Easy-bake Spice Muffins

Hello, my fellow vegans! Well, I know this is a little late, but what can I say, it's been a busy week. Tonight, however, I am going to a vegan potluck, and while I had all intentions of making something new and exciting, after a good but hectic week, I decided to go with an old standby that's easy and fast. These muffins are wheat-free as well as vegan, but even the carnivores eat them right up, so they're a crowd pleaser. Here's what you'll need:

1 Bag Namaste Foods Spice Cake Mix (see? I told you it would be easy)
4.5 tablespoons Ener-G egg replacer
2/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
1 cup water
3-4 tablespoons agave syrup to taste
2 tablespoons apple sauce
1/2 cup crushed pecans (put them in a plastic bag and crush with your fists—it's fun!)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Get a big mixing bowl and dump the cake mix and egg replacer powder in, and mix together with a spoon. (This is from a tip of Marc's; the egg replacer works better when you mix it in the dry ingredients first and then add the water to the whole thing, so the egg replacer doesn't get clumpy.) Then put the oil and water together in the measuring cup, give them a quick stir, and mix in with the dry ingredients until smooth. Add the agave syrup until it tastes sweet enough for you. The nice thing about these muffins is you can do them just lightly sweet or really sweet, depending on your mood. Next, mix in the apple sauce, and finally, the pecans.

Lightly oil a muffin pan (I like spray oils for this purpose; grapeseed oil is my current favorite, but the veggie or canola oil will work too). Pour them in, leaving a little room for rising and pop them in the oven for 20–30 minutes (start checking them around the 20 minute mark; you can stick a knife in them and see if it comes out clean—when it does, they're ready). If you want to get fancy, you can even make an icing for them (I use Tofutti cream cheese and agave syrup), but they're still yummy plain as well. Enjoy!