Poppy Seed Muffins

Usually we tend to pair poppy seed with lemon when talking about muffins, but what happens when you're all out of lemons? Well, we could have just dropped the idea altogether, but where is the adventure in that? And if there's anything I'm a fan of, it's adventure to the nth degree! So we did what we do best, and improvised.

Truth be told, my little sister is the baker of the family. My mom's got pies down like it's nobody's business, but when it comes to cake we turn to the one and only Meemster. I'm not at all certain as to how we got on the subject, but I was talking with her last night about muffins. We dug around in the kitchen for her lemon poppy seed muffin recipe.

Because I am dairy-free, my heart fell a little bit when I read that it called for sour cream or yogurt. I'm still figuring out where to get dairy free alternatives around here since the big move. We found Tofutti brand vegan sour cream at the local Super 1 and my spirits instantly lifted! Neither of us had ever used it before, but hey! If this is an adventure, we better make it a grand one.

And honestly, guys, these muffins! They are wonderful!

Here is what you'll need: (makes 12 muffins)

2 cups all purpose flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/2 tablespoons poppy seeds
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 (8 ounce) carton Tofutti vegan sour cream
1 egg (we used the egg, so it isn't a totally vegan muffin, but you can sub in 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce as a binder instead)

Here is how you do it:

Start by preheating the oven to 400 degrees. When baking I have forgotten this step multiple times and I always end up kicking myself waiting for the oven to get hot.

Then, in a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, poppy seeds, baking soda and powder, and salt. In a separate bowl combine the oil, lime juice, sour cream and egg (or applesauce). Once the wet ingredients are all mixed up and have lost their identities amongst each other, pour them over the dry ingredients.

We were about a tablespoon short on the lime juice, and our mixture was looking a bit on the dry side. To overcome this minor setback we added the missing amount in rice milk. Once that came together, the batter was sticky and moist. Just the way, uh huh, uh huh, I like it!

We scooped the batter into our lined muffin tin and popped those suckers in the oven 14 minutes. They came out a little sticky on the inside, so they went back in for an extra couple of minutes. Just make sure you don't burn the tops and your toothpick comes out clean when you're checking to see if they're done.

Once the muffins are up to par with your high standards, let them cool and serve with a nice glass of rice milk. Or perhaps maybe just whatever beverage choice you see fit. Eat, enjoy, repeat.

Banana Muffins Too Good To Be Vegan

I've long had a banana muffin recipe baked up by Giada on one of her television cooking shows and it is the best banana muffin recipe in the world. Don't just take my word for it. The many people I served it to agree and nearly all have either gone off with the recipe or written me to ask for it.

My two cats love
watching Giada.

What makes this muffin recipe so different is that it is all about the banana--at least that was Giada's claim when she created the formula. I have to admit that she made a good point. While there are a few spices in the batter, the main ingredient is bananas so ripe they are black and ugly and look like they should be tossed in the garbage.

The blacker, the
better.

Well, I had some bananas that looked just like that sitting on my table so I wondered, could I veganize the recipe and still have the great banana taste of the original product. I figured it was worth a try. If the end result was horrid, I'd just toss it all out--which in any other scenario I'd have done with those nasty-looking bananas anyway.

Bananas should be so ripe
they mash up into a slurry.

The muffins smelled great baking. They looked high and light in the muffin cups. The taste? Amazing. I think they are every bit as good as the real thing and maybe even a little  better. I fed them to some friends who stopped by who just happened to be fans of the original recipe. "Are they as good?" I questioned. They didn't answer right away but rolled their eyes and kept eating. They did manage to shake their heads, "yes" so I knew the veganized version was a winner.

Since the oven had warmed up the house, I opened the front door, never realizing I'd let that warm, banana bready smell escape into the outdoors. While my friends and I were scarfing down most of the warm banana muffins and tea, I just happened to look out the screen door and what to my wondering eyes did appear, but half the neighborhood standing in line for a sample. "Sorry, gang, the recipe only makes a dozen and we've already gobbled them up."

Whip these up yourselves and tell me what you think. If you make them, I suggest you leave your front door closed.

BANANA MUFFINS

Into a quart bowl put:

1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1 cup sugar

Stir to mix the ingredients together.

In another bowl put:

1/2 cup canola oil
1/2 cup applesauce
2 tsp. vanilla
2 bananas, very ripe and thoroughly mashed

Mix these ingredients and pour into the dry ingredients. Mix everything together by hand. Do not overmix or the muffins will be tough and not light and airy. Divide the batter into 12 muffin cups and bake on the middle rack until the tops are golden, about 25 minutes at 325 degrees F.

Transfer the muffins to a cooling rack as soon as you can handle them or the bottoms will sweat and ruin your perfect muffin.

Makes 12

Vegans love sweet things as much as non-vegans do

Jamming with Tree Fruit

Ripe fruit trees practically stone us with their bounty. If you own any your feet must be sore. Plums, peaches, apricots. Before they are ready for picking, you better be ready for jamming.

My childhood friend owns about a dozen trees that produce summer and fall fruit. She shops and stock piles large quantities of sugar, glass canning jars, brand new lids every single time she cans, extra large stock pots, canning tongs, funnels, ladles, etc. She sterilizes the jars ahead of time, and checks the ripeness of fruit every day. Usually the whole tree or multiple trees are all ripe at once. Therefore, be ready to cook the fruit over a hot stove, along with boiling the lids and jars separately in other pots, bellowing the steam into your face on a hot summer's day!

After picking a peck, wash, cut in half, and pit the fruit. In days of yore, fruit was actually peeled, but now we all know all the fiber and nutrition lies in the skin. Another faster method of separating the pits is to wash whole fruit and cook them 10-15 minutes in a stock pot with just 1/2 cup water. Remove from heat and let cool an hour or two. Then gently smash down with a potato masher, eventually digging down with your hands plucking the pits out by handfuls.

Recipes for jam, and jellies are included in the Certo brand box of pectin. 4-6 cups of pitted fruit will require 7-8 cups of sugar! There is no doubling up on ingredients. One batch at a time, no matter how much fruit you have. However, there is a freezer jam option included by Certo in case you run out of canning jars, time, or stamina. All of this my sister form another Mr. described to me as she handed me her golden jars of peach and apricot preserves.