The first Friday of the month is reserved for recipes. You can see additional First Friday Food posts here.

 

Hi guys. Evelyn speaking.

As a advertisement for my business Party, Celebration, for all of the Nation, (Which comes with your choice of a party dessert, by the way), I am doing a guest post on my dad’s blog. I am doing step by step directions, so if you don’t like my method, go ahead and scroll all the way down for the recipe.

1.Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F.

2.Go ahead and put the dried cranberries and water on the stove. You can keep them on there for about 3 minutes, but since I tend to be the slower type of baker, keeping it on the lowest heat can be okay. Just make sure the water doesn’t completely evaporate.

3. Mix the dry ingredients together in a bowl. (It should be mixed, the picture is only like this for decoration). Put like 5 pinches of lemon zest and put the rest in the freezer-you can use it to make scones.

4. In a separate bowl, mix the wet ingredients. If you are juicing (is it juicing or de-juicing?) a lemon, keep lemon juice clear of any cuts. It will sting bad if the two come into contact.

5. Mix the the wet ingredients into the dry until ALMOST combined. Drain the water out of the cranberries, and fold them into the mixture.

6. Grease some muffin tins and put the batter in. It should make 12 muffins, so if you have less, even it out between all 12. Then put three sliced almonds in a triangular shape on top of all the muffins. Bake for 18-20 minutes. Tip: Do not lick the spoon. This muffin batter does not taste good before baking. Belive me; I tried.

7. Let the muffins cool on a cooling rack. Eat them with fruit or at least a glass of water because they tend to be on the dry side, (It’s not your fault).

The Recipe:

(It’s from the Vegan Yum-Yum cookbook.)

• 1/2 rounded cup dried cranberries in 1/2 c. water
• 2 c. flour
• 1/3 c. sugar
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 TBL. cornstarch
• zest from 1 lemon
• 1 c. milk
• juice from 1 lemon
• 1/3 c. olive oil
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1 tsp. almond extract

1. Preheat oven to 400F.
2. Place the cranberries and water in a small saucepan and heat until simmering.  Simmer for 3 minutes then remove from heat.
3. In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cornstarch, and lemon zest.
4. In a separate bowl, mix together the milk, lemon juice, veggie oil, vanilla, and almond extracts.
5. Gently fold the wet ingredients into the dry until almost combined.  Drain the cranberries and fold into the batter, mixing until just combined.
6. Fill a muffin tin with batter, top with a few sliced almonds, and bake for 18 to 20 minutes.