Today I made...

Carrot Cake Cupcakes! (vegan version on the left)

I made two batches of carrot cake, one using this recipe and the other using the same recipe with modifications to make it vegan/healthier. For the vegan version I used "flax eggs" and coconut milk instead of the eggs and buttermilk. I also swapped out half of the AP flour for whole wheat, used applesauce in place of the oil, 1 cup of brown sugar instead of white sugar and dried raw coconut instead of the sweetened flake variety. For the vegan "cream cheese" frosting I used Tofutti Better than Cream Cheese and flavored it with maple syrup, cardamom and nutmeg. We'll see which one the fam prefers!

Spinach strata with feta, lemon, oregano and thyme

I've been obsessed with Heidi Swanson's new cookbook, Super Natural Every Day, and I can't wait to dig into this spinach strata from the book! This recipe, printed in Food & Wine, is the same as the book version except it calls for additional tablespoon of olive oil and 2 more ounces of spinach. I also threw in some lemon thyme with the oregano.

Update: The verdict is in and the vegan cupcakes won! Most people thought the vegan version was more moist and appreciated that the frosting wasn't cloyingly sweet. The regular cream cheese frosting recipe calls for 2-4 cups of confectioners' sugar and for the vegan version I just used a couple of tablespoons of maple syrup. They were so good, they might make you want to do a face plant right into the cupcake!

When I'm feeling a bit grumpypants, cupcakes are a surefire way to make me feel better. But apparently cupcakes aren't enough to cheer you up when you've just woken from a nap and are disappointed that rain is postponing an Easter egg hunt. So the aren't magic, but they are pretty darn tasty!