Sunday, October 23, 2011
CHOCOLATE-ORANGE-PECAN MUFFINS
This will be a short post-- it's been a long week of writing and cooking! This is a muffin (almost a cupcake, really) that I developed for my old newsletter, The Vegan Feast, about four years ago and it has remained a favorite ever since-- maybe because they contain three of my favorite dessert ingredients (make that four-- I forgot the cocoa nibs). They're not as caloric, fat-laden or decadent as they seem, and they are whole grain, but they satisfy a sweet craving most delightfully! What can be better than biting into that moist sweet crumb, releasing the fragrant oils of the orange zest, with chunks of dark melty chocolate, toasty pecans and the unexpected crunchy bitterness of roasted cocoa nibs?
Printable Recipe
BRYANNA’S VEGAN CHOCOLATE-ORANGE-PECAN MUFFINS
Makes 12
Wet Mix:
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 Tbs oil
3/4 cup nondairy milk
1/4 cup unsweetened smooth applesauce (TIP: Freeze canned or homemade applesauce in ice cube trays and pop the cubes into zipper-lock bags-- each one is 2 tablespoons.)
2 tsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1 tsp Ener-G or Orgrn Egg Replacer powder
grated zest of 2 medium organic oranges
Dry Mix:
1 2/3 cup whole wheat PASTRY flour (do NOT use regular whole wheat flour or your muffins will be tough!)
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Additional:
1 cup (100g or 3.5 oz.) organic bittersweet or semisweet chocolate chunks or chips
1/2 cup coarsely-chopped pecans
1/4 cup roasted cocoa nibs
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Prepare 12 muffin cups by greasing or spraying with oil (if you use paper liners, also spray them with oil), or lined with silicone muffin cup liners.
Combine the Wet Mix ingredients in the blender or food processor.
In a medium bowl, whisk together the Dry Mix ingredients. Stir in the chocolate, pecans and cocoa nibs just to coat. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and stir briefly just to mix.
Spoon evenly into 12 prepared muffin cups. Bake for 20-25 minutes. Cool the pans on racks for 5 minutes, then carefully loosen the muffins with a table knife and turn them on their sides to cool a bit more before serving (low-fat vegan muffins are quite tender when they are very hot-they firm up with cooling).
Nutrition Facts
Nutrition (per muffin): 244.0 calories; 41% calories from fat; 11.8g total fat; 0.0mg cholesterol; 145.1mg sodium; 176.8mg potassium; 33.9g carbohydrates; 3.6g fiber; 9.5g sugar; 30.3g net carbs; 4.0g protein; 5.2 points.
Enjoy!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
6 comments:
Anonymous, thanks for the heads-up! The directions are edited now!
I think you've definitely twisted my arm to make these tonight. They look amazing, and what a great flavour combination.
Will try with normal whole-wheat flour, as per your advice in the new book. We don't have whole-wheat pastry flour in Australia!
Hi Bryanna!
Thank your husband for selecting me to be the winner of the cookbook! I've never won anything before!
In my excited I spelled your name wrong in the reply email!
Sorry!!!
xo!!!!
Kittenwithawhisk
LOVE LOVE LOVE the applesauce tip!!! PERFECT! I use it for baking only -and not often- so it spoils, and I end up throwing it away! THANK YOU!
Can I use a flax egg instead of the egg replacer powder or would it be too moist? What about just ground flaxseed?
It's worth a try, Tanya (golden flax seeds would be best for color)-- but just mix ground flax (2-3 tsp.) with all the Wet Mix ingredients.
Post a Comment