Do you know the Muffin Man!?!?

Do you know the Muffin Man,

The Muffin Man,

The Muffin Man?
Do you know the Muffin Man
Who lives in Drury Lane? 

Seriously, if you DO know the Muffin Man, please send him my way because I am so utterly helpless when it comes to muffins. 

I just don't get it. I can bake cakes, cookies, squares, brownies, bread...you name it - but please, just PLEASE don't name Muffins.

I have tried so many recipes and they do not work for me. Too dry, too moist or too flat. I have had muffin tops that have fallen off and some that have fallen in, but NONE that have bounced back like the recipes say they should.

My most recent attempt was the worst one yet:

Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

 {Unfortunately, this is not what mine looked like. This photo is courtesy of this link.}

I have been wanting to bake these tasty morsels since we moved here and finally tracked down some Poppy Seeds to bake them.

The recipe went together effortlessly. The batter tasted divine. I filled the muffin cups and placed the tray in my preheated oven.

The magic began happening and they rose - oh how they rose. And the smell...amazing!

With still 10 minutes left in the baking time I went and grabbed a book for Little Man. I made it back to an awful surprise. 

The muffins had shrunk and the tops were wrinkly.

What happened!?!?

Despite my disappointment, I let them finish their baking time and hoped that they maybe they would be edible.

Nope. Not edible. The outside was crispy...the inside dense, doughy and slightly hollow on the upper portion.

Definitely not what I was hoping for.

So, do you know the Muffin Man? Think he could help me!?!?!?

At least I can still bake a batch of cookies to enjoy.


Cheers!
-Laura

Chocolate Chip Cookies....vegan style

Show me someone who doesn't love classic chocolate chip cookies and I will show you someone who is completely crazy...seriously. Who doesn't love warm, moist, chewy, melty, chocolate chip cookies?

So, why do them vegan style? Well....the story goes like this....

Serving my family nutritional meals is very important to me, such that I have spent the last year scouring books to find how to serve my family home cooked, healthy meals that don't require me spending more time than I would like in the kitchen.

I found numerous books and internet resources on healthy living/eating that all said exactly what I expected to read; "eat a well balanced diet; low in fat, whole grains, vegetables, white meat and desserts in moderation"...pretty standard stuff. However, during my pregnancy the sight, smell and taste of meat or fish made me ill; anything with sugar gave me heart burn and, eventually, without intending to, we had become vegetarian.

Going vegetarian isn't an easy step to take, even if you plan to do it, so my search for nutritious meals got a whole lot harder. But, I love a challenge! (since then I have learned a lot more about nutrition and about how BAD meat and meat products are for you...not to mention how bad it is for the environment...but that's a story for another blog on another day..)

We loved having dinner guests over so that I could try out a new recipe and see what kind of reviews it got. Eventually, making vegetarian meals wasn't a challenge anymore and that's when I discovered these....

moist...chewy....and...wait for it...

gooey...chocolate chip cookies.

Yes, I know, there are hundreds of different chocolate chip cookie recipes and I had been making the one on the back of the chocolate chip bag since I was old enough to hold a mixing spoon. BUT, these were different. These had no butter, no eggs and no diary...also known as vegan. And they tasted just as good as (and possibly better than) their fatty, dairy counterpart. I was hooked.


So, I am going to save you a lot of trouble and just tell you...make these...your chocolate-chip-cookie-craving soul will love you for it (promise). There is even an option to make them wheat-free. These cookies are compliments of Dreena Burton, who has quite the talent for vegan cookies. You can check out the recipe by going to her blog here:
http://viveleveganrecipes.blogspot.com/2006_01_01_archive.html

Enjoy. And you are very welcome!

Cheers!
-Laura