Whole Grain Corn Muffins with Goat Cheese and Cranberries

I debated whether or not to advertise this cornbread as vegan, because it totally is, except for the goat cheese. Story of my life.

Fun fact: did you know you can use a really ripe avocado instead of eggs or oil in your baked goods? Works wonders. Think about it: it's a little unctuous ball of butter and eggs all in one. I think the fat in the avocado is the reason they work much better than mashed bananas or applesauce as an egg replacer. You get fat and moisture without sweetness, giving you a lot of flexibility in your choice of baked goods. You want to use really, really ripe avocados when you do this, ones that are past the guacamole stage. The ones they sell two for a dollar in the produce clearance aisle? Those are perfect.

Honey? And avocado? That sounds weird. But hey, we're making vegan cornbread with avocado here (and goat cheese and cranberries) so we're putting weird on the back burner for the moment.

Savory.

Sweet.

Scoop.

Bake.

I used my immersion blender (definitely another favorite piece of kitchen equipment) to whip up the avocado, honey and soymilk right in the bowl. If you don't have an immersion blender, or your avocado isn't really, really ripe you might want to mash up your avocado in a separate bowl and then beat in your honey and soymilk.

Truth be told these vegan/not vegan corn muffins don't know exactly what they want to be. They are just as delicious for breakfast as they are with dinner (we ate them with sweet potato soup) or for an afternoon snack. Goat cheese and cranberries is really a no-brainer, it's got the sweet/salty, chewy/creamy contrast going on. Both are a lovely surprise studded throughout the cornbread, whose texture is decidedly un-vegan. I make cornbread at least weekly and I was surprised at how little I could tell a difference between this cornbread and my standard favorite recipe, which calls for 1/2 cup of butter and 2 eggs (totally not a Southern recipe, I've converted...).

It doesn't really matter what these muffins want to be; anything studded with chunks of melted goat cheese can't be anything other than delicious.

Whole Grain Corn Muffins with Goat Cheese and Cranberries

• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• 1 cup whole-wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1/2 ripe avocado
• 1 3/4 cups soymilk
• 1/2 cup crumbled goat cheese
• 1/2 cup dried cranberries

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin.
2. Thoroughly combine your dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, mash up your avocado and beat in the soymilk and honey, mixing well.
4. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and stir the wet and dry together with a wooden spoon or mixing spoon until just combined. Gently stir in the goat cheese and cranberries.
5. Scoop into prepared muffin tin and bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until muffins are well risen and lightly browned on top.

Homemade Crackers, or, Defining Adulthood

Did you know you can make your own crackers? I had no idea how easy it would be. Flour, olive oil, water, *boom* homemade crunchy little rounds of goodness.

Those little specks in there? Raw quinoa! I certainly would never have thought of that were it not for this wonder but they lend a pleasing additional source of crunch. These are a fun, comforting, and unfussy project for a rainy Sunday afternoon.

I made these in my stand mixer but all it really needs is a fork and a mixing bowl. Stir together dry ingredients, stir in olive oil and water, and roll out.  Do as I say, not as I do: the dough in the pictures below is rolled about twice as thick as I would like it next time (and there will be a next time: so many possible flavor combinations here).  The crackers themselves are delicious but a little shortbread-y rather than delightfully thin and crispy.

The other wonderful thing about these is that of course you can flavor them however you'd like. I used a teaspoon of an herbes de Provence spice blend that has been languishing in my cabinet and can only faintly taste the seasoning, I would start with 1 1/2 teaspoons dried herbs, etc. and go from there.  I also left these very lightly salted. If you want something more like commercial crackers I would add another 1/2 tsp. of salt to the dough and salt the tops of the crackers as well before going into the oven. 

  

On a completely unrelated note, I bought a pair of jeans last night. They were not from a thrift store. They cost more than a salad and sandwich combo at my favorite lunch spot. They cost about as much as dinner at a fancy restaurant if you get the salad and a glass of wine, too. I am not used to this. I feel like this more firmly marks my passage into adulthood than paying rent or car insurance or even owning a slow cooker.

Then the cracker that fell on the floor when I was turning my cookie sheets around caught on fire in the oven, unbeknownst to me until smoke started billowing from by back right burner. Making crackers is risky business, folks. The little charcoal disk caught on fire again when I was roasting vegetables for dinner, and that's when I realized: it's ok. I still have a ways to go.

Whole Wheat Crackers
Adapted from The Homemade Pantry by Alana Chernila

• 1 cup flour, plus additional for dusting
• 1 cup spelt flour or whole wheat flour (I used wheat)
• 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/3 cup whole, uncooked millet (I used quinoa)
• 1/3 cup ground flax seeds
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus additional for sprinkling
• Optional: 1 1/2 teaspoons any herbs or spices 
• 1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons olive oil
• Freshly ground pepper

1. Preheat the oven to 350. In a medium bowl, combine the dry ingredients. Add the olive oil and combine with a fork.  Slowly add 1/2 cup water. I used my stand mixer fitted with the dough hook for this process, Alana recommends working the water in with your hands until the dough holds together, up to 1/4 cup additional water if needed. Knead the dough with your hands for 2 minutes or the stand mixer for about a minute until it is smooth and very workable.
2. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface, press into a flat disk, and roll out until the dough is 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick. Cut into desired shapes. I used cookie cutters and used a bench scraper to cut the remaining dough into squares; a pizza cutter would also work nicely and a biscuit cutter would make lovely rounds.
3. With a spatula, transfer the dough to ungreased baking sheets and sprinkle with salt and pepper, if desired. Bake for 20 to 22 minutes, rotating the crackers halfway through. Be careful not to drop your crackers on the floor, oven or kitchen, at this point. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Enjoy with cheddar cheese and your favorite mug of soup.