It's good for you!!!!!

This is a recipe I'm very proud of because I made it up myself.  I wanted something healthy to eat for breakfast, for a snack or to put in lunches, something very versatile that I felt good about giving my boys, as well as my husband and myself.  I packed this with fruit and vegetables.  The sweetness comes from the bananas and vanilla.  There is NO extra sugar in here.  I waited with trepidation as my guys tasted them.  Nothing but smiles and requests for more.  You won't miss the added sugar and you'll feel really good about the great stuff you're putting in your body!

I also tried out a technique I discovered on Pinterest when I made these muffins today.  I only have 1 muffin pan and this recipe makes 24.  Using a cookie sheet and the metal rings for canning jar lids, I created another 12 muffin cups!  Check it out!  

So go ahead and make a batch and eat just as many as you like!  No guilt here!  They're good for you!!

Morning Glory Muffins 
Ingredients:
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup buttermilk *almond milk works too
2  cups of mashed bananas

2 teaspoons vanilla

2 cups flour (I used white whole wheat)
1/2 cups rolled oats
2 tsp. baking soda for a denser muffin or 1 tsp. baking soda & 1 tsp. baking powder for a lighter muffin.
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 tsp. ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups shredded carrots

1 cup shredded apples

1/2 cup dried fruit, pick your favorite!

Method:
Heat oven to 350 degrees. Place paper baking cups in regular-size muffin cups.

In a large bowl beat eggs, oil, buttermilk, mashed bananas, and vanilla with a wire whisk until well blended. Fold in rolled oats.

In another bowl combine flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg & ginger, and salt. Mix well.

Combine wet and dry ingredients. Mix together.

Fold in shredded carrots, apple, and dried fruit.

Fill muffin cups about 3.4 of the way full.

Bake for 20 - 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Cool for 5 minutes and remove from muffin pans.

Click here for printable recipe

Somewhere between a biscuit and a muffin.

This recipe was also one tested on my small group.  They have become my official taste testers for any sweet treats.  I don't think it's a job any of them are upset about, thankfully.  So far, it's been mostly good reviews and if it isn't, well then you certainly won't be reading about it here!!!  These "puffs" are a cross between a biscuit and a muffin.  A nice tall glass of milk or a steaming cup of tea or coffee would be the ideal accompaniment.  I based this loosly on a recipe found in a Gooseberry Patch, Tastes of Fall cookbook.  I adapted it heavily because as much as I love baking sweet treats, even I draw the line at too much sugar and butter.  I cut the sugar in half and the oil by a third.  I also decided NOT to roll the baked muffin in melted butter and then in 1 cup of sugar cinnamon mix.  Feel free to add this back in if it sounds good to you.  I was very pleased with the end result, it is perfect for breakfast or a snack.

Spice Puffs   
Ingredients:
3 cups of flour (used white whole wheat)
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
2 Tbsp. of cinnamon
1/4 tsp. nutmeg
1/8 tsp. ground ginger
1 cup of sugar
1 cup of oil
2 eggs
1 Tbsp. vanilla extract
1 cup milk

For topping:
2 Tbsp. cinnamon
2 Tbsp. sugar

Method:
1.)  Combine flour, salt, baking powder and 2 Tbsp. of cinnamon.
2.)  In separate bowl, mix sugar, oil, eggs and vanilla together and blend for 1 minute @ medium speed.
3.)  Add eggs mixture to flour mixture and add milk, mixing well.
4.)  Fill greased muffin tins 2/3 full of batter.
5.)  Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the cinnamon/sugar mixture
6.)  Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
*** Makes 12-14 muffins.

Click here for printable recipe

Recipes that make you smile

Do you have any of these?  Those recipes that you pull out and they instantly bring a smile to your face, maybe even a full blown grin?  This is one of those recipes for me.  My friend Regina made these muffins for my husband and I one morning while we were visiting.  They were so incredibly delicious!  When I needed a recipe for muffins to take to school a few months later, I immediately begged for her recipe.  She e-mailed it to me.  Somewhere in the transition from her recipe to my printed one, the ingredients for the crumb topping were altered a bit.  The amount of butter went from 1/4 cup to 1 cup.  Let me tell you, that slash and the 4 that follows it are extremely important to the final outcome of these muffins!!!  The muffins were disasterous, almost non-exsistent when you peeled the paper off.  The muffin tops, however, were the most decadent things you've ever tasted, which was good since they were the only thing I had to bring that day! While the muffin tops were amazing, I highly recommend the muffin and top together as a whole.  This has become a source of humor between the two of us.  I cannot make these muffins without thinking of my wonderful friend and the story behind my first attempt at making them.

May they bring a smile to your face, a big one!

Regina's "To Die For" Blueberry Muffins 

Ingredients:
1 ½ cups of flour (I used half whole wheat)
¾ cups of sugar
½ tsp. salt
2 tsp. baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
Appx. 2/3 cup milk
1 Cup (or more) blueberries

For crumb topping:
½ cup sugar, ½ cup flour, ¼ cup butter

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. Mix flour, sugar, salt and baking powder in a medium bowl and set aside.
3. Place 1/3 cup oil in measuring cup. Add one egg and enough milk to make one cup and mix.
4. Mix egg mixture with flour mixture.
5. Fold in one cup (or more) blueberries.
6. Fill muffin cups with batter.
7. Mix sugar, flour and butter for crumb topping with fork until crumbly.
8. Sprinkle topping over muffins before baking.
9. Bake 20-25 minutes until done.


Click here for a printable version