Okara Muffins, aka, Tofu Making Residue

When you make soymilk, you end up with the pulpy aftermath of the soybeans. It looks rather like wet mashed potatoes, if your wet mashed potatoes were made out of soybean pulp. Specifically, it looks like this:


This charming puddle of soybean residue is otherwise known as "Okara." Soybeans are seriously some sort of miracle food because even the soy bean waste product can be used. Okara is high in fiber and protein and can be used in all kinds of things from faux meats to baked goods. For this pile of okara, bp and I decided on baked goods. After scanning the internet for recipes, and figuring out what I had in my pantry and what would be easy to veganize, we decided to make a batch of muffins, sort of vaguely following a recipe. The results were surprisingly delicious! There were two downfalls to the muffins, however, though neither were critical: (1) the muffins stuck to the paper; (2) they get stale VERY quickly! Still a worthy end for a bi-product of soybeans.


Okara Muffins:
1/2 cup rice milk
1 cup wet okara (mmm, sounds great doesn't it?)
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup vanilla soygurt
2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup ground flaxseeds
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
4 tsp baking powder
1 cup dried fruit (we used 1/2 pears, 1/2 cherries, both chopped)
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup unsweetened coconut
cinnamon sugar for sprinking.

1. Line a muffin tin with cupcake papers and preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

2. Whisk all the wet ingredients together in a large bowl. Add in the dry ingredients and stir until just mixed. Fold in the fruit, nuts, and coconut.

3. Equally distribute the batter amongst the 12 cupcake papers. They will be pretty full! Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and bake for 25-30 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.