Protein Power Muffins

Does your mom worry that you aren't getting enough protein? Are you looking for a great way to start your day? Do you need to rebuild muscle after a work out? One way to do that is these muffins. These are a variation on my pumpkin muffins, but packed with protein. The have soy, quinoa, and hemp, all of which are complete proteins (i.e. they contain all essential amino acids), as well as bran, flour, and walnuts (which provide essential fatty acids along with flax seed). Here's how the protein breaks down: wheat bran: 8g; oat bran: 4g; quinoa: 9g; flour: 19g; walnuts: 9g; flax seed: 3g; hemp seed: 44g; soy milk: 10g; chocolate chips: 8g. TOTAL: 114g, or about 9.5g per muffin. This is pretty good considering most adults need about 45 to 55g of protein per day. Eat two for breakfast and you've already had over 1/3 of your protein for the day.

INGREDIENTS

- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour

- 2 tsp baking powder

- 1/2 tsp baking soda

- 1/2 cup sugar

- 2 tsp cinnamon

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 3/4 cups wheat bran

- 1/4 cup oat bran

- 3 tbsp ground flax

- scant 1 1/3 cups soy milk

- 1/3 cup canola oil

- 1 tsp vanilla

- 1 cup cooked quinoa

- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

- 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips

- 1/2 cup hemp seeds

METHOD

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a muffin tin.

1. Whisk together flour, baking powder and soda, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in a large bowl. Mix in bran and flax.

2. Whisk soy milk, canola and vanilla in another bowl. Mix in quinoa. Add to dry ingredients and mix together with a wooden spoon until just mixed. Fold in walnuts, chocolate chips, and hemp seeds.

3. Divide batter into muffin tin (it will fill them right up). Bake for 20-22 mins.

Maple Hemp Granola Bars

We are still scarfing back leftovers from yesterday's party, so I thought I would say a few words about lunch. If you don't already know, the Vegan Lunchbox cookbook is the best thing to happen to lunchtime since . . . well, sliced bread, I guess. The recipes are tasty, creative, and kid-friendly. When I was a kid I took PB&J most of the time--I still love it, actually. But, due to peanut allergies, peanut butter has been banned from the kids' school. So, the kids take hummus and veggies, vegetable soup, veggie meat and crackers, that kind of thing.

I have been working on a granola bar recipe to give the kids an extra nutrition boost at school. The trick is making a vegan granola bar that sticks together without honey, corn syrup, or peanut butter. These have maple syrup and flax to bind them together, sunflower seeds for calcium, pepitas for iron, and hemp for protein.

INGREDIENTS

- 4 cups quick cooking oats

- 1/3-1/2 cup canola oil (you can get away with 1/3 cup if you want a lower fat recipe--the bars will be a bit drier)

- 1 cup maple syrup

- 1 cup vegan chocolate chips

- 1 tsp vanilla

- 1/4 cup each hemp seeds, hemp powder, raisins, sunflower seeds, pepitas (pumpkin seeds), ground flax seeds

METHOD

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Spread oats out on a baking sheet. Bake for 10 mins, stirring twice to prevent burning.

2. Mix all other ingredients in a large bowl. Add in warm oats and mix well.

3. Press mixture into a lightly oiled 9x13 pan, using a piece of waxed paper. They key here is to press really hard and compact the mixture as much as possible.

4. Bake for 25-30 mins, until golden brown. Cool completely and cut into bars.

Banana Hemp Muffins

Oh, the weekend, how I love thee. I always try to bake some bread or some muffins that the kids can take to school in their lunches. These banana hemp muffins are great--packed with protein, a touch of sweetness, and easily converted to a low-fat recipe. I found an old mixed CD that I made for Vegan Mom when we were dating (ah, the sign of true love in the early 90s!) and rocked out to some tunes I had not heard for a while: REM's "What's the Frequency Kenneth?," Midnight Oil's "Beds are Burning," James' "Sit down," BNL's "When You Dream." With all the rocking out I forgot to put in the baking soda, so excuse the somewhat unleavened look of these muffins.

INGREDIENTS
Makes about 16 muffins
- 6 really ripe bananas
- 1/3 cup oil (or applesauce for low-fat)
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup oatmeal
- 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 cup hemp seeds
- 1/4 cup hemp powder
- 1/2 cup vegan chocolate chips

METHOD
Preheat oven to 350
1. Mash bananas really well in a large bowl. Whisk in oil and brown sugar.
2. Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix. Spoon into lined muffin tins and bake for 20-22 mins.