Wednesday, November 17, 2010

Vegan Mofo: Bluffin' with My Muffin

I've been craving muffins somethin' fierce lately. Not sure why, but it has been a long, long time since I've baked fresh muffins for breakfast. It was time to fix that, and who better to turn to than Isa Chandra Moskowitz?

I flipped through Vegan Brunch, hoping one of the many muffin recipes would call to me. And sure enough, these Pumpkin Bran Muffins were all, "Make me Bianca, make me!" I heeded the call and here's what I got:

Nothin' fancy to look at. In fact, they got a little browner around the edges that I would have liked. But damn are they good! Isa really knows what she's doing. I had some doubts when I saw the recipe called for an oven temperature of 400 degrees, but I was reassured with my first bite.

The batter is loaded with pureed pumpkin and oat bran flakes, so I feel extra healthy when I eat these ... even if they do contain a little sugar. I guess I'd never tried bran flakes before, but I liked the subtle gritty texture the flakes lent these muffins.

I washed them down with a half-cup of Silk Pumpkin Soymilk mixed with a half-cup of regular soymilk. That's a little trick I learned from Nora at Pride & Vegudice. The Silk Pumpkin is way too sweet, and it's a whopping 170 calories per cup. Mixing it with plain soymilk cuts the calories and takes a bite off the sweetness.

What's your favorite muffin flavor?

22 comments:

Susan said...

Lemon and Poppy Seed, without a doubt!

I wish we could get some of these intriguing soymilk flavours here in Australia. I don't drink a lot of flavoured soymilk, but I'm curious just for a taste!

Monique a.k.a. Mo said...

Ha! Great title.

aimee said...

I have no idea! I love them all:-)

dreaminitvegan said...

Blueberry muffin is my fav. I'm really liking those Pumpkin Bran muffins you made. I hate to say this but I still don't have Vegan Brunch. I know I know, that's so not cool.

Jen Treehugger said...

I've not really tried that many muffins - chocolate and blueberry is about as exciting as it gets.

Anonymous said...

Yum! Pumpkin muffins are my probably my favorite kind of muffin. I haven't tried that recipe yet, but I love Isa's pumpkin muffins from VWaV.

Chocolate-Covered Katie said...

mmm muffins! I'm kinda obsessed with muffins at the moment. Now that I make them single-serving, I can have one in a different flavor every day. Or maybe sometimes twice a day... muffin gluttony!
So, to answer your question: Please don't make me choose a favorite! ;)

foodfeud said...

Ooh those look nice and hearty. I love anything pumpkin but the cranberry nut muffins in Vegan Brunch are also amazing and the cocoa spice muffins in The Joy of Vegan baking are also surprisingly good - usually chocolate muffins are either too sweet and cupcake or too dry for me.

The Health Sensei said...

i'd be STUFFIN that MUFFIN! Wouldn't take NUFFIN!

MeloMeals said...

Isa is definitely the muffin goddess!

Dianne said...

I've been wanting to make those since I went on my fall pumpkin kick, but I'm too lazy to buy bran flakes! I love all muffins, but I used to go for blueberry with crumble topping in the bakeries the most. Thanks for the nog trick, too...I didn't want to buy it because I was afraid I'd chug the whole thing ;-)

Sharan said...

Banana nut baby!

Jess of Midwest Vegan said...

I second the blueberry muffins with the crumblies! I love those!

I've always been more of a fruit-type muffin person. At least for breakfast.

Jenni (aka Vegyogini) said...

I'm not much of a muffin eater, so I think I'll go with lemon poppyseed.

Yellow-fleshed sweet potatoes look similar on the outside to the orange ones, but are starchier, more potato-like, and less sweet. They are still delicious, just as the savoury pie was. :)

Erin said...

Why haven't I made these muffins yet? I have some pumpkin in the pantry...

Thanks for the soy milk trick too. I may try that with Silk Nog, which I love for the flavor but not the calorie count.

Sal - AlienOnToast said...

yum, they look great. i've got a tin of pumpkin in my cupboard that's been there ages and I don't know what to do with it. muffins may be the answer!

panda with cookie said...

I love the coffee chocolate chip muffins from Vegan Brunch. Love.

Kris said...

I am a muffin whore. Seriously, I could bake muffins all day long and never tire of it. Some of the best ones are the least eye catching. Yum!

The Vegan Snorkeler said...

I have to make these. My favorite muffins right now are the pumpkin muffins from VWAV with added walnuts. I also love the blueberry bakery muffins from Vegan Brunch. I also need to try pumpkin Silk!

Anonymous said...

I love banana walnut muffins!

Mihl said...

These look like the perfect breakfast muffins!

Anonymous said...

Girl, you remember my tips better than I do myself! Good time to bring it back - the less calories in your milk, the more muffins you getta eat! :)