Vegan Peanut Butter Banana Muffins

Classic comboThis is the first post I’ve done since school started… and it is going to be brief! I made these muffins last minute this morning and shared some with friends. They requested the recipe, so here it is! Makes 12. (more…)

‘Nana Nut Nuffins

love the little specksMy friend Forrest made some scrumptious banana bread a couple of weekends ago and when I was still thinking about it two days later, I decided that I needed to make my own. So, I patiently waited for the bananas in my fruit bowl to turn black. And then I whipped up a batch of these delightful vegan banana nut muffins for brunch. They are easy to prepare and smell sooooo yummy while baking! They also taste great the next day and the day after that.

This recipe is based on one from Sarah Kramer and Tanya Barnard’s books. My recipe made 14 muffins, but my bananas were huge! So, a normal or small banana would probably make the 12 muffins that the original recipe is supposed to make. These can be made the night before, stored in the refrigerator, and baked in the morning for those of us who don’t like that whole getting up early thing. (more…)

Lovely Lemon Poppyseed Cranberry Muffins

These muffins rock! They are packed with delicious lemon flavor, sweet dried cranberries, and crunchy poppy seeds. On top of that they are light, fluffy, vegan, and easy to make! What more could you ask for on a Sunday morning? I like to prepare these the night before and then pop them in the oven when I wake up. I love the lemony aroma that fills the house!

I based this recipe on one of Sarah Kramer’s called “Hayley’s Lemon Cranberry Muffins.” This recipe yields 11 muffins. I’ve tried to make it yield 12, but they come out too short for my liking. If you don’t have vegan margarine, you can substitute vegetable oil.

For the Muffins:

  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup vegan margarine
  • 3 tablespoons apple sauce
  • 2 teaspoons lemon extract
  • 1 1/2 cups flour
  • 1/2 cup dried cranberries
  • 1 tablespoon poppy seeds
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup soymilk
  • 1 tablespoon brown sugar (optional)

To Make the Muffins:

  1. Preheat the over to 350 degrees.
  2. Grease a 12 cup muffin tin.
  3. Whisk together the flour, cranberries, poppy seeds, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl, set aside.
  4. Whisk together the margerine (or oil), sugar, apple sauce, soymilk, and lemon extract.
  5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined.
  6. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, until 2/3 full.
  7. Sprinkle the brown sugar on top (or omit if you like your muffins less sweet).
  8. Bake for 20-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

A Crumby Mean Blueberry Muffin

We’re already on to recipe #2! And, as promised, this recipe is much less involved than the last.

I am sometimes crumby and mean in the morning and love to have the company of a muffin that cheers me up with its crumby topping and mean blueberry flavor! We ate these with John’s nephew Jesse who said “um, I didn’t ask for blueberries in mine” and then after the first bite followed with “mmmm, yeah I guess I like it.” Enough said, we gobbled them down!

This is a pretty basic muffin that is a little fluffier than most. The muffin itself is not super sweet but the crumb topping is. If making the muffins without the crumb topping, I would definitely use a little bit more sugar. Makes one dozen muffins (sometimes only 11 if you want them to be giant). If you are sometimes too crumby and mean to bake in the morning, but would be cheered by fresh muffins not long after you wake, you can prepare the recipe the night before and refrigerate them in the muffin tin. Just pop in the oven and add a couple of minutes to the baking time! (more…)