Good ol' Blueberry Muffins (These are perfect)

Yes, it's been eons since I last posted. Things got crazy. The first year of this PhD program happened. It  seriously happened. (YAY!) Now don't get too excited... it's not quite over... I've got until the end of the summer before I can officially put a seal on year one, but it's as over as in no classes this summer at least. For some reason however...I still have trouble finding the time (and gathering the patience) to work as well as I want on my research--or my cooking/baking. This makes me sad. Just know that it makes me sad.

Tonight however, I made the best gosh darn blueberry muffins I have EVA made. I adapted the recipe from a blog written by what seems to be a wonderful woman with great talent! Her name is Chelsea and her blog is called "Making Home Base". I'll include the link to the original recipe below. 

I'm not one to brag about the moist-ness of baked goods. Partly (mostly) because I hate the word moist. But my word hatred aside... these are HELLA moist. All thanks to the greatness that is plain yogurt, and the wonderfulness that is science and all that jazz. 

Good ol' Blueberry Muffins

Adapted from Making Home Base

Ingredients for Muffins

**This recipe can easily be made vegan by using a coconut milk based yogurt (or just adding an extra 1/4 cup of the non-dairy milk + tsp of apple cider vinegar and eliminating the yogurt), substituting a flax egg for the egg, and using solidified coconut oil in place of the butter used in the topping. 

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 2/3 cup granulated sugar (feel free to substitute your sweetener of choice, but adjust amount accordingly)
• 1 egg
• 1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup melted extra virgin coconut oil (feel free to use canola oil here)
• 1/3 cup "homemade buttermilk" (1/3 cup of ANY milk. I used Almond Breeze's unsweetened coconut almond milk + 1 tsp apple cider (or white) vinegar--allow this to rest for about 5 min before pouring it into the wet ingredients)
• 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp plain yogurt (I would suggest NOT to use nonfat--but doing so won't necessarily mess things up.
• 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (I used fresh ones that I had frozen myself)

Ingredients for Topping

• 1/4 cup butter softened
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/3 cup all purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar

Directions:

• Pre-heat oven to 400 F
• Sift together the dry ingredients in a large bowl (First 5 ingredients)
• In a separate smaller bowl, whisk together the egg, sugar, and vanilla extract
• While continuously mixing add the oil, milk, and yogurt
• Before adding the wet ingredients to the dry ones, go ahead and make the topping by just combining the ingredients for it with a fork. It should look crumbly. Set aside
• Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and combine. Don't over-mix
• Fold in the blueberries (batter will be relatively thick, just make sure you disperse the blueberries across the whole batter)
• Spray a cupcake tray with non-stick spray and place about 1/4 cup batter in each space. Generously top each with the topping. Makes about 10-11 muffins. 
• Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes--keeping an eye out during those last 5 minutes that it doesn't over-brown. Remove from the oven when tops are browned and toothpick inserted in the center of a few of them comes out clean. 
• Cool in pan for 5 minutes before placing them on a rack to cool completely. (Or if you're like me you'll burn your tongue trying to eat one 2 sec after it came out of the oven...no big deal.) 

I apologize for horrible pictures... 

Chocolate and Butterscotch Chip Oatmeal Banana Cookies

Hello all!

Yes, it has been a million years (only a couple months) since I've posted anything. I apologize. Profusely. I moved from sunny San Diego, CA to beautiful rural Blacksburg, Virginia. I miss San Diego, the ocean, and the knowledge that there are more sunny and warm days in the year than there are cloudy and cold days...but life must go on.

Sunset Cliffs - San Diego, CA (07/2012)

Just after a thunderstorm - Blacksburg, VA (09/2012)

And it has! It took me a bit to get situated here, and now that I'm situated, school has consumed me completely. Please don't be angry with me. Send me a message or comment every so often so I know that I'm in your thoughts and I promise it will motivate me to come and post. I've started a PhD degree in Clinical Psychology and Science at Virginia Tech and it's been a great experience thus far. I have pretty close to zero time to relax, but the pace is refreshing and because I like what I'm learning/doing it hasn't been so bad. Lets hope none of that changes.

For now, here is the cookie recipe I promised so long ago!

Chocolate and Butterscotch Chip Oatmeal Banana Cookies

Ingredients

· 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour

· 1 cup sugar

· 1 teaspoon salt

· 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

· 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

· 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

· 1/2 cup oil + 2 tbsp

· 1 egg (or 1 tbsp ground flax mixed with 3 tablespoons water left to sit for 5 min)

· 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar (or white vinegar) (if you use flax in place egg)

· 1 tspn vanilla extract

· 1 cup mashed ripe bananas (about 2)

· 1/3 cup + 2 tbsp peanut butter

· 1 cup rolled oats

· 1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

· 1/3 cup chopped butterscotch chips (leave out to keep vegan)

Directions

·In a bowl, combine the first six ingredients; add oil and mix until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add egg (or flax egg), vinegar (if using flax egg), vanilla, bananas, peanut butter and oats; mix well. Stir in   chips.

·Drop by tablespoonfuls onto greased baking sheets. Bake at 375° for 13-15 minutes or until bottom is golden brown and top is slightly browning. Cool on wire racks. Yield: 2 dozen.

I love these cookies with a cold glass of coconut milk. ALSO I found that the brand Almond Breeze has a combined coconut AND almond milk and is AWESOME. I've included the link for the unsweetened version, although sweetened versions exist as well. Hugs all!

Vegan Baking...WHY?

Hey all,

So yes, I haven't posted in a LONG time. I know. Don't hate me.

It's been a crazy month and a half. Lots of data collection for my thesis (which I now need to analyze mad-style), a lot of visits from wonderful friends and family, and packing for  our move to Virginia. It's been stressful, wonderful, and definitely a learning experience, but I miss blogging, and I miss cooking/baking new things for you guys. This post isn't so much a recipe, but rather a commentary. The recipe will come a little later when things calm down a bit.

I made oatmeal chocolate chip peanut butter banana cookies. Yes, that is a mouthful...of goodness! I was invited to a housewarming party this evening and earlier today I found myself with overripe bananas and not much time. Initially I thought banana bread, but the recipe I love takes over an hour to bake. My next thought was banana oatmeal cookies. I found a recipe that looked good and might be easy to adapt (aka add some peanut butter, etc). And then I realized...crap. I have no eggs, no butter, and not as much oatmeal as I needed.

Improv is a huge part of baking at the spur of the moment. I have a few friends that are Vegan, or gluten free, or have allergies, etc and their diet restrictions have taught me to adapt my cooking/baking and gain the knowledge necessary to do so. One might initially think ew, how the heck can a cookie without eggs, or butter taste good at all? Well it can, with a few easy adaptations. The internet is a GREAT source for picking up this knowledge. So in place of the butter, I used 3/4 of the quantity of butter, in oil and added it in the same order as I would normally add butter. In place of 1 egg, I mixed one tablespoon of ground flax seeds (a great source of plant-based omega-3), and three tablespoons of water and left it for a few minutes until it became gelatinous. Eggs are typically used as a binding agent to help keep things together and they're important in baking cakes and cookies because they lead to softer texture rather than the chewy texture of bread for example.

I also added a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar (white vinegar would work as well) because without the addition of a real egg, I didn't want my cookies to lack moistness and leavening. In Vegan baking many times, you'll see the addition of a teaspoon to a tablespoon of apple cider vinegar, and moistness is one of the main reasons (also added to non-dairy milk as a replacement for buttermilk). Think back to the volcano experiment a lot of us did in elementary school. Vinegar, mixed with baking soda equals explosive bubbling. Baking and cooking are both VERY related to chemistry in the way that what you end up with is a product of a bunch of reactions with the addition of good flavors. Embrace the science and use it to adapt! The recipe already called for baking soda, so the addition of vinegar reacts with the baking soda to create the bit of rise that the cookies needed as well.

So there you have it. This improvisation in baking/cooking is what makes learning and understanding vegan baking (and any other specialty type of baking) necessary. Plus you can accommodate friends/family with lactose intolerance, allergies, food restrictions, etc, and that just makes you that much cooler. 

All in all, the cookies turned out amazing. The batch I made is GONE, which is why I don't have pictures/recipe for today (which also means they were good?). But I promise they will be up soon. Promise promise.