Mystery (Vegan) Muffins

I told you experimentation was coming! If you haven't yet, make sure to check out the fan page for this blog on Facebook (click here). Also, if you want to know what is going on day-to-day with the Newfangled Housewife, you can follow me on twitter at: Newfangled_Wife!

So, enough with the advertising.

I've been trying to think of how to make muffins healthier and healthier. While normally I don't include a lot of sugar and always have some type of fruit or healthy grain involved, I thought I would go the extra step and include some veggies! Not to worry. I got the inspiration from the Purple People Eater Muffins, otherwise known as Fresh Ginger-Lemon Muffins from WhattoExpect.com. The recipes are constantly using substitutes to help pregnant ladies to get all the necessities (amongst other things). So, I thought I would steal some of their ideas and apply it to a new-and-improved-muffin.

If I wasn't looking for a challenge as it was, I decided to make these muffins vegan (aka no dairy, eggs, etc). One of my best friends is currently taking a break from her vegan-ism and returning simply to being a vegetarian. However, so many people that I have met through her (including most of her family) are vegans, so I thought I would give this a go.

WARNING: This is an experiment. I will be posting even if it doesn't work out so well so you can take the idea and run with it. Please let me know, if it doesn't work for me, how you make it work in your kitchen!

SUPPLIES:

- 1 C Whole Wheat Flour
- 1/4 C Wheat Germ
- 1/4 C Oats
- 1 tsp Baking Soda
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 1 tsp Nutmeg

- 1 tbsp Vanilla
- 1/4 C Canola Oil
- 1 C White Grape Peach Juice from Concentrate
- 1 C Grated Carrot
- 3 (Very Ripe) Bananas

Directions:

- Preheat the oven to 375.
- Mix together all the ingredients. Have patience when grating the carrot- it takes a while. I usually average 3 to 4 medium sized carrots to make a cup.
If you want the bananas to be as mashed as possible, I would do that before adding any of the other ingredients to the mix.
- After putting together the bananas and carrots, add the rest of the wet ingredients, whisking them together as much as possible. Then add the spices, then add the rest of the dry ingredients.
- Line the muffin pan or spray them with cooking spray. I filled the muffin cups to the brim, using about 1/4 C of mix in each. This will get you a dozen muffins precisely. If you only fill the pan half full or 2/3rds full, I imagine you can get another 1/2 dozen to a dozen muffins.
- Cook the muffins for 25 minutes. Let them cool for five to ten. Let's see how they turn out!

So, they didn't turn out half that bad! I think they're not quite as solid as they should be, but we'll find a solution for that! If you take the recipe and run with it, please post and let me know what you did to make them a little bit better! But, if I may say so, they are DELICIOUS... even if they are a little moist/gooey (not because they aren't cooked, it's just the makeup of them).