Carob Chip Chocolate Cranberry Muffins

***Update: Upon eating several of these, I have changed the recipe calling for brown rice syrup. It's too much moisture and weight, causing the muffins to cave, and it carmelized the outside. I would also recommend using fresh fruit or canned fruit (in juice, not syrup!) if you can.***

Alright, it's true-- I'm a breakfast girl. I need it. Without it, I get dizzy, irritated, snacky, and just unpleasant. However, I have one demand when it comes to my breakfast choice (aside from it being vegan) and that is that it makes me feel GOOD. This doesn't include brunch, which can be as filling and unhealthy as it likes.

At any rate, Phil doesn't like breakfast, and on top of that, I wake up really early for work and I don't usually want to make something. So I started making muffins! A batch a week or so, and you're good for breakfast. It's great. I munch in the car, chase it with coffee, and I'm stomach-ache free (i get stomach aches when I eat too much at work, who knows why).

I'm trying to perfect my muffin-making-skills. This muffin is nice because the carob chips offer a little morning-time lift. My batch was with cranberries but I had cherries in mind (none at the store). Also, if you don't want to use brown rice syrup, sub that half cup for 1/4 c. brown sugar and 1/4 c. reg.

Ingredients:

Dry:

• 3/4 c. all purpose flour
• 3/4 c. whole wheat pastry flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1 Tbsp. ener-g egg replacer powder (you can probably omit this, but it helps a bit)
  
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 c. all-natural sugar
• 1/4 c. dark brown sugar
  
• 1 Tbsp. Dutch cocoa powder (why Dutch?)
• 1 c. oats
• 1/2 c. carob chips
• 1/2 fresh or canned cranberries or cherries
• 12-36 raw pecans, depending on how many you want to top each muffin with
  

Wet:

• 1/2 c. soymilk
• 1/4 c. neutral-tasting oil
• 1 Tbsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and oil your muffin pan! Place dried berries in a bowl and fill with boiling water until just covered.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine all dry ingredients except the oats, berries, carob chips, and pecans. In a medium bowl, mix the wet ingredients well. Fold the wet into the dry, being careful not to overmix.
3. Drain the fruit. Fold in the oats, carob chips and berries one by one until you have a consistent looking batter.
4. Use a spoon to evenly distribute the batter in your muffin pan (you can also buy foil muffins cups that work without a pan. Just don't forget to oil them!). Then, resisting the temptation to simply eat all the pecans, gently set 1-3 on each muffin.
5. Pop in oven. Bake for 20-24 minutes. These rise quite a bit and don't look or feel done until they cool, so test with a knife or toothpick after 20 min (otherwise you'll get crunchy ones like mine!) and be careful not to over bake. Cool on rack if you have one, or straight in the pan.

And enjoy! I'll leave you with Phil's chili-- his specialty, and my favorite thing to come home to at the end of the day...