Cherry-almond-poppyseed Muffins (vegan)

Total Time: 30 mins Preparation Time: 10 mins Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour (i always use whole wheat pastry flour)
• 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
• 1 tablespoon flax seed meal, preferably golden
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt
• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar (to spoon over tops of muffins, though i omit this)
• 1 cup soymilk, divided
• 1/3 cup canola oil
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 2 teaspoons almond extract (please, i beg of you, don't use imitation!)
• 2/3 cup dried cherries (i chop these up a bit so they're not so big)

Recipe

• 1 preheat oven to 350°f line a 12-cup muffin tray with paper liners or grease well with vegetable shortening or nonstick cooking spray.
• 2 in a medium bowl, whisk the flour, poppy seeds, flax meal, baking powder, and salt, mixing well.
• 3 in a large bowl, whisk together 3/4 cup sugar, half of the soymilk, canola oil, applesauce, and almond extract, whisking until smooth. add the flour mixture a little at a time, alternating with the remaining soymilk, whisking until just combined. stir in the dried cherries.
• 4 scoop the batter evenly amongst the 12 cups of the prepared muffin pan and sprinkle remaining tablespoon over sugar over the tops of the muffins.
• 5 bake for 20-25 minutes, or until muffins are just barely golden around the edges and a tester inserted into the center comes out clean.
• 6 let muffins cool in the pan for about 5 minutes, and remove to a rack to cool completely.