8-10 minutes. Don't over bake them. They will get dry. You don't want that. You want them, forgive the use of this word, moist. When in doubt take them out a minute early. If the top looks a bit crusty, they are done. 

6. Let them sit for a couple minutes to cool before removing them. (Don't worry, I never do either. Just spoon those suckers out and put them in the container you plan to store them.)

7. You will need to fill the pan twice as this will make 24 one-bite brownies. 

8. Indulge. 

Well, there we have it. My 800th post and a lovely brownie recipe, straight from my kitchen to yours. Oh, for the health conscious people out there. One of these brownies is 86 calories. Not too bad. Besides, we all need a little sweetness in our lives. 

And now for this super amazing photo of my itty, bitty brownies. Aren't they adorable?