The BEST Wholesome Blueberry Muffins

I found this recipe on www.allrecipes.com a few weeks ago, and have made these muffins four times now, with a few modifications.  My entire family loves them, and my husband has asked if they're "really that healthy?".  :-)

Emily and I made them this morning while Ben played nearby on the floor, and Audrey was at preschool.  My kids love to help me bake, so I try to let them unless I'm in a hurry (which is about half the time).

http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/To-Die-For-Blueberry-Muffins/Detail.aspx?event8=1&prop24=SR_Thumb&e11=blueberry%20muffins&e8=Quick%20Search&event10=1&e7=Home%20Page

The original recipe is above.  I made the following changes:

*100% organic whole wheat flour instead of white
*organic coconut sugar instead of white sugar
*olive oil instead of vegetable oil
*frozen organic wild blueberries instead of fresh (because we only buy fresh in season)

                                                       Emily mixing the dry ingredients...

                                                   The egg/oil/milk combo is fascinating...

                                                                   Mixing dry and wet...

                                                    She had to sample some blueberries :)

What they look like as I'm adding the topping...

25 minutes later--A happy little boy and two little girls enjoying their muffins (and pears)...

Honey Cinnamon Banana Muffins

As usual, we had a handful of overripe bananas sitting on the counter this week, so it was time to whip up some banana bread. It has become a staple in our house, but I always try to do something a little different each time I make it. This time I skipped butter, and used honey and a little brown sugar in place of the white sugar...

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cup whole wheat flour

1 t baking soda

1 t salt

1 T cinnamon

6 oz (one small container) plain yogurt (ours came from our organic farm delivery)

2/3 cup honey

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

1 t vanilla

2 large eggs

3 large overripe bananas

Sift the flour, salt, and baking soda together in a small bowl. Set aside.

In a stand mixer (or large bowl), cream together the brown sugar and yogurt. Add in the honey and continue to mix well. Beat in the eggs and vanilla.

Slowly pour the flour mixture into the honey mixture, and blend together (but don't over mix). Finally, add the bananas and mix until combined.

Pour into greased muffin tin, and bake at 350 for about 25 minutes.

Missing Ingredients = Accidental Muffins!

So, yesterday I decided to make some pumpkin chocolate chip muffins. It didn't go quite as expected.

I preheated the oven, and realized that I was out of whole wheat flour. No big deal, I decided I would splurge and use regular white flour. I mixed the flour, baking soda, and salt in a mixing bowl, and went to the fridge to get out the butter and sugar. It was then that I realized we were completely out of sugar! I decided that I would use some extra applesauce in place of the sugar, and hopefully they would turn out ok.

As I went to pull two eggs out of the fridge, I realized that I had used them all up making breakfast two days earlier. So, I guess there is something to be said about grocery shopping every weekend (I skipped it this week in order to use up what's in our fridge; see blog from last Thursday). Eggs are a pretty major ingredient in baking. After trying to borrow from a neighbor who turned out not to be home, I decided to dig through the fridge for some replacement ingredients.

I settled on a container of Audrey's YoBaby yogurt (peach flavored). I figured that the yogurt mixed with about a cup of applesauce and extra pumpkin would be enough to replace the eggs and sugar. It turned out that the muffins were absolutely delicious! I MAY not use sugar in them in the future. :)

Here's yesterday's accidental recipe:

1 3/4 cup flour
1 tspn baking soda
1/4 tspn salt
1 T pumpkin pie spice
Approx 12 oz pumpkin
1 container Yo Baby yogurt
1 cup applesauce
3/4 stick of butter, softened
6 oz chocolate chips
I mixed all of the ingredients together, and baked them in a greased muffin tin at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Simple!

Cinnamon Banana Nut Muffins

Audrey loves muffins (hence the title of my blog), and I've made these for her quite a few times. If you are feeding them to a baby, be careful with the walnuts, and make sure they are finely chopped (or just feed the baby parts of the muffin without walnuts).



1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup cinnamon applesauce (I used organic TJ's applesauce)
1/2 cup plain lowfat organic yogurt
1/2 stick (1/4 cup) butter, melted
2 eggs
1/2 cup flaxseed meal
1 tspn ground cinnamon
1 tspn vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts
3-4 bananas (I used 3.5 this time because I only had 4, and Audrey wanted to eat some) :-)


Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a loaf pan or muffin tin (I used a muffin tin this time) with 100% canola oil spray.

Sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt together in a small bowl. In a mixing bowl (or stand mixer), combine the butter and sugar. Blend until light and fluffy, about one minute. Add the eggs and vanilla, and beat to incorporate. Then, mix in the applesauce, flaxseed meal, and yogurt and blend until pretty smooth. Pour the flour mixture slowly into the mixing bowl while the mixer is still running, or add it a little at a time and mix by hand while you make the additions.

Lastly, add the walnuts and bananas, mix well, and use an ice cream scoop to fill the muffin tin. Bake at 350 degrees for about 35 minutes (45-60 if you use a loaf pan). Start checking the muffins around 30 minutes with the toothpick test. If you want a little extra treat, add a pinch of brown sugar to the top of each muffin after the first 30 minutes of baking. It will come out with a crispy, melted sugary topping. YUM!

Set the entire pan on a cooling rack for about 30 minutes, then carefully remove the muffins and enjoy. :)



This recipe yields about 12 muffins.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

My friend, Robin, brought her pumpkin chocolate chip muffins to playgroup one day and they were amazing! I had to have the recipe.


I knew that I would want to make them often this fall and winter, so I decided to make modifications in order to create a healthier recipe. They are still completely delicious (and of course still contain chocolate chips). Here is the original list of ingredients:


1 3/4 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 TBSP pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tspn salt
1 tspn baking soda
1 stick butter (1/2 cup)
2 eggs
8 oz pumpkin
6 oz chocolate chips



Here is my modified list of ingredients:

1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 TBSP pumpkin pie spice
1/4 tspn salt
1 tspn baking soda
1/2 stick butter (1/4 cup)
2 eggs (I use organic)
3/4 cup plain low fat yogurt (I use organic)
8 oz pumpkin
4 oz chocolate chips



Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a muffin tin (I use 100% canola oil spray), and pour the batter directly into the tin (no need to use muffin cups). Mix the first five ingredients in a large bowl, then add remaining ingredients and mix. (Easy, right??)

Bake for 20 minutes.

Watch carefully at the end, and do not overbake. I start checking them by doing the toothpick test around 20 minutes, and sometimes they need about 22 minutes. When the toothpick no longer comes out with batter, place the muffin tin directly onto a cooling rack for about 30 minutes. Then, using a spoon, gently work the muffins out of the tin.


This recipe yields 12 muffins.

Enjoy with a glass of skim milk or a mug of green tea. :-)