Muffin Mania

One of the more "difficult" (and I put it in quotations because it isn't that difficult) things about following the vegan diet is that I'm doing lots of double cooking, especially on the weekends. Although, I think the breadwinner is beginning to come around, admitting today that perhaps no red meat is the way to go healthwise.

The three men in my family are accustomed to having rather large breakfasts on the weekend. On Saturdays it generally means eggs and muffins or biscuits and on Sundays waffles and bacon. The breadwinner and Gigi, our old retriever (who is here by my feet snoring LOUDLY), are muffin maniacs. I usually bake a batch of muffins each Saturday for their morning snacking throughout the week. Last week I fell down on the job and left them both rooting around in the kitchen every morning for a suitable substitute (to which they agreed there was none). I've been trying vegan muffin recipes so here's the latest offering. But before I begin recipe, I must mention that I turned on the oven and then walked around the corner to Tony's store for a single ingredient. The trip takes all of five minutes. When I came back, the breadwinner had turned off the oven because "it was getting hot." Duh--that was the point the dear. It's a good thing I'm the cook in the family. We would all starve otherwise.

Cherry Streusel Muffins
2 c. flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 c. fresh cherries, pitted & roughly chopped
1/3 c. safflower oil
3/4 c. sugar
1 c. soy milk
1/3 c. orange juice

Streusel topping
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/4 c. oatmeal
1/4 c. flour
1/4 c. shredded coconut (which I omitted due to a certain someone's distaste for all things coconut)
1/4 c. chopped walnuts
3 T. earth balance margarine (or some other vegan butter substitute)

Preheat ove to 450. Spray muffin tin with canola oil spray or use paper cupcake/muffin cups to line the muffin tin. In mixing bowl, whisk milk, oil, and orange juice. Sift together dry ingredients and stir into wet ingredients. Fold in cherries and spoon into prepared muffin pan. Combine streusel ingreddients, mashing with fork until mixture is crumbly. Top each muffin with streusel mixture and bake 18-20 minutes.