cranberry okara muffins (with optional chocolate!)

I had some leftover cranberry sauce, so I made a half-recipe of muffins ... But it turned out to make eight muffins, so that's really a three-quarters recipe.

You can make these delicious muffins for breakfast, or if you want some seasonal dessert muffins, throw in some chocolate chips for extra yumminess!


This is what they look like with the optional chocolate chips.

In a bowl, mix until thoroughly incorporated:
1/4 cup brown sugar (packed)
1/2 cup okara
2 Tablespoons canola oil 
2 Tablespoons soymilk
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1/2 tsp. orange flavor
4 oz. cranberry sauce



In a separate bowl, mix together
3/4 cup plus 2 Tablespoons white whole-wheat flour
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
and stir until well combined.



Add dry ingredients to cranberry mixture and stir until just mixed. If using, fold in
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)
Distribute batter into a lightly oiled muffin pan. This should make around eight muffins (maybe seven if you're omitting the chocolate chips).



Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 23 minutes. Allow to cool for at least a few minutes before removing from pan.


This is what they look like without chocolate chips.

Verdict: I love these. The orange flavor gives it a great boost, but if I had had an orange around I might have zested it and thrown that in and cut the orange flavor by half. It actually could have stood to be more cranberry-heavy, but I like these so much anyway that I won't complain.