Whole Wheat Vegan Carrot Muffins

For a little while, Gary was juicing in the mornings. We had carrot/apple juice, orange/carrot/tomato/spinach, etc. It was quite interesting and didn't taste too bad. What I didn't like was the waste of the pulp of all the carrots we were using, thus this recipe came forth.

This was so easy to whip up. Within a half hour, Gary had muffins to take with him before he went to work. I met up with a few friends and brought some over, and they were a hit. It's healthy but wasn't dry at all.

I did omit the raisins, as I don't think raisins belong in everything. Gary is in agreement about that :). I also replaced some of the applesauce with oil, since I didn't have enough applesauce.

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Whole Wheat Vegan Carrot Muffins

made by cathy's kitchen journey
adapted from fannetastic food




ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup shredded carrot (or pulp from juiced carrots)

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Line a muffin tin with 12 liners.
2. In a medium bowl, combine all the dry ingredients, flour through salt. In a separate bowl, combine the carrot and the apple sauce. (I didn't have quite enough applesauce, so I used canola oil to make up the balance).
3. Add the wet ingredients into the dry and whisk to combine.
4. Using an ice cream scoop, scoop the batter evenly into the liners.
5. Bake in preheated oven for about 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Yield: 12 servings

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Vegan Mocha Muffins

If you're looking for a super sweet breakfast treat to start your morning, sorry, you're not going to find it here. What you'll find here is a great healthy muffin which has just the right amount of sweetness that will start your morning off right. I'm not saying that I don't eat sweets for breakfast. I've eaten a cookie before and considered it breakfast. Heck, one of my favorite cereals is Cinnamon Life, even if I haven't eaten it in a while.

As I've grown up, my tastes have changed and I tend gravitate toward healthier options. Getting Gary to eat healthier has been a struggle at times, but even he has changed over the years. In the past, he wouldn't be caught dead eating a vegan meal, now he loves most of them.

I made these one Saturday morning when I got up seconds before my alarm even went off. It snowed all night and left us with a few inches outside. What a better way to start off the morning with a warm muffin out of the oven! I made these while Gary was still sleeping and he ate 2 immediately. He enjoyed them and that's awesome to hear from someone who used to eat 5 whoppers in one sitting when he was a teen!

The only change I made from the original recipe was swapping out plain unsweetened soy milk for the vanilla kind. Gary's picky about soy milks, and the Westsoy brand is only made with soy beans and water, the less ingredients the better!

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Vegan Mocha Cupcakes

recipe by cathy's kitchen journey
adapted from Vegan Diner




ingredients:

• 2 cups all purpose flour
  
• 1 TBSP flax seed meal
  
• 1 TBSP instant espresso powder
  
• 1 TBSP baking powder
  
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
  
• 1/8 tsp fine salt
  
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
  
• 1 cup canola oil
  
• 1 TBSP vanilla extract
  
• 1/4 cup brewed coffee, cooled
  
• 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  

directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350° F. Line or grease a 12 cup muffin tray. Brew coffee and reserve 1/4 cup for batter. Set aside to cool.
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, flax, espresso powder, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt.
3. In a separate large bowl, whisk the sugar, milk, oil, and vanilla extract until smooth and combined.
4. Slowly whisk the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined, then whisk in the cooled coffee.
5. Stir in the chocolate chips. Using a 1/4 cup ice cream scoop, divide the batter into the 12 cups.
6. Bake in preheated oven for 20-25 minutes until tops are puffed up and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean. (mine were done at 20)
7. Cool in pan for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
   

Yield: 12 muffins

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Healthy Blueberry Orange Muffins

I really need to learn to check my ingredients before I even think about baking anything! I originally found a recipe for zucchini blueberry bread that I was going to turn into muffins. However, I failed to realize my zucchini was no longer any good.

That recipe called for 3 eggs…which of course, I already cracked into my bowl. I had to find a recipe that used up the eggs, stat! Allrecipes.com to the rescue! I ended up finding this recipe for orange blueberry bread that used ingredients I had on hand. However, it called for 2 eggs. I used their handy serving calculator to change it to 18 servings rather than 12.

That however, wasn’t the only change I made. I used half whole wheat flour, subbed applesauce for the margarine, used soy milk, and added flax seed to the mix. I also didn’t use nearly as much orange zest (I gave up after one orange) as the recipe called for, so the orange taste wasn’t as prominent. The result? A low cal healthy(ish) muffin that’s not too sweet, and perfect for breakfast!

Healthy Blueberry Orange Muffins
loosely adapted from: allrecipes.com
makes 18-24 muffins

Ingredients:
1½ cups all-purpose flour
1½ cups whole wheat flour
¼ cup ground flaxseed
1 cup packed brown sugar
1½ tablespoon baking powder
1½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup plus 2 TBSP apple sauce
3 eggs
2 tablespoons orange zest
¾ cup milk (I used soy)
¾ cup orange juice
1 pint fresh blueberries

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly spray the muffin tin (or line with muffin liners).

In a large bowl combine all the ingredients. Beat at low speed just until moistened. Then beat at medium speed for 2 minutes. Fold in the blueberries. Pour batter into muffin tins about ¾ full. I used a cookie scoop for this. It’s about a ¼ cup full.

Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick poked into the center comes out clean. Cool in pan for 10 minutes then invert onto a wire rack to cool completely before serving.

I think this tastes best warm. Heat in a microwave for a few seconds before eating. (Or eat it all after it comes out of the oven!) :)

Chinese New Year 2009!

Chinese New Year is always a big celebration in my family. It’s a time for all of us to get together and celebrate the upcoming year with good food and fun times.

“Fat Gow” fortune muffins. “Fat”  is what they call the blooming parts of the muffin and the word sounds like the word for wealth in Chinese so it symbolizes wealth.

My parents have always been the ones to throw the big celebrations. My brother said his friend called it the “Chinese Christmas”, but I think of it of more of like Thanksgiving because it’s all about the great food and family togetherness.

Whole goose and chicken

I used to love going to Chinatown to see the fireworks. I remember when the red paper leftover from the firecrackers would cover the streets and I wouldn’t be able to see my feet. It’s all changed now, since firecrackers aren’t allowed anymore.

Confetti that comes out of the poppers. They’re just not the same as real firecracker papers.

Decorations for sale 

We celebrate for 2 weeks. It’s been a week and a half. I think every year about this time, I gain about 5lbs from all the food! It’s all worth it though!

Banana Crumb Muffins

Adapted from: All Recipes
Made by: Cathy



Ingredients:
For the muffins:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 bananas, mashed
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten

For the crumb topping: (optional)
1/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
2. Lightly grease 12 muffin cups, or line with muffin papers.
3. In a large bowl, mix together 1 1/2 cups flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt.
4. In another bowl, beat together bananas, applesauce, sugar, and egg.
5. Stir the banana mixture into the flour mixture just until moistened. Using and ice cream scoop, scoop batter into prepared muffin cups and fill 3/4 full.
6. In a small bowl, mix together brown sugar, 2 tablespoons flour and cinnamon. Cut in 1 tablespoon butter until mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. Sprinkle heaping teaspoonfuls of the topping over muffins.
7. Bake in preheated oven for 18 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean.

Makes 12 muffins. These were so easy and so yummy.