Week 14 Dish 1: Vegan orange cranberry muffins

HALF WAY!!!!! That's right, as of the end of week 13, I am officially half way through my baking challenge and this is the first recipe of the second half! Frankly, I'm really proud of the fact that I've managed to keep it going for 13 weeks. I feel like I'm in my stride now, I can definitely do this. I've only got two more weeks of firms followed by 4 weeks of Christmas holiday, which will definitely make things easier.

So for the first recipe of the second half, I decided to bake something sweet and sour: vegan orange and cranberry muffins! We have had cranberries in our freezer for ages and my mum asked me to finish them so I thought this was the perfect recipe (though I didn't use them all - means I have to make them again, what a shame :p). Cranberries are always sour, but they just taste so good in these muffins. As usual, very quick and easy to bake so give them a go!

Ingredients
2 cups wholemeal flour
2/3 cups sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup orange juice
1/2 cup canola oil
2 tbsp orange zest
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups cranberries (fresh or frozen), roughly chopped
1 cup pecans/ walnuts, roughly chopped
Method

1. Preheat oven to 190 degrees C. Line a muffin tray with muffin cups.
2. In a large mixing bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and salt.
3. Make a well in the centre and add orange juice, canola oil, orange zest and vanilla extract. Combine until half mixed, then add the cranberries and walnuts and finish mixing.
4. Fill the muffin cup 3/4 full and bake for 23-27 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Once cool enough to handle, transfer to cooling rack to cool completely. NOM NOM NOM!

Original recipe: Orange cranberry muffins