Saturday, November 03, 2007

Vegan Pumpkin Muffins

At this time of the year we just cannot resist the many pumpkins we see around us. They are everywhere, decorating houses, in front of yards, grocery stores, and its many varieties just make the farmers market shine in an various tones of orange glow.
Every place you look a pumpkin pops out, and luckily we love this fruit a lot, so enjoying its flavors is definitely a pleasure for us!
We already made pumpkin pie, pumpkin soup, and even a chicken in creamy sauce that I served inside a whole roasted pumpkin (very popular in Brazil, this dish is usually made with shrimp, but when you have chicken, it is chicken that you use!). But this year the star of the season for us were the Vegan Pumpkin Muffins, they were simply THE BEST! And yes, they do deserve the capital letters!
We liked it so much that I have made this recipe 4 times already, in little more than a month, and keep getting requests for it again.
The Husband declared it to be one of the best muffins yet, and Matheus just loved the pumpkin and chocolate in it. I loved the yummy pumpkin flavor, the texture, and the fact that it is completely whole grain.
Really, what is not to like about this one?! Plus it is vegan, which means there are no raw eggs and we can lick the bowl as much as we please - which Matheus and I love to do together! And this batter is goooood! :o)
I got this amazing recipe from the book "Vegan Lunch Box", which has been a wonderful source for me and Matheus to make creative and delicious lunches for him to take to school. The author also has a super nice website with the same name, vegan lunch box, that is absolutely worth checking out. (By the way, it is from her website that I got the idea for the cool "mummy calzone" I showed in the Halloween post bellow).
Bellow I am posting my adaptation for the recipe in the book. I reduced the sugar a bit (plenty sweet this way, 1 1/3 cups sugar was waaaay too much for us) and didn't add pecans as the recipe asked for.
Also, based on an idea I saw in the blog baking bites, we used chocolate covered raisins in place of the chocolate chips, it added a surprisingly "tchans" to the muffins and Matheus (raisin lover) enjoyed it a lot. I still do prefer chocolate chips, but made it with the raisins twice as the boys seemed to really like that.
If you find pumpkin + chocolate a weird combination (and some do) give it a try, you may be surprised by how yummy it is. Believe me, it is really good!
These muffins are truly worthy trying, they ARE delicious! It is amazing how moist and flavorful they are, and with all the nutrition in them... yummm, I might make them again this week!!
Ana










Vegan Pumpkin Muffins
(adapted from the book Vegan Lunch Box by Jennifer Mccann)

1 cup pureed pumpkin (canned or home cooked)
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup canola oil
2 TB ground flax seed
1 tsp. vanilla
1 2/3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
½ tsp. baking soda
½ tsp. kosher salt
½ tsp. cinnamon
1/3 cup vegan chocolate (or carob) chips

Preheat the oven to 350º. Spray a nonstick muffin tin well with nonstick spray, set aside.
Put pumpkin, water, canola oil, ground flax seed, and vanilla in a blender and process on high for at least one minute, until light in color and well-blended. Reserve.
In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the whole wheat pastry flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, kosher salt, and cinnamon. Add the pumpkin mixture and mix well with a wooden spoon or large spatula until well-blended. Fold in the chocolate (or carob) chips.
Spoon batter into prepared muffin tin.
Bake for 30-35 minutes, until a cake tested inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Let cool for 5 minutes in the pan, then lift each muffin from the tin and let cool on a wire rack.

12 comments:

Isabel Salvador said...

k maravilha de queques não percebo nada de inglês,mas por vezes as imagens falam por si.....bjokas ana

Cláudia said...

Wonderful, Ana. I 've just pasted the recipe!

kisses

brisa said...

Ana,

This weekend I saved 3 pumpkin muffins recipes to try..But your description won me. I'll try this one tonight and let you know:)

Bjs

Bri

PS: AINDA nao fiz a popcorn..acho que perdih o momentum..heheh

Eli said...

Ficaram lindos Ana e deve ser muito saborosos não tenho dúvida alguma. :)

Cris said...

Hum, adoro esta época com receitas de abóbora, ficaram lindos Ana!

Fer Guimaraes Rosa said...

que fofuras, Ana! :-)
tenho que pegar ideias para usar as pumpkins, que abundam nesta epoca. um beijo!

Camila L said...

Eu não tenho o hábito de fazer muitas coisas com abóbora mas essa época está cheia de receitas atraentes como a sua aqui.. vou ter q tentar alguma! Beijos ;-)

Anonymous said...

gostei de tudo neste blog,pena que não entendi muita coisa,podia ter uma versão em português, meu ingles não dá para tanto,Drica.

Nani said...

Olá adorei as fotos do seu blog porque te inglês não entendo nada, sei que você é brasileira pois vi em outro blog e vi bastante comentários em português também, você podia dar uma mãozinha e escrever essas suas delícias em português para que possamos usufluir melhor dessas maravilhas que você tem por aqui.
Beijos

brisa said...

Querida Ana,

Fiz esta semana, pela primeira vez, soh com UMA alteracao: nao colokei chips. Ficaram deliciosos!! Fikei embasbacada por realmente ficarem fofinhos, mesmo sem ovos nem leite. Um sucesso:)) Adorei!

Ainda tenho pumpkin puree descongelado e ja estou pensando em fazer mais de presentear:)) Muito bom:))

Obrigada por achar e dividir:))

Bjs & Happy Friday

Bri

brisa said...

e (nao de) presentear, I mean:))

:))

Bri

HEAB said...

Yeah, I have no doubt I would love these. Thanks Ana. :)