More egg free baking: Whole wheat pumpkin ginger muffins

I have been hooked to Prevention magazine for a couple of years now. They do a pretty good job of covering the latest, research backed health, food and fitness trends. And, no I don’t work for them! I probably would if they asked me nicely J 

In one of their recent editions, I came across a recipe for these ginger pumpkin muffins. The original recipe called for eggs, which I had to leave out.  I had talked about how my baking is now completely egg free in this post.  While I was at it, I also made a couple of other modifications to the recipe. The end result was not disappointing at all; I think I will be baking these quite often.  You can find the original recipe here.

 You’ll need:

• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tbsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ cup canola oil
• ½ cup pure pureed pumpkin (I used a canned organic variety)
• ½ cup pure maple syrup
• 1 cup low fat milk (can substitute with rice, almond or soy milk) 

Method:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degree F. Line a muffin tin with paper lining and spritz generously with non stick spray
• Mix the dry ingredients in a large bowl
• Whisk the wet ingredients together in a separate bowl
• Dump the wet mixture into the dry mixture and mix gently. Do not over work this dough
• Scoop into the muffin tins, filling each cup to about 3/4^th
• Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the toothpick test works
• Cool and eat! You can top these muffins with pumpkin seeds for added crunch.

These don’t last too long if you don’t put them in the refrigerator. So, let them cool, eat some and store the rest in the fridge. They taste pretty good reheated in the microwave for a few seconds.

 

Sweet satisfaction: No nonsense chocolate chip cookies

My taste buds are slowly but steadily transforming from “I don’t have much of a sweet tooth” to “I need to quench my sugar craving for the day.” While this is not exactly a good thing, it has, however led me into experimenting a little more in the sugary land, especially with baking. Baking is particularly a little challenging for me, given that we turned lacto-vegetarian and bid our farewell to eggs a while ago. Yes, that means no egg-y cookies, cakes, pies and whatnots for us. Does that also mean perfectly punctured flat cakes and rock hard cookies worthy of throwing at someone you are not particularly fond of? Not really! I can give you a different recipe for that too, but not just yet J

The link I have to Vegweb (Vegan/Vegeratian Recipes) in my Favorites is not just for fun; I have found some seriously good, basic vegan recipes for baked goodies from this awesome repertoire. Well, it goes without saying that I have (with great success) and will continue to tweak the recipes to what works best for me. 

I found this awesome chocolate chip cookie recipe from here. When I stumbled upon this and read through the raving reviews with a mouth that wouldn’t close and drooling that wouldn’t stop, I knew I had to give it a shot. Believe me you, no one can tell these are vegan cookies. They taste equally good or better than the Frisbee sized overly sweet, egg-y CC cookies you find at the stores. I sure have tasted those when I didn’t mind eggs too much, only to be greatly disappointed with a mouth full of sugar!

I’ll skip re-typing the recipe here since I closely followed the original one. The only changes I made were:

-          Added ½ cup of chopped walnuts

-          Added 2 tbsp of extra water for binding the dough well

I did not choose vegan chocolate chips or carob chips but went with a brand that supports fair trade. The blend of cinnamon and vanilla imparts great aroma and flavor to these cookies. Follow the method exactly and you will land up with cookies with an unbelievable taste and texture! 

Related links:

- Learn more about Fair Trade. Support it!

- Eggless baking from fellow blogger: http://srefoodblog.blogspot.com/