Vegan Bran Muffins (Picnic Packers. . . And Breakfast, Too!)

Fresh from the oven--waiting for their Earth Balance moment!

Next day. . . early morning! Still yummy!

I had been craving old time favorite bran muffins from so long ago, they hadn't yet passed their vegan test (i.e., re-baked, minus eggs, minus dairy. . . the usual stuff). I am proud to announce this vegan muffin is now officially welcomed back! What made this muffin so special is that I first had it when I used to run with two gentlemen in the wee hours of the morning several years back (in my Almost Forty, Corporate Gig phase). I was the only girl joining these two (quite older dudes)--meeting three times a week at 5:30 a.m. at the city YMCA. We'd occasionally have a "treat day" whereby everyone from our Morning Cult would show up, nourishment in hand to be shared with all. I usually brought my pumpkin bread (which is to die for and which I will eventually get around to sharing). Uh, and in case you were wondering, No, I do NOT get up and run at 5:30 EVER now. If I'm awake at six or earlier--it's a hormone issue, not because I want to be up.

I require a lot of sleep to fully function. I mean, enough sleep (eight or nine hours) to keep me from my Mrs. Jeckyll and Mrs. Hyde persona. Oh, and a really good cup of coffee is, of course, mandatory--maybe more than one, never any after eleven. (Remember, I need the sleep.) However, I don't require a big deal when it comes to breakfast food. A bowl of cereal and I'm good. (Thankfully I've grown out of my Lucky Charm phase, though the craving does strike on occasion.) The breakfast posts I've done in the past were usually an attempt at being somewhat of a domestic diva for my DH, Mr. Thyme. He knows what a big deal it is if he smells cooking in the morning. He hurries out of bed to join me before the "happy morning buzz" wears off. As you might imagine, Bed & Breakfast moments around here have been few and far between as well. Mr. Thyme and I tried that once, until it was blatantly clear that I hate chirpy, happy, let's-get-to-know-complete-strangers-at-the-crack-of-dawn-after-our-pancakes. I don't think so.

So yesterday in preparation for what the weather heads are saying is going to be a gorgeous, early, fall-like weekend--I decided it might be a good idea to crank out some take-along food for us when we go on a hike. It's predicted to be in the seventies--70s! We have not felt that temperature since April! For three days in a row--temps in the seventies? Look out! St. Louis is going to teeter on the edge of delerium--we'll take it!

The thing about this muffin is that it's just loaded with whatever I felt like putting in them--and provides a nutrition and energy bang like you wouldn't believe. The original recipe called for oats. I took them out. I wanted bran--I used bran cereal. Then, there was like three bananas called for--and I used a half of one. Instead of an egg, I added 1 tablespoon of flax seed with 1/4 cup warm water. (I know that for regular readers it's rare for me to sub the egg with the flax, but for these it worked!) Then of course what made them superb morning food was the addition of chocolate chips. What's not to love? These hold up nicely if you store them in an airtight container and freeze the ones you don't eat right away. Though truthfully, we'll go through a dozen of them within a few days--Hello, I had two and a half this morning! So I will most likely have to open up the stored muffins for consumption by Sunday easily. They are sturdy enough to take along for our hike and picnic. We love these. They are delish topped with a swipe of Earth Balance (which I think I might have a slight addiction to). Reheat for about twenty seconds in the microwave and you have yourself a fresh-from-the-oven moment all over again. These rank very high in my book--hope you try them. You can play with the ingredients in a ton of ways. Add apricots instead of raisins. Omit the chocolate chips (why?!!), or add applesauce. Whatever you decide, I don't think there is a bad way to make these awesome bran muffins.

Vegan Bran Muffins

1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat flour

3 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/3 cup canola oil

1/2 banana (mashed up)

1 tablespoon ground flax seed mixed with 1/4 cup warm water

1 container of plain vegan yogurt (I used coconut kind)

2 tablespoons vegan sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

2/3 cup light brown sugar

1/4 cup molasses

1 cup raisins

1 cup chocolate chips

2 cups Kellogg's All Bran Original Cereal (crumbled in a food processor)

Preheat oven to 400. Lightly spray two 12 cup muffin tins. In a medium mixing bowl, sift together your dry ingredients first: flours, baking soda, salt. Next, prep the bran cereal by placing it in a food processor and pulsing enough times to get the bran to look a bit crumbly, but not like all crumbly. Ten pulses should do it--set this aside. In a large mixing bowl, add sugar, molasses, canola oil, sour cream, yogurt, flax seed mix, mashed banana, vanilla extract and blend until it's creamy. Now, take the blended cereal and wet ingredients and mix together. (I used the stand mixer for this--and it worked well.) Mix until the cereal is well incorporated. Allow this mixture to sit for about 3-5 minutes. Then, with a spoon, and not the mixer--do this by hand to keep the muffins light--slowly incorporate the dry mixture a third at a time into the bowl with cereal mixture. In other words, don't dump all the flour in at once or it will be difficult to blend together. A few dry spots are okay. Lumpy is okay, too. Now, fold in your raisins and chocolate chips--carefully. Do not overmix this! Drop about a half cup of mixture into each muffin holder. Bake for 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven. Allow to cool in pan for about ten minutes, then remove muffins to cooling rack to fully cool off. Store in an airtight container and freeze the ones you won't be eating right away. Yum!