Cranberry-Orange Muffins

This is a tale of two muffins—or of how one type of muffin became two.

It's the same old weekend story. My daughter E. had her friend G. over for the night, and when morning came, they wanted nothing more than to get in the kitchen and help me cook breakfast. Cooking is their thing lately. Last weekend they came up with the idea to bake cookies and sell them on the street to raise money for UNICEF. (You can see one of the cookies, which were vegan but not fat-free, here and find the recipe here). The girls sold all the cookies and had a great time in the kitchen, so on Sunday morning they were eager to help me cook again.

Eager...until I told them what I was cooking. "Ugh," they groaned, and made finger-down-the-throat gestures. "Not cranberries! In muffins?" No amount of persuasion would convince them that cranberry muffins would be delicious. So we came up with a compromise: We would make the batter, and right before adding the cranberries in, I would scoop out some of the batter and let them add chunks of banana to it to make four banana-walnut muffins just for them.

Apparently, the banana muffins tasted great, though I can't say for sure since I didn't even get a bite of them. The cranberry muffins were wonderful—sweet with a hint of tart, tender and moist. And best of all, E. grabbed one for breakfast this morning and managed to say between bites, "You were right, Mom. Cranberry muffins are good."

I do like being right!

Cranberry-Orange Muffins

2/3 cup unsweetened dried cranberries
1/2 cup hot water
1 tablespoon agave nectar
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup unbleached white flour
1 tablespoon ground flax seeds
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 tablespoon egg replacer powder (Ener-G brand or homemade)
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 cup soy or rice milk
1/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon grated orange zest
1/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Put the cranberries in a bowl and pour the hot water and agave nectar over them. Stir and set aside for at least 15 minutes to allow the cranberries to plump up.

Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Spray the muffin pan with non-stick spray or use a silicone pan or muffin liners.

In a large bowl, stir together the dry ingredients: flours, flax seeds, sugar, egg replacer, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In another bowl, stir together orange juice, soymilk, apple sauce, vanilla, and orange zest. Strain the liquid from the cranberries into the liquid ingredients. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add liquid. Stir just to until all flour is moistened;don't over-stir. Stir in cranberries and nuts.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake for 12 to 16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of one muffin comes out clean.

Remove muffin pan to a wire rack. Cool for 5 to 10 minutes before carefully removing muffins from cups. Makes about 14-16 regular-sized muffins.

Tags: vegan recipes vegetarian cooking food fat-free