apple butter muffin cakes

is it is a muffin or is it a cupcake? this hybrid treat has the whole wheat texture of a morning muffin with sweet cupcake icing to top it off. this came about when i was making treats for work and realized some folks may not share my love of under-sweetened treats. so i piped vanilla-cinnamon florets on my apple butter muffins and - voilà - miss v muffin cakes!

• 1/2 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 cup turbinado sugar + 2 tablespoons
• 1 cup apple butter (recipe here)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/4 cup soy margarine (smart balance light)
• 1/4 cup flax seed oil
• 1/4 cup water

in two bowls, separately mix up all wet and all dry ingredients. make a well in dry ingredients, and fold in the mixed wet ingredients. mix thoroughly by hand for about 1 minute, until all the dry clumps have been broken down. lightly coat muffin pan with non-stick spray, and fill each cup about 2/3 full. bake at 350°f for approximately 20 minutes. stick a toothpick or knife in the middle and make sure it comes out clean.

you can use any frosting you would like... i used the standard butter cream frosting recipe in vegan cupcakes take over the world, and added about 1/8 cup cinnamon and 1-2 teaspoons vanilla powder.

chef's note: these will not rise a lot, so if you want larger muffin cakes, you'll have to fill the tin fuller. :)

blog mom's zucchini custard pie

don't let the zucchini part fool you - this pie is delicious. a faithful reader of mine, lynn, sent me this recipe to try. she has supported my blog since the very beginning, sending me emails of encouragement and comments on my recipes. i now affectionately call her 'blog mom,' and she convinced me that this zucchini pie recipe would knock my socks off. she was right - it was a perfect sweet treat for the holiday and got rave reviews from everyone!

the original recipe called for 1 cup of evaporated milk and 1¼ cups sugar... below is what i used as substitutes. thanks lynn!!

• 2 cups zucchini, peeled and cubed
• 1/2 cup soy milk, mixed with 4 tablespoons soy milk powder
• 2/3 cup vegan sugar
• 1/4 cup agave nectar
• 1 egg replacer (i use ener-g)
• 2 tablespoon softened vegan butter
• 3 tablespoons unbleached flour
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 1 nine-inch pie shell

boil the cubed zucchini until tender. drain and put in the refrigerator for about 10 minutes to cool. drain again. in a food processor or blender, combine zucchini, soy milk mixture, sugar, agave nectar, butter, flour and vanilla. blend until creamy.

i did not make my own pie crust because of time restraints, but be sure and check that your store-bought ones are vegan. pour the mixture into a pie crust and sprinkle with cinnamon and nutmeg. bake at 325f° for 60-70 minutes or until a knife comes out clean (i ended up baking mine for about 80 minutes). the end result should still be creamy and custard-like.

blog mom noted that the 1/2 teaspoon measurements on the cinnamon and nutmeg weren't nearly enough, and that i should sprinkle the entire pie generously. moms know best, because this was what really set the pie off and gave it a gooey crème brûlée type taste.

roasted apple butter

i used up the last of our apple bounty to make apple butter. i found a roasted applesauce recipe in vegan with a vengeance, but (of course) wasn't cool with all the sugar involved. i'm sure the original recipe is tasty, but i think apples are already sweet, so i opted for the less caloric approach and pretty much modified the whole thing. also, this turned out decidedly more apple butter than applesauce, because it was thick and could be spread on toast (which i did a lot of).

• about 10-12 small golden delicious apples
• 1-2 tablespoons agave nectar
• cinnamon to taste

preheat oven to 350f°. peel, core and chop the apples into medium size chunks. spread apple chunks in single layer in 9x12 baking/casserole dishes (i used two for 12 apples). drizzle with agave and sprinkle with cinnamon, then gently toss so apples are evenly coated. bake the apples for about 15 minutes, turn once, and bake for 10-15 minutes more. pull out the dishes and let cool. i used a potato masher for one of the dishes, but then my arm got tired. so i used a magic bullet for the other half. makes about 2 pints.

simply cinnamon apples

we went to an apple festival earlier this month, and got all these wonderful organic and locally grown apples. it reminded of how simple 'recipes' can be so awesome.

we had so many....

• 2 golden delicious, cored and chopped
  
• 1 tablespoon agave nectar
• 1-2 tablespoons cinnamon

stir, eat.

if you are feeling on the non-raw side, pop the bowl in the microwave for about 30-45 seconds. it tastes just like the yummy insides of an apple pie.