Rants about ridiculous things. Raves about amazing stuff. Random crap about life.

Simple Recipe Sunday: Vegan Blueberry Lemon Muffins

Sunday, July 18th, 2010

I’ve made a few batches of these muffins and they never last much longer than a day or two in our house. For muffins, these are pretty nutritious, and they taste amazing!

Ingredients
2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
Zest of two lemons or 2 Tbsp. lemon peel
3/4 to 1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup nondairy milk
1/3 cup canola oil
1 tsp. lemon extract
1 Tbsp. white distilled vinegar
1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Farenheit (200 degrees C). Lightly grease your muffin tins.

In a medium-size bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt and lemon zest/lemon peel.

In a large bowl, combine the sugar, milk, oil, lemon extract, and vinegar. Mix well. Add the flour mixture, stirring until the ingredients are just blended. Gently fold in the berries using a rubber spatula.

Fill greased or nonstick muffin tins about two-thirds full. Bake until the muffins are lightly browned and a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean, about 20 minutes.

While the muffins are baking, lick the bowl clean. No eggs means no salmonella!

Remove from the oven and let sit for 5 minutes. Remove the muffins from the tins and cool on a wire rack.

Yield: 12 muffins

(Recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Gourdreau)

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Simple Recipe Sunday: Super Bowl Nom Nom Nom

Sunday, February 7th, 2010

What do we Americans possibly love more than the Super Bowl? Eating, of course! Much like Thanksgiving, Super Bowl Sunday is a convenient excuse to overindulge in tasty yums. With that, I offer the following suggestion:

7-Layer Nachos

Ingredients:
3 cups shredded iceberg lettuce
1 16 oz. can vegetarian refried beans
1-1/2 cups prepared salsa
1 cup prepared guacamole
8 oz. low-fat or fat-free sour cream
1 Tbsp. mild chili powder
1-2 cups shredded cheddar cheese
sliced black olives for garnish

Instructions:
Spread lettuce in an even layer in a deep-dish pie plate, gratin dish or serving bowl.
Spread refried beans over lettuce. (Hint: To make the beans easier to spread, transfer them to a microwave-safe container, and heat on high for 20 seconds.)
Top with salsa, then guacamole.
Stir together sour cream and chili powder. Spread over the guacamole layer.
Sprinkle cheddar cheese over the sour cream layer. Dot with sliced black olives.

Serve with tortilla chips.

(Recipe is an adaptation from a dish my Uncle Brad regularly brings to family get-togethers. It rawks!)

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Simple Recipe Sunday: Peanut Butter Cookies

Sunday, January 10th, 2010

Any simpler than this and you didn’t bake them yourself.

Ingredients:
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 whole egg (or egg replacer equivalent)

Instructions:
In a medium bowl, beat peanut butter and sugar together.  Then add the egg and mix until completely blended.

Roll dough into 12 1″ balls and place them on a nonstick or greased cookie sheet. Optional: Create a crosscross pattern with the tongs of a fork and sprinkle the tops of the cookies with sugar (see picture).

Bake at 350°F degrees for about 12-15 minutes or until golden brown at the bottom.

(Recipe from cooks.com)

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Simple Recipe Sunday: Vegan Cupcakes

Sunday, December 6th, 2009

You can use “regular” ingredients if the vegan aspect doesn’t appeal, of course.

For the cupcakes:

Ingredients:
1 1/2 teaspoons Ener-G egg replacer powder
2 tablespoons water
1 3/4 cups nondairy milk (I used Rice Dream)
1/2 cup water, divided
1/2 cup nondairy butter, softened
1 1/2 cups vegan cane sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/2  cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Instructions:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Farenheit. Lightly grease standard muffin tins or fill the muffin cups with cupcake liners.

In a food processor or by hand, whip the egg replacer powder and water until it’s smooth and creamy, about 1 minute. Add the nondairy milk and 1/4 cup of the water.

In a large bowl, cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract and the remaining 1/4 cup water, and beat well to thoroughly combine.

In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder and salt. Add this, along with the egg replacer/milk mixture, to the butter/sugar combination. Beat until combined.

Fill the muffin cups with the batter and bake for 20 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a cupcake comes out clean. Remove from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool. Make sure the cupcakes have cooked completely before frosting.

For the icing:

Ingredients:
4 tablespoons vegan shortening
1 tablespoon vegan butter
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons nondairy milk
3/4 cup to 1 cup powdered sugar
Optional: food coloring

Instructions:
In a bowl or measuring cup, combine the shortening and butter. Add the vanilla and nondairy milk, and mix well.

Slowly add the powdered sugar until it reaches the consistency you want. Add food coloring if desired.

If you don’t have a cake decorating bag, you can put the frosting in a plastic Ziploc bag and cut a tiny hole in one of the corners.

(Cupcake recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking by Colleen Patrick-Goudreau. Icing recipe from VegWeb.com)

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