Ginger-Raisin Bran Muffins, AHhhhhhmazing

I made some lemon poppy seed muffins from Vegan With a Vengeance with children one day and they came out weird. They tasted fine, the kids gave them 5 stars. The youngest, after receiving a taste, actually refused to eat anything from his lunch until he got a whole one. He only partially succeeded in this face off. They tasted ok, but the texture reminded me of brownies made with tofu. They had a dense gelatinous consistency which I didn't enjoy. Not muffin-like at all. So because I'm weirdly obsessive, I had a need to make muffins that DID come out like muffins and later that night I made these. I was not disappointed, they were the shit. recipe: click here  

But I strongly recommend you buy this, and her other cook books. She deserves the cash. Mainly I post the recipes because she does share a lot online for free, and has said she doesn't mind free sharing of her recipes in the past. Unless I read that "Sausages and Community" one wrong. Secondly I share so that anyone who harbors doubts about how vegan food will taste can make these recipes themselves and see how ridiculous that notion is. Since I've become a Vegan, I've never eaten so well in my life. Dinner is the highlight of the day and I've truly become spoiled and snotty about food. Yes, you do need to make a lot of things yourself, and cannot rely (well mostly) on time saving convenience items. You need to learn how to cook and follow recipes. It will take you longer since you typically cannot buy those quick convenience items. But, BUT, the end result is a home made victory of flavor that convenience processed things just can't duplicate. From scratch, done correctly, wins on so many levels. It's sometimes/often cheaper, since you make more servings per your dollar. It tastes better than pre-made foods since the flavors are fresh and not adulterated with weird things to make it shelf stable. It's healthier since you're not getting extra/TOO MUCH salt, extra/TOO MUCH sugar, preservatives, chemicals, MSG/autolyzed _____ extracts, and weird ingredients you don't even know what they mean, like "natural flavors."  Why can't they just say what they are? I still don't know much about it, but usually it's because they're trying to hide something from you.

Don't get me wrong, I definitely buy convenience items every month. Sometimes you just don't have the time to make marinara sauce, or granola bars, or home-made "meats." But I try not to, whenever I can. I freeze what I can.  Anyway, FOOD.

These muffins came out oh sooo good. The ginger spice, the crystallized ginger nuggets, the plump golden raisins, and the hearty bran! My house smelled better than any house ever had. ever. And they had just the right amount of crumble, just the right amount of moisture. Make them, make them! You will see.