Vegan Practically

Even though I’m not a pumpkin spice latte person, I do love pumpkin and the cinnamon-nutmeg-ginger-cloves spice blend that has come to be associated with it. And with all the American friends and media blasting me with pumpkinny things related to their Thanksgiving yesterday, I have had pumpkin in mind all week. It is comforting and warm and oh so seasonally on point.

So I decided this morning would be a good time to make some pumpkin muffins. I was set to go with the more complicated Marbled Vegan Pumpkin Chocolate Muffins from The First Mess. But at 7:30 a.m., the thought of making two batters, and the prediction that my marbling wouldn’t look as pictured, sent me in the direction of Nora Cooks 1 Bowl Vegan Pumpkin Muffins instead.

Though I needed two bowls (one to sift the dry ingredients into before adding them to the larger bowl of wet ingredients), it proved a quick and easy recipe. It took me about twenty minutes to gather the ingredients, measure and mix as directed, put the batter into the muffin pan, and get them baking in the oven.

I added a handful of semi-sweet chocolate chips (vegan) and a handful of raisins. Because I added these sweet things, I reduced the sugar by 1/4C (the original recipe calls for a heck of a lot of sugar). That made them perfect!

Muffins in general are really just cake without icing. I have always thought that. I’m not exactly complaining, but when I make them at home I almost always reduce the sugar. I would never do this with cake, but somehow it seems the right thing (for me) to do with muffins, which I think of as more of a breakfast or snack.

I have made many a muffin in my lifetime, and I can tell you that there is absolutely no need for eggs, dairy or butter to make fluffy, moist, tasty muffins. For the aspiring (or committed) vegan, muffins are a great place to start experimenting with the miracle of vegan baking. Watch in wonder as your friends say “it doesn’t even taste vegan!”

Nora’s recipes never disappoint. You do have to endure an awful lot of pop-ups and ads on her site though. Of course she deserves to earn money from this wonderful resource that she clearly puts an enormous amount of time and effort into, but that doesn’t make the reality of pop-ups and ads less annoying. My new workaround for recipe sites like this is to hit the “jump to recipe” button right at the top. If that still doesn’t get rid of the ads, I hit “print” and go to the version that is ready to print (sometimes I even print it or save it as a pdf if I know I’m going to want it again). So far, the print versions have not had ads.

So, for this Fun Friday I’m going to suggest that instead of shopping, why not make a batch of pumpkin muffins? Many of you probably have half a can of purée in the fridge already, since recipes never seem to call for the whole thing. And if you still have some left over, swish it into your oatmeal with some cinnamon, like I did this morning. Yum.

Bon Appétit!