Welcome to the first day of Vegan MoFo! Vegan MoFo is in its fourth year, and was started over at Post Punk Kitchen by Isa Chandra Moskowitz. The goal is to post about vegan food all month long. A post a day is quite ambitious for me, as you all might suspect, but I'm excited about the challenge. Some blogs follow themes for the month, but I'm not that organized, and let's be honest: 31 posts in a row will be a feat in itself. I will warn you all, however, that my friend Julie has decided to do a 30 Days of Pumpkin thing, and while it's not entirely vegan and I'm not sure if she'll be blogging about it (although I hope she does!), she has kind of gotten me on a pumpkin-pinning obsession (not everything I've pinned is vegan, but I'm eager to attempt to veganize some of these recipes!).

Today I bring you a batch of pumpkin muffins from Vegan with a Vengeance. Kind of coincidental but absolutely appropriate that my first post of Vegan MoFo comes from Isa herself! I made these muffins before I was aware of Julie's mission, but after my Pinterest and some other food blogs exploded with recipes for autumnal recipes. This book is a staple for most vegan kitchens, and it was one of the first books I bought when I went vegan. If you don't have the recipe, you can find an online version here. I reduced the sugar to 1/2 C and subbed 3/4C whole wheat flour for white. I've made this recipe many times before, but I truly prefer it with the slight adjustments I made.

A helpful tip!

Molasses is much easier to manipulate if

you first dip your measuring spoon in oil.

I measured out the canola oil, dipped the spoon,

and then measured out the molasses!

Banana-Chocolate Chip Muffins

I forgot to share these little babies with you last week! I found this recipe for banana-chocolate chip muffins on huffingtonpost.com, and given my love of chocolate and muffins and bananas, I knew this would be love at first bite.

And it was.

Really easy to put together, and so tasty!

Banana-Wheat Germ Muffins

I don't know if I mentioned it, but I started grad school last week. As of tomorrow, I will be working full time and going to school full time. Insanity is sure to ensue, and because of that, posts will be short and sweet until the end of the school year! June 17th can't get here soon enough!

Tonight I made a batch of banana-wheat germ muffins from Veganomicon. I was just looking for a new way to use up overripe bananas, and when I saw this recipe, I thought it was perfect. And prior to making these little babies, I didn't realize that wheat germ has a decent amount of protein in it, despite being a grain. Win!

I made half a dozen to get me through the next couple of days (depending on how quickly I eat them up; obviously one didn't survive the period of post-baking, pre-picture). I froze the other half of the batter, so I'll have muffins ready to go next week, too!

Banana Nut Muffins

This week I wanted to try a new muffin recipe, but wasn't sure what type of muffin. I also had a bunch of bananas that were definitely past their prime. I may or may not be a snob when it comes to bananas... but I make up for it by resourcefully using unsatisfactory-as-is bananas in smoothies and breads.

Anyway, the first two facts made me look at fruity/banana muffins. I found this recipe for banana nut muffins in 1000 Vegan Recipes. Not only did the recipe look ridiculously easy (I think I pulled these together in 10 minutes), but I had everything in stock. It calls for ground flax seed, which I discovered my Giant does not carry. If you can't find it at your normal grocery store, try a local health food store or a Whole Foods.

These little babies came out so beautifully and tasty. They are a test of will power, because I want to eat all of them. And then make more. And then eat those, too. Seriously, these blueberry muffins had better watch out because there's a new contender in the competition for the title of "Niki's Favorite Muffin Ever."

I couldn't find an online recipe for this, so suck it up and buy the book!

Blueberry Muffins & How to Freeze Muffin Batter

Source: Fat Free Vegan

Muffins. So light and fluffy and yummy. Also portable and easy to eat while driving.

I am absolutely not a morning person. I sleep as long as possible, and therefore have minimal time to get ready for work in the morning. I'm not the type of person who can skip breakfast (prolonged states of hunger make me resemble teething toddlers), so muffins are the perfect solution to my "How can I sleep as long as possible and still get everything done before work?" dilemma.

These muffins in particular are one of my favorite varities because I love blueberries in baked goods. Over the summer, I bought probably twice my body weight in pints of blueberries, and froze nearly all of them. While my dad could not understand why I possibly needed 243 pints of blueberries, I knew exactly what I was doing: preparing for the end of blueberry season! Store-bought frozen blueberries are disgusting, and I refuse to pay for over-priced, bland, and sometimes mushy blueberries. My fresh-frozen blueberries make a world of difference in taste!

Another reason why muffins earn a gold star is because muffin batter is so easy to freeze. When I started regularly making muffins for breakfast, I found I either had to eat an exorbitant amount of muffins within a few days, or throw food away. Both options irritated me. I looked into freezing muffin batter, and discovered it's insanely easy. Now, I bake a day or two's worth of muffins at a time, and am able to prevent Muffin Monster from emerging and avoid throwing away food. The muffin papers tend to get a little smooshed in the freezing process, but my chief concern is taste, and that's never compromised. Win-win situation in my book.

To freeze muffin batter, you'll simply need a few muffin tins (I prefer the foil, six-muffin tins), freezer bags, and yummy muffin batter! First, make the muffin batter per usual. Line your muffin tins. Spoon muffin batter into tins. Freeze overnight. Once frozen, remove from pans. Sometimes the muffins get stuck in regular tins, which is why I prefer the flexible foil kind. Place frozen muffins in freezer bags. When you're ready to bake, follow baking directions per your recipe. So simple, right?

Now my only worry is my rapidly depleting blueberry supply... Come on, May!