Orange-Carrot Juice Pulp Muffins

I juice every morning and (I hate to admit this) throw away the pulp. I've saved it a time or two to make crackers, or to throw into a smoothie later in the day, but 99% of the time I throw it away. A few weeks ago as I was cleaning out the pulp catcher it dawned on me that the flavor combo of that morning's juice would make a fantastic muffin, so I set out to experiment with juice pulp muffins.

The particular flavor of juice I made that morning was orange-carrot-ginger; one of our favorites, but rarely served because we like to get our greens in our juice in the morning. To make enough juice for 2 adults and 2 kids I use 3 navel oranges (peeled) , 6 carrots (unpeeled but with ends chopped off), and about 1/2 inch of ginger root. To get the pulp for the muffins I juiced the carrots and oranges first, collected the pulp in a separate container, and then juiced the ginger. Raw ginger seemed to be a bit too strong and spicy for these muffins, so I wanted to keep it separate.

These muffins turned out wonderful. They are moist and delicious with a hint of cinnamon and no processed sugars. Because of the juice pulp they keep best in a sealed container in the refrigerator.

Orange-Carrot Juice Pulp Muffins

1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup soy milk
1 cup juice pulp
1/4 cup maple syrup

Start by sifting through the pulp with your hands to remove any large chunks of carrot or orange. Preheat oven to 350. Spray muffin pan with non-stick spray. In a large bowl combine dry ingredients through salt, stirring to combine well. In a medium sized bowl combine soy milk, juice pulp and syrup. Mix wet ingredients into dry ingredients and mix (being careful not to over mix). Fill muffin tins 3/4 full (you should get about 10 muffins out of this). Place in preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes, until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool in pan until cool to touch then remove from pan and continue cooling on a wire rack.

Whole-wheat Blueberry Flax Muffins

It's only week number 4 of school, and I'm already racking my brain to come up with healthy breakfast options that M will actually eat. She is not a morning person, and in turn is not a breakfast person. She loves tofu scramble for dinner, but surprisingly won't touch it at breakfast and she whines every time I put cereal on the table. Add to that, breakfast need to be quick, and you've got one stressful situation in the morning.

For the past few weeks she's either been eating toasted Sprouted Grain bagels or Whole-wheat Flax pancakes (which I make in big batches and freeze for use through the week). With a little time off from teaching yoga this week I decided to develop a muffin that was both good and mostly guilt free. These muffins are 100% whole wheat, contain very little sugar, and supply you with half of your daily requirement of Omega-3 fatty acid. In addition, unlike most whole wheat and healthy muffins, these are not dense. They are moist and cakey, just like a muffin should be.

Whole-wheat Blueberry Flax Muffins

Makes 24 full size muffins or 48 mini's

1 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup turbinado sugar

1 cup flax meal (or ground whole flax seeds)

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

2 cup low fat soy milk

1/4 cup canola oil

1 cup frozen blueberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line 24 cups muffin tins. Because this recipe is low in fat it's helpful to lightly spray the liners with a small amount of oil to prevent sticking. Combine all dry ingredients. Add milk and oil. Stir just until combined (do not over mix or muffins will be tough). Gently fold in blueberries. Bake 25-30 minutes (15-20 minutes for mini's). Remove to a wire cooling rack and cool completely.

Muffins x2

Today I spent almost the entire day in the kitchen. We are taking off on a little camping trip tomorrow (well, not really camping, more like RVing) so I spent the day getting ready for that. Mostly I made a lot of old favorites like Giardino Burgers, Snack bars, hummus, Black bean and quinoa salad and of course pasta sauce so my spaghetti lovers can eat their spaghetti. Vegan camping with children (read picky children) is quite a bit of work. I mean, it's not like my kids are going to set down and eat a bunch of grilled veggies, etc. And, after long days of hiking, biking, and hopefully horseback riding they are going to need some serious refueling come dinner time. Therefore I thought it prudent to bring along some of their favorite meals so we can assure adequate eating at dinner. I also gathered plenty of healthy snacks for the afternoons....lots of fresh fruits, raisins, soy yogurts, whole wheat crackers and smooshed fruit.

I also made some muffins for us to have as a quick grab and go breakfast option. There were a couple of really ripe bananas sitting in my fruit dish, so first up was banana oat muffins. The recipe is adapted from a VegWeb.com recipe.

Whole Wheat Banana Oat Muffins

2 large bananas, very ripe

2 Tbs olive oil

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/3 cup + 2 Tbs plain soy milk

1 1/3 cup white whole wheat flour

3/4 cup turbinado sugar

1 Tbs baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/2 tsp cinnamon

3/4 cup quick cooking oats

Preheat oven to 350. In a small bowl smash bananas. Mix in oil, vanilla and soy milk and set aside. In large mixing bowl combine flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. Add the wet mixture to the dry and mix just until combined. Stir in oats. Spoon mixture into oiled muffin tins. Bake for 20 minutes or until lightly browned.

Next up were these deliciously decadent Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins. They definitely aren't the kind of thing you'd want to serve for breakfast on a weekly basis. But they'll be a great treat for our camping trip, and would make a nice item on a brunch buffet. It's always easy to impress your non vegan friends with a bit of chocolate-y vegan goodness!!

Chocolate Chocolate Chip Muffins

1 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour

1/2 cup cocoa powder

1/2 cup turbinado sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1 cup + 2 Tbs soy milk

1/4 cup canola oil

1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350. In a large mixing bowl combine dry ingredients. Add soy milk and oil and mix until just combined. Fold in chocolate chips. Fill oiled muffin tins and bake for about 20 minutes, or until skewer inserted in center comes out clean.

Piña Colada Muffins

I was in an experimental mood this afternoon, so I started looking around the kitchen for what I had that I could throw into a muffin. I had some left over crushed pineapple hanging out in the refrigerator, as well as about 1/2 bag of unsweetened shredded coconut. Voilà, piña colada muffins were born!

Piña Colada Muffins

1 1/2 cups white whole wheat flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut, plus more for sprinkling

3/4 cup vanilla rice milk

1/8 cup canola oil

1/2 cup crushed pineapple, drained

12 dried cherries

Preheat oven to 350. Combine dry ingredients. Add wet ingredients stirring just to combine. Fill oiled muffin cups about 1/2 full. Sprinkle batter with shredded coconut, press one dried cherry into the center of each muffin. Bake for 27 minutes.