First Post...& Muffins!!

Well well, after many foodie facebook posts & lots of response from friends, I've decided to step into the world of food blogs! **much rejoicing** Now I'll have one place to share my recipes, ideas, food & restaurant reviews, experiments, etc....all that rad jazz.  Soooo, thanks, enjoy, & welcome!
aaahhhh....where to begin?!

how about my new favorite muffin? heck why not.  muffins are great for breakfast, a quick snack, dessert, & they're so portable! (I tend to enjoy my muffins as a late nite snack!) buuuut I'm sick of paying $1.50 per tiny vegan muffin at the health food store (greenlife or, my Ex-employer, earth fare). making your own muffins is easy breazy...& it allows you to get creative. fruit? nuts? choice of flour? try something new! my new tasty recipe?....Berry Kashi Crunch Muffins!!

thats what I'm talkin bout...lots of fruit, whole grains, not too sweet, perfect texture. delish! now get ready to raid your pantry or grocery store; here's what you'll need....
-1 3/4 cup all purpose flour (use unbleached if possible)

-2 tsp baking powder

-2 tsp cinnamon

-1/4 tsp salt

-1 1/2 cups Kashi Go Lean Crisp cereal (kinda crushed up a bit, just so theres no big chunks)

-2 "eggs" (by this, I mean the equivalent to 2 eggs with a vegan egg substitute, see picture)
   **side note here, Bob's Red Mill & Ener-G both make powdered egg replacers & they both work great....I'll usually decide which to purchase depending on price. Gotta watch my moneys!! & I bet you should too =)

-7 oz. unsweetened applesauce (this allows ya to use less oil. less oil = less fat & cals!)

- 1/2 cup almond milk ...or soy, just for heaven's sake not rice milk!!! too thin & slightly gritty

- 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugga

- 2 Tbl. vegetable oil, I used canola

- 1 tsp. vanilla (real extract > artificial)

- handful of raisins

- 2 Tbl. unbleached cane sugar

Alrighty then, now for some directions....
Step Numero 1 - Preheat your oven to a toasty 400F

Step #2 - In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, spice, & salt....Set this to the side.

Step #3 - In a large bowl, stir together the kashi cereal, "eggs", applesauce, almond milk, brown sugar, oil & vanilla.  Add the flour mixture & raisins to this, & stir just until it's all combined....over-stirring will make chewy, tough muffins!

DON'T freak out at this point...your batter will look like this ^^^ Yes it's crazy thick & a bit lumpy, but as long as the ingredients are evenly distributed, you're good to go!

Step #4 - Portion batter evenly into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking nonstick spray.

Step #5 - Sprinkle the 2 Tbl. sugar on the muffin tops & bake for 15-18 minutes (...or until a toothpick poked in the middle of one comes out clean)

Step # Last one - Let cool in the muffin pans for 5 minutes, then enjoy warm! Or....let cool to room temp, & store in the fridge.

Tah-dah! They don't look like much, but they're sooo freakin tasty...and easy to make too! I tried 'em with apple butter, raspberry jam, a lil earth balance (aka - the king of vegan butter), or just straight up.

Be prepared people, now I getta jump full swing into this! Much more vegan foodie goodness is headed your way...