The Most Flavorful Way to Multitask

Ask anyone who talks to or sees me on a daily basis, and I am sure that they will verify that I am the epitome of a multi-tasker.

For instance, in addition to studying for a midterm (or, in the case of this past weekend, I was studying for the three midterms that I have on Tuesday, all back-to-back - I want to cry, haha), I can be found listening to music, preparing/eating a meal or snack, checking out the latest blog post updates, watching a television show, talking on the phone, reading a magazine, getting ready to head out the door to run an errand... yes, the list goes on. I seriously do this many things (and more!) all at once.

Yesterday morning, aside from blending/drinking one of my daily hemp protein shakes, cooking/eating my oatmeal, doing full-body stretches, checking blog updates, glancing over midterm study guide notes, and preparing to get to the gym for my personal-training session, I also managed to have some time (and focus) to bake.

While reading through the November/December 2008 issue of VegNews magazine (which I read through while drinking my hemp protein shake, haha), I stumbled upon an entire recipe section devoted to muffins. I immediately realized, after looking over all of the tantalizing muffin recipes, that I have not baked muffins since July!

Considering how much I (and my "taste-testers") love muffins, this is simply unacceptable. So, I quickly chose one of the muffin recipes from that recipe section in VegNews - the Oatmeal-Chocolate-Chip Muffins recipe, to be exact.

Although the recipe sounds amazing as written, I made a lot of changes/substitutions: I used gluten-free flour instead of whole-wheat flour; hempmilk instead of soymilk; canola oil instead of olive oil; omitted the chocolate chips and added cranberry sauce).

Since I made so many changes to the recipe, I thought that I would share my creation with you:




(I apologize for the lackluster photograph!! Taking photographs while multitasking definitely yields less-than-stellar results)




VeggieGirl's Oatmeal-Cranberry-Walnut Muffins

(**Adapted from the Oatmeal-Chocolate-Chip Muffins recipe in the November/December 2008 issue of VegNews magazine**)



• 1 cup flour (I used Bob's Red Mill GF All Purpose Baking Flour)

• 1 cup rolled oats

• 1 tablespoon baking powder

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon

• 1/2 cup nondairy "milk" of choice (**Note: I used Living Harvest hempmilk, and ended up adding about 3/4 cup of the stuff to the batter)

• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup (I used Grade B)

• 1/4 cup canola oil

• 1 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

• 1/2 cup cranberry sauce (I used homemade cranberry sauce, which I adapted from a recipe found in the Eat, Drink & Be Vegan cookbook)



Preheat oven to 400°F. Fill a 12-cup muffin tin with cupcake liners.

In a large bowl, add in flour, rolled oats, baking powder, and cinnamon. Mix well.

In the same bowl, add in the nondairy "milk," maple syrup, canola oil, chopped walnuts and cranberry sauce. As the mixture starts to thicken up/combine, add as much nondairy "milk" as you need (but not too much) so that the batter is mixable.

Pour mixture into the cupcake liners, in 12-cup muffin tin.

Bake for about 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center of the blondies comes out clean.


Makes 12 muffins.




I really loved the mix of the crunchy walnuts, chewy oats, and sweetness of the cranberry sauce in these muffins - a true winner, if you ask me. But that is just my opinion - here is what my taste-testers (my grandfather, parents, and The Co-Worker) thought:


My grandfather loved how the muffins were packed with walnuts; my mom said that the muffins were a great accompaniment to a cup of coffee or tea; my dad gave me a more thorough review (I think that he is trying to compete with The Co-Worker now, haha):

"I didn't quite know what to expect with these muffins but when I took my first bite and found the top to be crispy I knew I would like it. Once through the top of the muffin, the rest was very fluffy with a nice taste from the cranberries and some good crunchiness from the walnuts. I really liked these."

I am very glad that my grandfather, mom, and dad enjoyed these muffins as much as I did. And now, it is time for The Co-Worker's review...




**Here is The Co-Worker's official review of the Oatmeal-Cranberry-Walnut Muffins**:



“Healthiness in a muffin,” is the best way to describe the Oatmeal-Cranberry-Walnut muffin.

It’s a heavy muffin… not fluffy… so don’t let the size fool you. It packs a lot in a little size….

It’s not sweet or tart… but rather tastes almost like a “power muffin” with the nuts. The cranberry is very subtle, and the oatmeal sticks with you.

If you’re looking for a kick start in a healthy way… give it a try."




Even though I just barely had enough time to bake these muffins, they still turned out to be a complete success - definitely the most flavorful way to multitask, if you ask me!

Oh and for the record, I was most certainly multitasking while typing out this blog post ;0)