On Saturday morning, I baked some sugar-free vegan banana bread. It was so good—mildly, pleasantly sweet due solely to the bananas, and nice and hearty and filling because it was made with whole-wheat flour. “It’s really good with butter on it,” Rob said. “Yeah,” I …
Today I took the day off work and, to celebrate, I made some healthy sugar-free muffins using a recipe I found on The Conscious Plant Kitchen and modified just slightly. I also picked some of our homegrown Meiwa kumquats and enjoyed breakfast out on the …
My mom recently took a trip to the Smoky Mountains, and she brought me a jar of Amish Wedding peach-pecan jam as a souvenir. I wanted to do something special with the jam, so on Saturday I used it to make Vegan Jam-Filled Oat Bran Muffins from a recipe I found in my all-time favorite cookbook, The Joy of Vegan Baking.
The muffins turned out perfect, and the jam was delicious—it made me wish I could take a trip to the Smokies. I’ll tell you a little about my mom’s visit.
She went up to the mountains with my sister Kris and Kris’s kids, Sophie and Jake, and they stayed in a cabin near Gatlinburg. They had fun every day for a week. They went gem-mining and hiked to a waterfall. They waded in cold mountain streams and got to see elk. They fooled around in the little town of Gatlinburg, which is like a permanent carnival, eating caramel corn for breakfast and giant snow cones for lunch. They visited all the Ripley’s attractions in Gatlinburg, including the Odditorium, the 5D Moving Theater, the haunted house, and the aquarium. Sophie and Jake spent their life savings on souvenirs (Jake got a giant stuffed narwhal).
On the way home they stopped in Dillard, Georgia, so Sophie could feed the goats at a wacky tourist trap called Goats on the Roof, and that’s where Mom got me my jam. She gave it to me last week at Jake’s birthday party, handing it to me as I sat with my cupcake at her big dining room table.
“Now I know you’re not much of a jam eater,” she said in her very Mom-ish way, “but I got you some anyway!”
Vegan Jam-Filled Oat Bran Muffins
Ingredients:
2 tablespoons ground flaxseed
6 tablespoons water
2 cups oat bran
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
4 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup chopped walnuts
11/4 cups almond milk
1/3 cup canola oil
1/2 cup jam
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees and add papers to your muffin tins.
In a food processor or blender, mix the flaxseed and water until thick and creamy. This is your “egg.”
In a large bowl, combine the oat bran, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and walnuts. Set aside. In a small bowl, combine the flaxseed mixture, almond milk, and oil. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just blended.
Fill the muffin cups about half full with batter. Place a dab of jam in the center of each cup. Add more batter to fill the cups about three-fourths full, covering the jam.
Bake the muffins for 20 minutes.
Last weekend I made my first batch of muffins in our new kitchen. I cooked up some Vegan Orange Cranberry Muffins with a nutty, crumbly brown sugar topping. I used this recipe, which was easy to veganize with ground flaxseed (to replace the egg) and …
On Saturday night I made Vegan Lemon Coolers. It was so much fun. The kitchen smelled of lemon zest, and the windows were open so the house was full of frog songs. Rob was nearby, sweeping up piles of catnip and cat fur and legions …
Last night I made Vegan Orange Coconut Muffins, flavored with a little orange extract.
Whenever I bake, something always goes wrong—maybe not horribly wrong but at least slightly wrong. Last night was no exception. I ended up spilling pretty much an entire bottle of orange extract on the floor. I had to drive to Winn-Dixie to get another, which was kind of a pain, but I must admit, now that I’ve safely returned from Winn-Dixie, that the mishap had its upside: The kitchen smelled delicious.
While the muffins were baking, I did some peaceful, easy little chores, like winding the clocks and brushing our very large, ball-shaped cat, Leroy, whom Rob has recently taken to calling “Mr. Hunky.”
“Just relax, Mr. Hunky,” I was saying.
When the muffins were done, I ate one in the living room while watching an episode of The Rockford Files in my pajamas.
Rob likes to make fun of how lame I am. Last night he got home around 10 and I told him about my evening: “I ate a muffin and watched Rockford with a bunch of cats,” I said as we stood in the curiously orangey-smelling kitchen.
Rob grinned and replied, “Now that’s partying Leslie-style!”
Vegan Orange Coconut Muffins
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon ground flaxseed
3 tablespoons water
1/4 cup melted vegan butter
1/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup orange juice
1/3 cup almond milk
1 teaspoon orange extract
11/2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
11/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup coconut
1/3 cup canned mandarin orange sections, chopped small
Topping:
2 tablespoons melted vegan butter
3 tablespoons sugar
Directions:
In blender, mix the flaxseed and water until thick and creamy. Add the flaxseed mixture to a large bowl. Add the butter and sugar and mix. Add the orange juice and almond milk and mix again.
In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until just blended. Gently fold in the coconut and mandarin oranges.
Pour into a lined muffin tin and bake at 375 degrees F for 20 minutes or until slightly browned on top.
When the muffins have cooled, dip the tops in melted butter and roll in sugar.
On Friday night after work, I made muffins. Of course my cats were involved, since I plainly prefer my baking ventures to be as unsanitary as possible. Buntin, our black and orange tortie, really seems to relish the hustle and bustle of baking–and seeing what …
The other day I made a vegan version of the pecan balls my mom always baked at Christmas when I was a kid. They were really good (rich and vegan-buttery) and they brought back lots of happy memories. In December when I was young, Mom …
Yesterday I made a batch of ginger molasses cookies with a recipe adapted from my favorite cookbook, Screen Doors and Sweet Tea by Martha Hall Foose. Have you all read this fabulous book? It’s full of gorgeous pictures and funny, lovely tales about Southern food and traditions and Southern life in general. I got it this summer, and I read it over and over. I’d sit on the breezeway in the evenings and read and dream as the moonflowers glowed and the insect orchestras played.
But back to yesterday–sparkling, golden, fall-y yesterday: I had so much fun making these cookies. It was Saturday morning and I knew I had the whole day to do whatever I wanted, so my mind was full of happy plans. I could have a tea party and serve my fresh cookies, I thought as I measured and stirred. I could plant ferns and then sit back and admire them. I could brush my cats and make them wear hats. I could even read Screen Doors and Sweet Tea again.
Vegan Ginger Molasses Cookies
Ingredients:
3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsps ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/4 tsp ground cloves
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 1/2 sticks vegan butter, softened
1 1/2 tsps Ener-G egg replacer
2 Tbls water
3/4 cup molasses
1 cup granulated sugar
Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, salt, ginger, cinnamon, allspice, and cloves. In a large bowl, use electric beaters to beat the brown sugar and butter together. Keep beating until the mixture is light in color.
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg replacer and water. Keep whisking until the mixture is foamy.
Add the egg replacer mixture and the molasses to the brown sugar/butter mixture. Beat for about a minute. Slowly add the flour mixture and beat for another minute.
Form the dough into teaspoon-size balls. Roll each ball in granulated sugar and place them 2 inches apart on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool.
