Scotter-Muffins

 (This recipe was built around large-sized muffin cups that should be between 1 and 1 1/2 inches in depth and three-something inches in width).

"Oh, and I think that you should make a note of the fact that this recipe is the second of two forms of it. I made a small number of subtle and not-so-subtle changes to the first one, although a number of people swear by the latter, rather than the former. I've had fantastically-delicious results with both, but my vote goes out to the second." -Scotters
What You Need:

• 2 cups all purpose flour or whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 tablespoon non-aluminum baking powder
• 1/4-1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1/3-1/2 cup white sugar, to taste
• 2 teaspoons Ener-G egg replacer powder
• 1/2 cup soy margarine, melted, or 1/2 cup canola oil (If you use canola oil, expect a denser texture).
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract or any other extract that would pair well with your chosen ingredients
• 1 1/4 cups full fat plain, unsweetened soy milk (such as White Wave's 'Silk' brand)
• 2/3-3/4 cup ingredients of your choice (dry or fresh fruits, nuts, or seeds)
• More white sugar, for dusting.

What You Do:

1. Preheat your oven to 325F.
2. Line six muffin cups with those nifty paper liners. (Whoever invented those has to be a gazillionaire, I swear). You can use twelve of the smaller muffin cups, but you may want to increase the oven's temperature and decrease the time needed for the muffins to bake - both just a bit.
3. In a large bowl, sift together flour, sugar, baking powder, salt and egg-replacer powder. It's important to sift flours when you want light, airy-textured muffins and pastries! Make a well in the center of these ingredients.
4. Add soy milk and extract, stirring just to combine. As those liquids begin to incorporate themselves into the flour, add the melted soy margarine (or canola oil). If you're using soy margarine, it needs to be melted. Mix just until the batter is smooth. One of the secrets is to not overmix the batter, with which you're working.
5. Fold (yes, fold) in whatever other ingredients you have chosen.
6. Place batter into prepared muffin cups, making certain to keep a rounded top.
7. Dust their tops with white sugar; this will give the muffins a pleasantly sweet top that has a bit of crunch to it to offset the lightness/airiness of the muffins themselves - an extravaganza in your mouth, that's for certain!
8. Bake them for 30 to 40 minutes, or until they're pleasantly browned on top. You don't, by-necessity, have to make use of the world-famous toothpick test on these if you wait for that cue, but if you want to anyway, go ahead.
9. Enjoy!

Go crazy with combinations of fruits, nuts and flavors! Other combinations that I've tried: coconut-raspberry, banana-carob chip, pumpkin-oatmeal, cinnamon-raisin, raisin-walnut, apple-cinnamon, coconut-pecan, pear-cardamom, blackberry swirl, strawberry swirl, cranberry-cardamon, cranberry-walnut, peach-nutmeg, cherry-chocolate chip, peach-almond...the list goes on!


Oh, and these muffins freeze well.