Fresh Baked Goodness

I'm not sure why I felt compelled into an evening of baking on the hottest day of the year so far. Maybe it was the ripened bananas calling to me from the freezer every time I refreshed the ice in my glass. Maybe the 3 unopened bags of sugar that have been sitting around since my last SuperFresh sale binge. Or, maybe my lack of bikram this week had me craving some real heat. Whatever it was, I found myself flitting about in front of a hot oven as Philadelphia finished out its third day of 80+ degree weather.

First came Banana Raisin Oat Muffins. I adapted these from a Banana Oat recipe I found on AllRecipes.com to make them vegan, and because I like raisins and have a lot of them at the moment.

Next came one of my new all-time favorite, go-to recipes. It's the East Coast Coffee Cake from Isa Chandra Moskowitz. She's written a couple of incredible vegan cookbooks and runs the Post Punk Kitchen Web site. As for the recipe, I have always gone for the banana variation. I'm not very strict with my baking, so sometimes I add one, two or even three bananas (scandal!) and it always works out deliciously.

And we can't forget how those carrots kept staring at me yesterday until I gave them purpose in these Carrot Raisin Sunflower Seed Muffins. I don't remember where I got the recipe from, I found it jotted on one of those tiny memo pad sheets and stuffed in my recipe box. These are great with a little jam because they aren't too sweet.

I'm looking forward to a fresh baked breakfast tomorrow morning when the temperatures drop down to a frigid 55 degrees. Do you think I'll need mittens to survive the morning commute?