Happy day-after-the-election to my fellow Canadians! Personally, I find politics exhausting. I just have little to no interest in it. Never have. I never used to vote, and I never really cared, only enjoying the benefits of whoever was elected instead of dwelling on the negatives.
Thanks to social media, I was forced to change my ways. If you’re an active participant on one of the many forms of online communication, then it’s pretty hard not to take a peek at what’s being presented to us. It’s hard not to hear all the chatter.
So, I voted.
For the second time this year, I voted. Like a pouty, petulant child, I did some “work” (research), voted, and now I’d like to go back to my playtime, thank you very much. I tried very hard to stay away from Facebook today – as it’s just a reminder that you can not please everyone.
Anyhoo, back to my bubble. I was gifted a lot of cherries a couple of years ago by my mother-in-law. She had pitted them, bagged them up and froze them in block form. There are probably about 10 bags still sitting in my freezer, because I didn’t really know what I wanted to do with them. I cleaned out my big freezer, and decided to also defrost a bag of cherries to see what I was dealing with. It also coincided with my weekly school lunch baking time, so I decided to just use the cherries and make some muffins out of them.
I posted a very similar muffin recipe before (back when I first started this blog), but this time I’ve veganized it. I love the combo of chocolate and cherry, and (in my opinion), needs almond extract instead of vanilla. I have a big bottle of the real stuff, but thanks to a nut-free school, I never get to use it if I want to send them with my kids. So, I also keep a bottle of the imitation stuff for just such an occasion.
Random fact about me: I have a very strong dislike for small batch cooking. It’s ok if I’m testing a recipe that I’m unsure of, but otherwise, I go big – and this recipe is no different. It makes me about 48 muffins (not the mini kind), so if you’re looking for a smaller batch, maybe cut the recipe in half. They do freeze well though, and I love having a variety of snacks on hand to throw into lunches.
And, now I’m still wondering what else I can do with the rest. Anyone have any good cherry recipes?
Chocolate Cherry Vegan Muffins
Yield: 48
Ingredients
- 3/4 c. Coconut Oil
- 3/4 c. Vegan Butter (I use Earth Balance)
- 2 c. Granulated Sugar
- 1/2 c. Unsweetened plain applesauce
- 1 tsp. Almond extract
- 4 c. All purpose flour
- 2 tsp. Baking Soda
- 1 tsp. Salt
- 2 c. Coconut Milk (soured with 2 tbsp lemon juice or vinegar about 5 minutes before using)
- 1.5 c. Vegan chocolate chips
- 2 c. Cherries, pitted and halved (if using fresh)
- Granulated Sugar for sprinkling on top
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F
- In the bowl of a mixer, cream together coconut oil, vegan butter and sugar until pale – about 5 minutes.
- Add in applesauce and almond extract and mix until combined.
- In separate bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda and salt. Add to mixer until just combined
- Add in soured milk, and then fold in the chocolate chips and cherries.
- Scoop into lined muffin tin (about 3/4 full – they don’t rise as much as traditional muffins) and bake about 20 minutes (start checking on them at about 15)
