Out and About & Homework Muffins

I really frickin' like muffins. I'm sure there's a double entendre in there, but I care not. When I first printed the recipe for these muffins, I picked it up at the printer in the Loughlin Hall basement and then sat by the laundry room to do my Biblical Hebrew homework. A dorm denizen was listening to some alternative rock over his compy speakers. After a few minutes, I raised my voice to get his attention and asked who was the artist. Surprised at being interrupted, he responded it was Arcade Fire. Being a Luddite or a traditionalist, I didn't have my compy for BH homework, and I scribbled the band name on the top of the recipe. Confession: I used most of my print quota for recipes since I printed two pages per sheet and double sided for most readings.

New heart pan! I heart heart-shaped muffins. Since I made vegan buttermilk, I added baking soda for the acid-base leavening reaction. Ever since I made studmuffins, I associate using the heart-shaped pans with kitchen witchery and ensnaring enshrining gratifying capitulating to the affection of others (#wordchoiceproblems). Given that I received the pan in the mail and a friend's presence in my apartment on the same day, there's association by happenstance.

Technically, "apple hearts" as a dish is probably a baked apple filled with walnuts, maple syrup, butter, cinnamon, and raisins, but work with me, people. Actually, calling them "sorghum apple muffins" might be more accurate as
1. Sorghum flour makes up half of the flour. Since it's soft and does not provide much structure, I try not to use it as the primary flour in most [quick]bread recipes.
2. The low amount of sweetener and use of neutral-tasting grapeseed oil mean the primary tastes are sorghum and cinnamon.

Apple Hearts
Modified from http://www.kingarthurflour.com/shop/PrintRecipe?RID=3853&radio=1

1 1/2 cups nondairy milk (I used unsweetened coconut-almond)
1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

1/4 cup ground flaxseed
6 tablespoons warm water
3 tablespoons maple syrup
3 tablespoons grapeseed oil

1 cup sorghum flour
1 cup brown rice flour
2 tablespoons arrowroot starch
1/2 teaspoon xanthan gum
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 cup raisins
1 cup walnuts
1 medium-sized apple, unpeeled and grated (about 1 cup. Leave the peel on! My thrift store grater could handle it.)

Before you begin anything else, grate the apple, as it's rather time-consuming.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease or paper a 12-well muffin tin (I used my two hearts pans for 6 small/tall and 6 wide/flat muffins from each). On a piece of foil, toast the walnuts in the preheating oven until fragrant, about 8 minutes.

In a large measuring cup, combine the nondairy milk and vinegar and set aside.

In a large bowl, sift then whisk together the flours, xanthan gum, leavening, and seasonings.

Add the flax, water, maple syrup, and oil to the now-curdled nondairy milk and stir to combine.  Toss the apple in the flour mixture and stir briefly to coat. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and fold in the chunks. Stir until just combined then transfer to prepared pans.  Bake muffins for 27-30 minutes or until the tops spring back to the touch and they pass the toothpick test.  Remove from the oven and cool in the pans for five minutes before un-molding onto a rack to cool completely.

It hit me on Friday: I've been doing P90X for almost three weeks and I'd been in my new job for about the same. I can no longer use the excuse that I'm in transition. If I'm not getting serious about giving my best in my workouts and waking up when the alarm goes off, when will I?

Now!