CROISSANTS!

I was just catching up reading through friends' recent posts, and I came across this entry over at Blueberries' blog about Jus-Rol's vegan home-bake croissants.

I love croissants. I think I could happily live off croissants and only croissants for the rest of my life - so finding out that you can make your own vegan croissants so easily has just totally blown my mind! And putting Spar's own vegan version of nutella inside would make them even more mind-blowing!

I am going to try this very soon and I'll post all about it here. This better not be a let-down. I am already salivating and dribbling all over my keyboard as I type. I am just SO excited.

Bonkers about Baking!

Yes I've gone slightly off the rails with my baking recently, due to having a lot of spare time on my hands. I really had no idea that muffins were so easy to make, and I have fun experimenting with them! They're just so handy to have around as well, for breakfasts (heated up with a bit of jam) and for snacks on the go. Today I randomly made some Banana, Blackberry, Flaxseed & Nutella Muffins, which turned out pretty well. In fact, they were still soft, fluffy and gooey even hours after they came out of the oven, and the boy said they were fantastic! We really couldn't get enough of them. I think I'm going to have to stop making muffins for a while now and wait until next week before I bake any more, I just think I'm becoming addicted to them and keep justifying these indulgent little treats by putting fruit inside them. I'll be getting a 'muffin top' soon if I'm not careful... I think the key to limiting myself to just one a day is to get some larger muffin cases so I can make regular sized muffins like you get in coffee shops, then I think I'll feel more satisfied and won't keep reaching for more!

I can't wait to go see my dad at the end of this month and bake some muffins using the fruit from his garden. He has raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, redcurrants & gooseberries - the poor guy won't know what to do with all the muffins I'm gonna be making for him!!! I'd say warm muffins straight from the oven with some pecan soya ice cream would be a heavenly dessert :)

As you can see, my hamster Pep-Pep loves to nibble on freshly made berry muffins too! Nom nom nom...

Healthy Blackberry Polenta Muffins

I just made these little beauties from the "How it all Vegan" book I got on the weekend. I only made half of the recommended ingredients, just in case they didn't turn out well (and seeing as the boy isn't that fond of anything cake-like I guess I'm not going to eat THAT many muffins on my own, right?). But my oh my do I wish I'd made the full amount now! They are just SO good, and very healthy tasting as well... AND the boy loves them, so it would have been quite handy to have made more. Here's the recipe below. I substituted blackberries for the raspberries and rice milk for the soya milk, as it was all I had at the time. Half of the ingredients made 6 small muffins which would be ideal for breakfast, accompanied with some fruit and a cup of coffee.

RASPBERRY CORNMEAL (POLENTA) MUFFINS
175g/6oz Cornmeal
175g/6oz Plain Flour
Dash of Salt
90g/3oz Sweetener
Three-Quarter Tsp Bicarbonate of Soda
4 Tbsp Oil
175ml/6fl oz Soy Milk
175ml/6fl oz Orange or Apple Juice
1 Tsp Vinegar
115g/4oz Raspberries

Preheat oven to 200C/400F/gas mark 6. In a large bowl, stir together the cornmeal, flour, salt, sweetener, and bicarbonate of soda. Add the oil, milk, juice, vinegar and berries. Mix together gently until just mixed. Spoon into lightly oiled/non stick muffin tins and bake for 35-45 minutes. Test with a knife to see if done. Makes 6 large muffins.

Here's the inside of one of them, it's not like this all the way through, I just happened to break it open on a rather large blackberry! They are lovely and juicy and soft when they come straight out of the oven. I can't wait to make them again with raspberries. I might experiment and throw some random ingredients in next time, like some vanilla extract and some dessicated coconut!

Cat's Aid Vegan Bake Sale

Today I went to a vegan bake sale in Dublin. It was held at Cultivate at The Greenhouse on Andrew's Street as part of the Worldwide Vegan Bake Sale. The proceeds went to Cat's Aid, a charity based in Ballsbridge, and the food was lovely! I bought quite a few things and was very impressed. I'd love it if these events could be held more often - next time I'll make sure I bring along something to sell! Below are some pictures, courtesy of some of the organizers.

We bought:

- Lemon Slice (tasted like lemon meringue pie, this was my favourite one!)
- Chocolate Nut Cookie
- Peanut Butter Pastry Roll
- Treacle Nut Brownie
- Banana Cookie with Strawberry Icing

Cookies Invade from Outer Space

I bought this book on the weekend, from Waterstones. IT. IS. AMAZING! There are so many pictures, I have no idea what to make first. I'm a sucker for peanut butter and there's so many recipes containing it in this book which will definitely have to be made soon! I'm going to substitute all sugar with xylitol, but probably won't be able to avoid adding a little molasses/agave nectar when it's called for...

Here's a sample of what's inside:

• Peanut Butter Blondies
• Key Lime Shortbread
• Espresso Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies
• Irish Whiskey Cremes
• Peanut Butter Chocolate Pillows
• Classic Gingerbread
• NYC Black & Whites
• Sweet Wine Sesame Biscuits
• Citrus Glitters
• Various Biscotti
• Sweet Potato Blondies
• Fudge Brownies
• Nutty Wedding Cookies
• Pretzel Cookies

Here's a link to the Get Sconed! blog's review of the book... with fantastic pictures!