I know, I know.  Beets… in a muffin?  If you consider that beet juice is used as a natural coloring to many, many things, it doesn’t seem so weird to put it in a muffin.  And, you may not know that there are two different kinds of sugar available here in the U.S.– one kind is cane sugar, the other is beet sugar.  Beet sugar is always vegan, while cane sugar may or may not be vegan.  That’s another topic for another post.

So, you see, even though it’s technically a veggie, it is one of those kinds of veggies (like carrots and zucchini) that can go in sweet dishes and/or baked goods and come out okay.  In these muffins, you can’t even pick up on the beet flavor at all.  The only give away is the fact that it stained the apples red.  Try it!  It’s a great way to sneak some veggies into the kiddos.  Emma really liked these and ate one whole mini-muffin for breakfast!  I think she liked it because I used a combo of all-purpose and whole wheat pastry flours.  Usually, I stick to all whole wheat and I think that is a strange texture for her.  You could use all whole wheat pastry here or all all-purpose.  Either would produce a killer muffin.

Cranberry-Apple-Beet Muffins

(click here for a printer-friendly version)

1 1/2 tsp Ener-G Egg Replacer (equivalent to 1 egg)

2 TB water

1/4 cup applesauce

1/4 cup canola oil

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 TB white vinegar

1 cup sugar

1 cup beets, finely grated

1 cup apples, finely chopped (if making regular muffins, the apples don’t have to be so finely chopped)

1/4 cup dried cranberries

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or more all-purpose)

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Prepare muffin tin (or mini-muffin tin) by lining it with paper liners or by spraying with oil.

In a large bowl, whisk the Ener-G and water together until frothy.  Add in the applesauce, oil, vanilla, vinegar, sugar, beets, apples and cranberries and stir to combine.  In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir to combine, but don’t overmix.  Fill the muffin cups to the top.  For mini-muffins, bake 12-15 minutes.  For regular muffins, bake 18-20 minutes.