and then I baked... Vegan Pumpkin Muffins

Quick!  What do you do with an extra 2 cups of pumpkin puree purloined from the extras at a Fräulein Kimchi cooking session?  Why, you make the very same recipe she did!

We all spent that evening debating whether to make a half-batch of vegan muffins and the other half animalicious (y'know, with milk and eggs), but to keep it simple we kept them all vegan, using an untested recipe.  And when they came out of the oven, moist and moreish, any concerns were banished.

At home, I de-veganized them by sweetening with honey, because I had no molasses and didn't want to rustle up a bottle of Germany's closest equivalent, sugar beet syrup, when I don't know how often I'll use it in the future.  And then as soon as I finished the batter, I remembered that The Husband and I had just opened a new can of maple syrup this morning.  Yes, how did you guess it was brought in from Canada?

So for my next batch I'll use that maple syrup, but it ain't gonna happen today; I've been pretty klutzy in the kitchen ever since my silicone muffin pan buckled as it was coming out of the oven.  I had muffins upside down all over the oven door and was pretty darn bummed.  One hit the floor and I had to shave off its crusty muffin top.  Who decided that flexible silicone was a good idea to make a muffin tin out of?  How are you supposed to work with that thing without it flopping around?

I also took this chance to grind up some of my specialty cinnamon-cacao pink salt.  It's been sitting in the kitchen for way too many months while I look for opportunities to use it.  I'm happy to report that a quarter of a teaspoon has gone to a good home.

Vegan Pumpkin Muffins

recipe from Post Punk Kitchen

makes 24 muffins

prep time: 30 minutes

bake time: 15 minutes

ingredients:

1 3/4 cups (218 grams) all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups (250 grams) sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 cup olive oil
2 tablespoons molasses, honey, or maple syrup

directions:

Preheat oven to 200C/400F. Lightly grease or put liner cups in a 12-muffin tin. 

Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and spices.  In another bowl, mix the pumpkin, soy milk, oil and molasses together.   

Working in batches, stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.  

Fill the muffin cups 2/3 full.  Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.