Healthy snack muffins

I guess it's what I do with my 3 year old daughter, we make muffins! All the time. I actually started doing a challenge called "giveit100" where you video tape yourself doing your goal for 100 days. My goal is to spend a quality 30 minutes a day playing, dancing, baking, reading (whatever she wants) with my little 3 year old girl. She starts school next year, and I have a hard time just playing, so it's a challenge, but one that I am loving and enjoying and realizing is so very important and a priority. We bake a lot together, I've noticed…and she is a pro egg cracker! I coincidentally found this recipe at 100 days of real food….I'm all about 100 these days!

Healthy Snack Muffins
MAKES 12 MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS

• 1½ cups whole-wheat flour 
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 eggs
• 2 tablespoons honey
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (or half and half with almond extract)
• ¼ cup oil (coconut oil is great for healthy)
• ¾ cup orange juice or apple juice
• About 1 cup of total filling (berries, fruit, nuts, etc. )

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Heat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. In a large bowl with a fork or whisk mix the flour, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg.
3. Make a well (hole) in the center of the flour mixture and pour in the eggs, honey, vanilla, oil and orange juice. Mix the dry and wet ingredients together – do not overmix.
4. Add 1 cup of filling, for example: grated carrot, mashed up banana & nuts, raisins, craisins, oats or mix and match. You can add any kind of filling you'd like!
5. For mini muffins, scoop in 1 rounded Tbs into each hole. Slide the tray into the warm oven and bake for 10 – 15 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Serve warm or at room temperature and freeze some for a later date.

Enjoy and bon appetit!

Cathy

Orange Date Muffins (with choco chips)

I went on a road-trip with some ladies from church, and Linda had made these as a snack to share. I kept going back and sneaking an extra one, and then another, and then one more. These are so so so delicious and one of my favourite muffins of all times. In my opinion, orange and chocolate are one of the best combinations, but if you want to keep these as a breakfast muffin, you can omit the chocolate...but I would never do such a thing.

POST EDIT: I just found out that this recipe comes from a popular recipe book from the 80s called "Muffin Mania." I just acquired a copy, and I am SO excited to try new muffins recipes. I think I love muffins.









INGREDIENTS:__________________________________________________________________
Printable version
Makes 12 large muffins or 24 mini muffins plus 4 large

• 1 whole orange
• 1/2 cup orange juice
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup dates (about 10-12), pitted
• 1/2 cup margarine or butter
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 3/4 cup white sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• A couple handfuls of chocolate chips (mini's if you're making mini muffins, optional)

DIRECTIONS:____________________________________________________________________

1. Spray/line muffin pan. Preheat oven at 375 degrees,
2. Leave the skin on the orange and cut it into pieces to remove the seeds. Drop the pieces into a blender with the orange juice and blend until the peel is finely chopped. Add the egg, dates, and margarine. Pulse the blender to mix and chop the dates, and blend until it's all incorporated.
3. In a separate bowl, stir the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Mix in the chocolate chips.
4. Create a funnel in the middle of the dry ingredients, and poor in the thick orange mixture and stir only until just moistened. No not over mix!!
5. Add spoonfuls into the muffin pan. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Makes 12 large muffins (or you can do 12 smaller sized muffins and a few extra mini loaves).

POST EDIT: Make mini muffins and add mini chocolate chips (so cute). It makes 24 mini's plus 4 large muffins. Bake at 375 for 13-15 minutes (the mini muffins).

Oatmeal-Apple Chocolate Chip Muffins

I've made these 3 times already, and I keep hoping I can find the recipe online...so I thought I better get on this one and blog it already!

Delicious!

We will always make these. I usually double batch this one and freeze some for individual use whenever we want a muffin. It's worth it.


Ingredients: adapted slightly from taste of home

• 1/2 cup butter, softened
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup applesauce
• 1 cup rolled oats
• 1/2 cup (3 ounces) semisweet chocolate chips

1. Preheat your oven at 350. Line a muffins pan with 12 liners, or spray generously.
2. Beat together the butter and brown sugar in a large bowl. Beat in the egg.
3. In a separate bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
4. Add half the apple sauce to the cream mixture (in step #2), mix lightly, then half the dry mixture, mix lightly, and alternate. Mix until just combined (apparently muffins should not be over-mixed).
5. Mix in the rolled oats and the chocolate chips.
6. Fill the muffin tins until 3/4 full. Bake for 25 minutes.

Bon Appétit!

Cathy

Strawberry-Banana Whole Wheat Muffins

Ingredients:
Makes 12 muffins
Time: 30 minutes with prep
Modified from a recipe found here.

• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup unsweetened berry sauce (or applesauce)
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 3 over-ripped bananas, mashed
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup fresh strawberries, chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin pan with liners or grease them with oil.
2. In a large bowl or mixer, mix eggs, berry sauce, vegetable oil, brown sugar, vanilla, and bananas.
3. In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Mix into the banana mixture until just combined (do not over mix, it makes them dry). Gently fold in strawberries.
4. Fill each muffins cup (they will be full!) and bake in a preheated oven for about 20 minutes.

Enjoy!

Cathy

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

• These are seriously the best chocolate chip muffins I have ever made...and the are super easy to make! I doubled the recipe when I made them so I could share with some people and they were gone within days. I found the recipe on allrecipe.com by Lois Gordon. Enjoy!!
• 
  
• Prep Time: 15 min.
• Cook Time: 22-25 min.
• 
  
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup plain yogurt
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1  mashed overripe bananas 
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, combine the egg, oil, yogurt and vanilla. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in bananas and chocolate chips. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350 degrees F for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pans to wire racks.


I would add more bananas and more chocolate chips of course.


My Rating: 9.5/10