a taste for fall…

As the cooler weather sets in, I start to crave comfort foods. While not necessarily looking for overly hearty fare, chilly nights and layer-weather beckons for something that sticks to your ribs. Let’s take a stroll down memory lane for some recipes that fit the bill.

Some Curried Carrot Soup is simple to make, but is thick and flavorful for rainy nights or when you have the sniffles.

Some Pesto Ricotta will add flavor and protein to any pasta or pizza and make for happy tummies.

Inspired by Starbucks’ annual fall muffin, my Stuff This In Your Pumpkin Pie Hole Muffin will please vegans and non-vegans alike and is the perfect breakfast on a chilly autumn morning.

What are your favorite autumn eats?

muffins on the boob tube

Hey there! I was featured on a morning show here in Portland, talking about vegan baking in the new year. You can check out the segment here.

*sorry, it won’t let me imbed the video.

Yay, vegan baking!

Oh, and here is the recipe.

You Are My Sunshine Loaf (or Muffins!)

This bread is so bright and sunny you can almost feel the sunshine on your face. If California could be made in the form of a bread, this would be it. With its lovely orange color and citrus notes, along with sweet bursts of raisins, this is a welcome breakfast bread on the grayest days.

1- 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup white-wheat flour (or all-purpose flour)
½ cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
1 cup shredded carrots
1 medium apple, peeled and shredded
1- 1/4 cups grain or nut milk
¼ cup oil
zest of 1 medium orange
juice of one medium orange
½ cup raisins
½ cup walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan with margarine or oil.

In a medium bowl, combine all-purpose flour, white-wheat flour, sugar, baking powder and salt. In a large bowl, combine shredded carrots, shredded apple and milk and mix until well-combined. Add oil, orange zest and orange juice. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients in two batches until just combined. Gently mix in raisins and walnuts.

Spread batter in the loaf pan and bake for 60 to 65 minutes, until bread is golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool in the pan on a cooling rack until the pan is cool enough to touch, about 40 minutes. Run a knife around the outside of the loaf to separate it from the pan, and turn bread out of the pan to finish cooling on a rack.

If making muffins, bake in greased or lined muffin tins for 22-25 minutes. Follow cooling instructions for loaf.

Store leftover bread (or muffins) covered at room temperature.

Yield: 1 loaf, 10 slices or 12 regular sized muffins

*this recipe is slightly amended from the version in “The 100 Best Vegan Baking Recipes”. Please see this page for more information.

stuff this in your (pumpkin) pie hole

Somewhat recently I was with a friend at Starbucks. Yes, boo Starbucks, whatever, I was there on business. I always like to take a look at their bakery case because they are well loved for their seasonal treats. I have a knock-off of one of their baked snacks they have around Christmas time in my book (a lemon and cranberry bar with lemon icing). What caught my eye this time was a pumpkin muffin with a cream cheese filling. It looked decadent and inviting, so I made note of it.

Being that it’s pumpkin time and I like to put pumpkin in, oh, everything I bake at this time of year, I decided that a vegan version of this muffin was necessary. Like, now. I have no idea what Starbucks’ muffin tastes like, but I can guarantee that these muffins will draw out uncomfortably delighted yummy noises from those who eat them, so beware of the potential for embarrassment if consuming in public.

This recipe combines the flavors of two holiday favorites- pumpkin pie and cheesecake. The muffin itself is a moist, pumpkin fest to be enjoyed all the way down to the cheesecake dollop in the middle. As the spices deepen with a little time, I recommend making them the night before eating. These would be perfect to serve the morning after Thanksgiving as you power up to take on Black Friday or whatever it is you do with your family.

I desperately wanted to give them an actual name so here’s what you get when I try too hard:

Cheesecake For Your Pumpkin Pie Hole Muffins

Muffin:
2 1/4 cups flour (I used 1 1/4 white whole wheat and 1 all-purp)
3/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp. baking powder
1/4 teas. salt
2 1/2 teas. pumpkin pie spice
1- 15 oz can pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie mix)
1 cup milk
1/3 cup oil
1 tbsp. molasses
1/2 teas. vanilla

Filling:
2/3 container soy cream cheese (8 oz container, I used Tofutti)
1/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp. plus 2 teas. cornstarch
1/2 teas. vanilla
1 teas. lemon juice

Topping:
1/3 cup pumpkin seeds
2 tbsp. coarse sugar

Preheat oven to 400. Line a muffin tin with liners or grease lightly. Begin by making the filling. In a small bowl, using the back of a fork, mix the cream cheese until creamy. In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine the sugar and cornstarch. Add this mixture to the cream cheese. Add vanilla and lemon juice and mix to combine. Let filling rest in fridge until ready to use.

In a medium sized bowl, combine muffin ingredients starting with flour through pumpkin pie spice. In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, milk, oil, vanilla and molasses until smooth. Add flour ingredients in batches until incorporated.

Spoon muffin batter into muffin tins until just below the rim. Remove filling from fridge and scoop into a pastry bag with a fat tip. Pipe the filling into the middle of each muffin evenly, pushing tip down into the middle of the muffin and lifting it up as you pipe. Alternately, if you do not have a pastry bag, you can carefully spoon the filling into the middle of each muffin. Sprinkle tops of muffins with pumpkin seeds and coarse sugar.

Bake for 19-21 minutes for regular sized muffins or 27-29 for jumbo muffins, until a toothpick comes out of the side of the muffin clean and cheesecake part is puffy and golden.

Yields: 12 regular sized or 6 jumbo muffins

mixin’ it up muffins

I love muffins.

No, that is an understatement. I LURVE muffins!

Muffins and cookies share a common characteristic that I hold dear, which is why they are both such popular items in our house. They are like a blank canvas, begging to be tinkered with. So tasty and so versatile, these treats have a flexibility in the kitchen that is irresistible. A little of this, a little of that. Ooh, I feel like this kind of spice today or this kind of nut/fruit/flavor/fill-in-the-blank. Muffins can make those flavor daydreams a reality.

The other day I was getting ready to make muffins when I remembered a lone lemon in our fridge. “Oh, that would taste great with oats,” I thought. When I went into the pantry to fetch the oats, I found some cranberries on top of the oats container. Cranberries and lemon, that’s a winning flavor combo! For good measure, I decided to throw in some nuts, mostly because I can’t stop myself from filling baked good with what Jim lovingly calls “debris”.

Lemon Oat Muffins with Cranberries and Walnuts

1 3/4 cups white wheat flour (all-purpose is fine, too)
3/4 cup traditional oats, coarsely ground
3/4 cup sugar
1 teas. baking powder
1 teas. baking soda
1/8 teas. salt
1/2 cup applesauce
1/3 cup oil
1 1/4 cups milk (soy, almond, rice, etc)
juice and zest of 1 lemon
1/2 teas. vanilla
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup walnuts
coarse sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 400. Line muffin tin with liners or grease each cup.

In a large bowl combine the flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, soda and salt. In a medium bowl, whisk together the applesauce and oil. Add the milk, lemon juice and zest and the vanilla and mix well. Let sit for a few minutes. Add wet ingredients to dry and mix until just combined. Fold in cranberries and walnuts. Spoon evenly into muffin cups until cups are just full. Sprinkle tops with coarse sugar, if using.

Bake regular-sized muffins for 18-22 minutes and jumbo for 25-28 or until a toothpick comes out clean.