Vegan Carrot Cupcakes

Sometimes the only way to handle the crazy thoughts that race through your mind as a freelancer is to distract yourself. Like cupcakes! It must be a rough patch if I've made these almost every week for a while now. I can feel my thoughts returning to the "I can do" attitude each time I catch of whiff of these baking in the oven!

Vegan Carrot Cupcakes
1 cup all-purpose flour
¾ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon baking powder
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground ginger
2/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil (canola)
1/3 cup soy yogurt (I use vanilla)
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cup finely grated carrots

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line muffin tin with 12 cupcake liners. In a medium mixing bowl, mix together sugar, vegetable oil, yogurt, and vanilla. Sift in the dry ingredients (flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, spices - premixed in small bowl) and mix until smooth with a wooden spoon. I think part of the secret is to not over-mix the batter. Mix until just combined. Call it a feeling, but it seems to work. Fold in carrots.

Fill the cupcake liners 2/3 full. Bake for 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted through the center of one comes out clean. Or do what I do, and when you smell that tasty aroma from the oven, they're most likely done. Frost when cooled.

(Modified from Vegan Cupcakes Take Over the World).

Vegan Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients:
¼ cup nonhydrogenated margarine, softened (Earth Balance)
¼ cup vegan cream cheese, softened
2 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Cream together margarine and cream cheese until just combined. Use a handheld mixer to whip while adding the confectioners sugar in ½ cup batches. Mix until smooth and creamy, then mix in the vanilla. Keep tightly covered and refrigerated until ready to use. I scoop into a plastic baggie, seal, and cut the bottom corner of the bag to ice. Feel like a pro pastry-chef decorating!

Brownies, It is

The One That Got Away:

1 box Pillsbury Brownie Mix (Family Size)
1 can Pumpkin
1/2 c. applesauce
2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 cup water (or whatever little bit will help the batter become suitable for brownie-batter-pouring consistency)

Mix with wooden spoon and pour into greased baking pan. Bake at 350°F (for glass) in a 9x13" cooking pan for 30 minutes and then some until your toothpick comes out clean.

We've been introduced to some mighty-fine vegan recipes, and there is one that stands out among the crowd: Shelly Smithberger's Pumpkin Brownies. I decided to make some myself and ended up providing both my mother and my husband with hours of endless entertainment instead. Mom had the audacity to actually pick up the brick out of the pan and knock on the counter with it to get my attention. And Steve, even with the voracious hunger that consumes him after running miles and miles, wouldn't touch them with a 10-foot pole.

I needed to fix this, and pronto! So, as you're not supposed to do with science, I changed ALL the variables and struck pure gold.