Day 339.
Today’s This Week’s Cravings theme is Christmas Baking: Sweets, Treats, Candy and Gift Ideas. I decided I wanted to do cranberry and pistachio muffins for the red and green Christmas theme.
And, since I had about 1/4 cup pumpkin puree left in the fridge, I decided to make the recipe vegan. I found a really delicious-sounding recipe at a new-to-me site of a German woman, Meeta, of Indian descent, called What’s for Lunch Honey. So, I converted the recipe to the U.S. system, veganized it and reduce the sugar a bit to come up with this Christmastime treat.
Spiced Cranberry Pistachio Muffins
Ingredients for 12 muffins
Adapted from Spiced Cranberry and Pistachio Muffins
Dry
2.5 cups flour or gluten-free flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoons ginger, ground
1 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
1/2 teaspoon cardamom, ground
Wet
1/2 to 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
3/4 cup mock buttermilk (2 teaspoons lemon juice and remainder of 3/4 cup of soy milk)*
1/2 cup applesauce or cranberry sauce
1/4 cup pumpkin puree or other egg substitute*
Fold-ins
1 cup dry cranberries, reconstituted
1/2 cup pistachios, coarsely chopped
Topping
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon pistachios, coarsely chopped
*Note: Don’t need vegan and want to make it vegetarian? Use 1 large egg, whisked lightly, instead of pumpkin puree and milk instead of soy milk.
Method
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Line or spray a 12-cup muffin tin.
Place cranberries in a bowl, add boiling water and cover.
Set aside for 10 minutes to soak. Drain well.
Mix mock buttermilk and let stand for 5 minutes.
Combine wet ingredients in a small bowl.
Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Mix wet ingredients into dry, until just combined.
Fold in cranberries and pistachios.
Mix topping.
Divide batter among muffin cups and top with topping.
Bake 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack and serve warm.
The Results
I absolutely love the flavors in these muffins. The pistachios and cranberries are a treat.
I also had a bit of cashew in mine (I was a little short on pistachios), and those went well, too. The texture of the muffin is a little bit chewier than I’m used to right out of the oven, more like a hearty bread, but I really enjoyed that difference.
This post is shared at·Mouthwatering Mondays, My Meatless Mondays, Melt in Your Mouth Monday, On the Menu Monday, Cravings, Just Another Meatless Monday,·Homemaker Monday.·Meatless Mondays,·Mingle Monday, MMMmonday, Mangia Monday,Make a Food-e Friend, Recipe Sharing Monday, Made By You Mondays and Monday Mania.
Spiced Cranberry Pistachio Muffins
spiced cranberry pistachio muffins: I decided I wanted to do cranberry and pistachio muffins for the red and green Christmas theme.
Ingredients
- Dry
- 2.5 cups flour (I used 1 1/2 cups all-purpose and 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons ginger, ground
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
- 1/2 teaspoon cardamom, ground (I didn't have ground, so I cracked open 2 pods and ground the contents with a mortar and pestle)
- Wet
- 1/2 to 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
- 3/4 cup mock buttermilk (2 teaspoons lemon juice and remainder of 3/4 cup of soy milk)*
- 1/2 cup applesauce
- 1/4 cup pumpkin puree or other egg substitute*
- Fold-ins
- 1 cup dry cranberries, reconstituted
- 1/2 cup pistachios, coarsely chopped
- Topping
- 1 tablespoon brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon pistachios, coarsely chopped
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Line or spray a 12-cup muffin tin.
Place cranberries in a bowl, add boiling water and cover.
Set aside for 10 minutes to soak. Drain well.
Mix mock buttermilk and let stand for 5 minutes.
Combine wet ingredients in a small bowl.
Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Mix wet ingredients into dry, until just combined.
Fold in cranberries and pistachios.
Mix topping.
Divide batter among muffin cups and top with topping.
Bake 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack and serve warm.
