Saturday, November 24, 2007

Vegan Pumpkin Muffins


When you aren't eating milk or dairy, eggs, or meat, breakfasts become either a problem or routine. As much as I love toast with peanut butter, or a quick smoothie, sometimes something more is very welcome. This morning, DD was sound asleep and I decided I'd surprise her with a nice breakfast, but I couldn't think what that breakfast should be. I stood with the fridge door open, surveying the contents of my fridge and nothing looked good to me. A week ago, I roasted a pumpkin and have a large amount of puree left, so I decided to make something with it - but what? Pumpkin bread would take too long, and my oven has been acting up a lot, so the long baking time was definitely out of the question. Pumpkin pancakes? DD loves pancakes, so that was a possibility, but I wasn't in the mood. Maybe pumpkin muffins. Vegan pumpkin muffins. I started googling vegan pumpkin muffins and found a number of yummy sounding recipes that had ingredients that I didn't have, but also a number of posts raving about Vegan With a Vengance The Best Pumpkin Muffins. Duh! Why didn't I think of looking in my copy of Vegan With a Vegance???? Duh, again!

So, out came the cookbook and the muffin pan. These are quick and simple to make with regular every-day ingredients that everyone has. I had run out of nutmeg, so I didn't put any in, and I had just a little bit less than 1/2 C of soy milk, so I added a few drops of water to make up the difference. I decided to top the batter with a few pepitas (pumpkin seeds) for color, crunch and added nutrition. One of the websites I visited said that you have to let these cool for at least 15 or 20 minutes in the pan because they are so tender that they will fall apart otherwise, and they came out perfectly for me after 20 minutes. Another said that if you eat these while still hot and don't let them cool to room temp, they will be tough. I couldn't wait to taste them and ate one much warmer than room temp, but still not steamy hot, and it was not tough at all - it was soft and moist, with a lovely crumb. The edges of the cap were crunchy like the corners of brownies, which is the best part, IMHO. All in all, these were wonderful muffins, though a bit too sweet for my taste. In future, I think I'll use only 1 C of sugar instead of 1 1/4 C, though I bet I could probably half the sugar and they would still be yummy.

VwV strikes again!

Click here to see the recipe from Bunnyfoot's blog.

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