Muffins for my Muffin: Healthy Banana Nut Muffins & Herbal Coffee!

Valentine's Day is a fickle thing, you never seem to know exactly what we can expect from it, always a reminder of time and change in our life. But, like many other holidays, its an excuse to whip up something unnecessary, but delicious... to build love into our art & experiment with emotional play.

Thus, the succulent muffin was born! Well, I didn't quite birth it myself, it was inspired by the fabulous The Joy of Vegan Baking (a must read for veganization of the classics, Irish Soda Bread to breakfast scones). It was also inspired by T, who was taking me to a movie for Valentine's Day: Forks Over Knives! Yes, T obviously knows me well, giddy at the chance to sneak a peek at the newest and highly rated documentary on the benefits of a "plant-strong" diet. (A MUST see, more on this in a later post).

Being the Chocolate-in-my-Muffin-Addict I am, I did a side batch for my self (shhh)

With health and nutrition on the mind, the task began to strike a balance between comforting morning sweets (sometimes I think T's an incurable sweet addict) & a healthful diet... if there were going to be 16 muffins tempting me, they'd better not be pure sugar.

So, with a bit of reconfiguring and additional add ons, here's a quick recipe for one of the best, if not thee best, vegan muffin I've had to date (no dates involved, but a good idea!); evenly cooked, super soft, and with a gentle moistness about it:

Be Mine Muffins

Ingredients
* 2 C, whole wheat pastry flour
* 1 1/2 t, baking soda
* 1/2 t, salt
* 1/4 C, granulated sugar
* 1/4 C, brown sugar
* 1/3 C, grapeseed oil
* 2/3 C, applesauce
* 4 very ripe bananas, well mashed
* 1/8 C, water
* 1 vanilla bean, caviar
* 1/3 C, chopped walnuts
* 1/3 C, chopped pecans
* 1/4 C, chopped good-quality dark chocolate (*optional)

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350F. Place muffin tins in your muffin pan and grease lightly (make approximately 16 muffins)
2. In a medium bowl, mix flour, baking soda, and salt.
3. In a large bowl, beat together the sugars and oil. Add in applesauce and mix. Add in the mashed bananas and stir well. Stir in the water and vanilla bean, mix thoroughly.
4. Add the flour into the wet mixture, along with the nuts and chocolate (is using). Stir to mix.
5. Fill each muffin tin about 2/3 of the way with batter. Bake for approximately 20-25 minutes (mine were done at 24 minutes each), or until they are golden brown and a knife, when inserted into it, comes out clean. Enjoy!


Of course, it wouldn't be Valentine's Day without some gifts and surprises....

HERBAL COFFEE! I was lucky enough to have won this great selection of healthy, mostly organic, non-caffeinated, herbal coffees and, lo-and-behold, they arrive on my door step with love, the day of love!

Too perfect.

The selections were chocolate, chai, hazelnut, vanilla almond, and java. With all natural ingredients such as organic carbo and organic dates, its a unique blend of some of my favorite flavors. Of course, if you're a coffee aficionado (as I sometimes think of myself as; only because of an irrational obsession perhaps), I would give a word of warning: don't expect "coffee".

T said he could've been fooled, but if you know your coffee, I beg to differ; it doesn't have the fullness and subtleties of real (good) coffee, a bit more like an strong herbal tea. Which is NOT to say that they are delicious.

I think it does its job well and if you want something richer than tea, but perhaps don't want the caffeine or the potentially cancerous decaf version of coffee, this is not only a great alternative, but its a really unique drink with some great ingredients and flavors.

Have you tried herbal coffee? How much coffee do you drink & what flavors do you look for in a good coffee? Also, anyone have a good vegan pistachio muffin recipe? :)

9am Fiesta Cookies: Feel the Churro Love!

Looking for something to spice up your morning? Want to party but don't have the energy? Well, I wouldn't necessarily recommend these cookies for breakfast, but they'll make a great addition to your early afternoon fiestas!

Infused with coffee & walnuts, and rolled in decadent Cinnamon Sugar, these cookies are some of the most airy vegan cookies I've had (not to give myself too much credit, of course). I recommend eating them shortly after baking to keep them from becoming too dense. Recipe loosely adapted from chooseveg.com (awesome site, check it out)!

A good sign: As I was baking them, Toni came into the room, his nose hot on the trial. "It smells like Disneyland". I suppose this could be a bad thing (giant turkey legs? dirty water??), but he meant churros--and boy did these taste like a mini-version of our favorite Mexican treat! Plus, you get to skip the whole deep fried bit & enjoy your dessert knowing its cruelty-free.

Oh, and I just knew I had to post these when I found out I won the DailyMeal & Flour Bakery Contest! Flour Bakery is this renowned Bakery with three locations around Boston, MA (one right by my house); unfortunately, they only have a few vegan items (though at least they clearly label them!) but, since I got their cookbook for free as a prize, I can't wait to try out some of the recipes and veganize some others :D (I will the vegan counterparts to them). Check out my cookies that won!

9am Fiesta Cookies

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 Tbsp. brown sugar
  
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 cup roughly chopped walnuts
  
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup strongly brewed coffee
  
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla
• 1 Tbsp. honey
• 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
• 1 tsp. apple sauce (I used one with apple cider in it)
  
• 2 cornstarch eggs (2 Tbsp. cornstarch + 2 Tbsp. water)
• Cinnamon, brown sugar, and turbinado sugar, to coat

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F and get out a large ungreased cookie sheet.
2. Prepare the coating mixture by adding cinnamon, brown sugar, and turbinado sugar together in a small flat bottom bowl to your likely (I did a ratio of 1:1:2, about 1/2 cup total)
3. Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl (up to salt). Add together the wet ingredients in a small bowl and mix well.
4. Add the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Using your hands form the dough into a big ball. (If it sticks together well, then it's the right consistency. If not, add a bit of water and mix it well.)
5. Form the dough into small cookie-sized balls and roll them into the cinnamon-sugar mixture. 6. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet. Flatten each ball a little bit. Bake for approximately 5 minutes, or until the top is cooked (no longer sticky or wet) but it is still very soft (if in doubt, take them out; they will continue to cook a bit when you take them out. Enjoy!

Peace&Love

PS. Just in case you forgot, here's what the winning cookies (Happy Cow Cakey Peanut Butter Cookies, a mouth full--of cookies that is), looked like:

New Vegan Frappuccino's at Starbucks

When I heard that Starbucks was starting their new DIY frappuccino program, and that it included the possibility of making your frappuccino vegan, I--of course--was very pleased. It's always great to hear that more and more mainstream places are offering vegan and vegetarian fare. This short article by the Observer's restaurant critic describes this new surge in vegetarian fare, particularly in the upper escalón of the industry, as the haute vegetarian revolution.

Anyway, so I went today to go try this DIY frapp for myself. It really was great the amount of choice now (of course, this is at Starbucks, the place that already seems to have way too much choice to begin with). Do note, some of the flavors and bases may not be vegan. For example, the light base is non-vegan, there is milk in it. So be sure to ask the barista beforehand.

It was only after receiving my order that I remembered why it was I hadn't gone to starbucks in about two years.... even if they are offering vegan fare, it still sucks. I got the plain coffee base, but the soy they use is vanilla so it just taste of vanilla... in fact, like a blended vanilla soy milkshake. Needless to say, I was less than impressed. It was packed with sugar, with little substantive taste. Also a bad idea to grab one for a pick-me-up, because it works instead as a downer (headache included) once the sugar wears off... only about 30 minutes after.

I guess I learned my lesson. The frappuccino is what it is, and still not any better because it's vegan. But if the sugary, high-calorie, icy dessert is your thing, then I'm glad you at least have the option of getting it cruelty-free now. More choice, in my opinion, is always better.