Marly McMillen, a local Kansas City resident, is an unlikely vegan food blogger and cookbook author. In her 20s, spending time in the kitchen felt overly domestic. Giving up M&Ms and mozzarella was a struggle. And she wasn’t trying to make a moral statement with her diet.
But lifelong stomach problems led her to eliminate dairy. Then in 2006 when she met her husband, Shawn Beelman, also a vegan, she was even more motivated to explore and fully adopt veganism as a lifestyle.
McMillen’s book, The Everything Vegan Meal Prep Cookbook, comes out this month, with all the content written by her and photographed by her husband, Shawn. It includes everything from super indulgent treats to whole-food recipes written in such a way to make it easy to get dinner on the table.
Enjoy her zesty Orange Poppyseed muffin recipe perfect for any spring brunch.
Ingredients
- ½ cup plant-based milk
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- ½ cup vegan butter
- ¾ cup sugar
- zest of one orange
- 1 cup vegan sour cream
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1.5 tablespoons poppy seeds
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
Instructions
Heat your oven to 350 F and prepare your muffin pans.
In a small bowl combine soymilk and vinegar, stir and set aside.
Cream the butter and sugar with a mixer. Add the buttermilk, vegan sour cream, orange zest and vanilla. Mix again with your mixer until well-combined.
In a small bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, poppy seeds, salt, baking powder and baking soda). Add to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined (don’t over mix!)
Drop the batter into prepared muffin pans and bake for approximately 20 minutes.
Stir together the powdered sugar and orange juice to create glaze. Drizzle over the muffins.