“Give me liberty or give me a bran muffin!” — Colin Mochrie
For these healthy, yummy breakfast muffins, we adapted the Ginger-Raisin Bran Muffin recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance by Isa Chandra Moscowitz, page 49.
We didn’t have any raisins about, so we substituted dried cranberries for the raisins and we topped each muffin off with a walnut half. We also chose to omit the crystallized ginger called for in the recipe. Even though crystallized ginger is scrumptious (we’ve made these in the past and included it), we wanted to cut back on the sugar this time around, so we just added some extra ground ginger instead.
Cranberry Facts (from Wikipedia): In the 1880s, a New Jersey grower named John “Peg Leg” Webb discovered that cranberries bounce. Instead of carrying his crop down from the storage loft of his barn, Webb poured them down the steps. He noticed that only the freshest, firmest fruit reached the bottom; rotten or bruised berries didn’t bounce and remained on the steps. This discovery led to the invention of “bounceboards”, tools used to separate rotten berries from fresh ones.
Vegetate 
We sub dried cranberries in many recipes — cookies, muffins, or breads. Such an interesting fact about bounceboards! I love when bloggers put these little tibits in with a post.
At the moment, we are enjoying a recipe made with whole wheat flour (bran could be used too), flax seed, nuts, and homemade applesauce. I put in dried cranberries and use egg replacer for the egg and omit the oil (it calls for butter) altogether. They are delicious with homemade cranberry jelly on them!
That Vegan with a Vengeance cookbook is looking like a must-have…
Hi Shannon! Thank you for your lovely comments. 🙂 I love subbing dried cranberries for raisins and such in recipes. Not only are they yummy but they are good for the bladder and kidneys, as well. Thanks, too, for appreciating the food facts that I put at the end of each post. I always learn something new when I write Vegetate posts because I do a bit of research on the topic or ingredients to find some interesting (I hope!) “side” information.
OMGosh, your current muffins sounds delectable! Homemade cranberry jelly, to boot? Sounds TOO good to be true.
And yes, I have to say that Vegan with a Vengeance is one of my favorite go-to cookbooks. Isa Chandra Moscowitz whips up the tastiest, easiest recipes with a great sense of humor!
Well, you should know that I just added it to my Cart. Perhaps I’ll have it in time for the 2-week break. Cheers, Linda!
Ha ha! Nice one Shannon, I promise you won’t regret your purchase! Here are some of the Vegan with a Vengeance recipes I’ve tried out so far:
http://vegetate.us/tag/vegan-with-a-vengeance/
Some of my faves are the Cherry almond Muffins, the Revolutionary Spanish Omelet, and the Orange-Rum Teacake.
They look just so yummy. When did you put the walnut on top? Before you even put them in the oven?
Do you know, by chance, what is in an egg replacer? We use chia at times, but just not quite it to me.
Hey there, mon ami! 🙂 I did indeed put the walnut halves on top of each muffin before I baked them. Bran muffins aren’t the prettiest things in the world, so I hoped a bit of flair would dress them up a bit.
I often use Ener-G Egg Replacer when a recipe calls for it, but I also like to use ground flax seeds whisked with water, mashed bananas, or applesauce as a binding agent in baked goods. Which one of these I use depends on the other ingredients in the recipe. If I don’t want my food to take on the banana or apple flavorings of bananas or applesauce I will usually use whipped up flax seeds or Egg Replacer.
I took a look at Ener-G’s website to find the ingredients for their Egg Replacer, and here’s what I found:
Ingredients: Potato Starch,Tapioca Flour, Leavening (Calcium Lactate, Calcium Carbonate, Cream of Tartar), Cellulose Gum, Modified Cellulose.
So, it looks like it is pretty starchy, but gluten-free? I love using this because a box lasts a long time and the results are usually great!
Wow! Thanks for giving me the ingredient list! As I am now branching a little off of my “diet,” that sounds like a list I could tolerate! May track down some!
PS: The walnut flair did the trick!
I am so glad to her that you may be able to get some use out of Egg Replacer. It really does work well in baked goods, especially if you whisk it thoroughly or blend it in a blender with the amount of water listed on the packaging for the number of eggs you’re replacing. Please let me know how you like baking with it. Thanks for your sweet “PS”, too! 🙂
Yum! That’s a great healthy muffin recipe!
Hee hee, thanks DeliciouslyNell! 🙂
Sounds very filling for the cooler weather – and yummy!
Hi Genkikitty, it’s so nice to “see” you here! Thanks for your nice comments. You’re so right, these muffins really hit the spot on these chilly days, especially when they are warmed up and topped with some dairy-free butter. 🙂
Yum sounds delicious!!!
Why thank you so much, Michaela! 🙂