Lemon Almond Bling Muffins

I have made these muffins before and one of our friends really loves these, she said these are the best muffins she has ever had. I tried this recipe when I was in the process of majorly trimming back my lemon tree, I baked and cooked all kinds of things with lemon. I also made lots of lemonade and lemon soda at that point in time. Now that the lemon tree is healthier and isn't quite so full of lemons I can use them at a more sane pace, but I still love these muffins and a few other recipes I found during that lemon period. This recipe is in The 100 Best VEGAN BAKING Recipes book on page 66. Seriously I know it seems like I only make things out of this book, honestly I don't, but it is an excellent book. I love this book very much and recommend it to all my friends who are looking for vegan baking recipes, this has definitely become one of my favorite cookbooks.

Raspberry Lime Muffins

I know for a 3 year old's birthday party you need to have lots of cupcakes and of course I will, 4 dozen cupcakes. But then I thought what about something a little less sweet for those who maybe find cupcakes to be too sweet or for those who might be watching their weight and so I decided to make 2 kinds of muffins as well. I saw the recipe for Raspberry Lime Muffins in The 100 Best VEGAN BAKING Recipes (page 68) and thought that these would be a nice alternative to a cupcake with frosting, something a little sweet with the raspberries but not overly sweet and no frosting necessary. I can hardly wait to try these at the party, I'm even kind of hoping they don't all get eaten so I can have some for breakfast next week. I guess if they all get eaten though that would be a good thing, it would show people enjoyed them. I guess either way I'll be happy.

Banana Split Cupcakes

I found this recipe in The 100 Best VEGAN BAKING Recipes by Kris Holenchek (page 98) and they sounded so amazing that I couldn't help but try the recipe out for my son's birthday. After all they sounded like something a crowd of toddlers would love. I have had amazing will power to resist eating one myself yet (I admit I did taste the batter as did my little helper) but I did give one of the cupcakes (unfrosted) to one of my son's teachers the other day to say thank you for an amazing act of kindness on her part. She loved it, she said she was expecting blueberries and then realized there were chocolate chips in it and was very pleasantly surprised.


I am planning to frost these cupcakes with Fudgy Frosting (page 157) and then sprinkle them with some chopped up salted peanuts and top each one with a stemmed maraschino cherry. Of course another fun option would have been to use Buttercream Frosting (page 157) and then drizzle some chocolate syrup on top and then sprinkle on the peanuts and top with the cherries. Anyhow, I am really excited to have such fun Vegan cupcakes to serve for this birthday party. Especially since my son has 2 friends who can't eat dairy. It makes me feel good to know that I can provide a yummy birthday spread that all the kids can enjoy. I'll try to remember to take pictures of all the cupcakes when they are frosted.

Make your own pita chips

This week I am preparing for my son's 3rd birthday party. Among other things, that means lots of baking. This year I am making 2 kinds of Vegan cupcakes and 2 kinds of Vegan muffins as well as some pita chips and "egg" salad sandwiches and cucumber sandwiches. Of course the cupcakes won't get frosted till the day before the party so you'll have to wait to see them all frosted.

I started off by making lots of pita chips. I bought 4 bags of whole wheat pita chips. Then I cut them up into chip sized pieces. I used a bread knife to do this and simply cut each piece of pita into 4 strips lengthwise and then cut the strips into smaller pieces and ripped the edges where the front and back meet so that I have thin chips. Once all that is done I line them up on cookie sheets and spray them with a little olive oil and then sprinkle them with a little bit of salt. Once all of that is done put them in the oven at about 350 degrees until they are as crispy as you want them. If you are baking 2 sheets at once I suggest rotating the sheets about half way through so that both sheets get baked about the same. I will admit it takes a while if you make as many at once as I do, but I really think they taste so much better than the store bought ones which tend to taste greasy to me.