Vegan Pumpkin Cranberry Muffins

There are a few vegans in our family.  I only dabble in it occasionally, after all it never hurts to eat more vegetables!  So I have scoured the web for a few good recipes in order to more easily break bread (heheh) with the family.  I had pumpkins.  I had cranberries.  And I ran across a pumpkin cranberry bread recipe here at What Would Cathy Eat?  I've tweaked it for muffins, which I prefer to quick bread loaf.  I just love this recipe, number one, the muffins are delicious.  Number two, you almost can't hurt it.  Sometimes I put in a little extra flax seed, maybe a heaping cup of pumpkin puree.  I'm not big into measuring so I eyeball the seasonings.  And as a matter of fact, the pictured muffins were made with roasted butternut squash puree.  I discovered this thanksgiving that Libby's canned pumpkin is actually a variety called the Dickinson pumpkin which is more closely related to butternut squash than your friendly neighborhood jack o'lantern.  Knowledge is power!

2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
6 tablespoons orange juice
a bit of orange zest if you have it
1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cups brown sugar
1 cup pumpkin
1 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2/3 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon cloves
3/4 cup chopped walnuts (optional)
1 cup cranberries, roughly chopped or whole your preference

Heat the oven to 350 degrees.

Mix pumpkin, sugar, flax, orange juice & zest, vanilla and oil.  In another bowl, combine the flour, baking soda, salt and spices, then mix into the wet ingredients. Fold in the walnuts and cranberries.

Fill 12 muffin cups, bake about 20 minutes.  Ovens are different so keep an eye on them the first time you make them.  Sometimes it seems I have a little too much for 12 muffins so I put the rest in a mini muffin pan (12).