Whole Grain Sour Cream Apple Muffins

Does anyone else make muffins as often as I do? I don't even love muffins actually. I much prefer scones. But muffins are easier to make and also easier to make healthy. Though why I try to make my muffins healthy, and then eat chips at night I have no idea.

Anyway, I got obsessed with the idea of a sour cream apple muffin, and found this whole grain version. They also have oat bran, raisins and walnuts. The muffins turned out soft, though a bit dry, but I think I overbaked them a bit. What's your favourite kind of muffin?

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Strawberry Lemon Sunflower Seed Muffins
Banana Peanut Butter Oatmeal Muffins
Maple Pecan Muffins
Morning Glory Muffins

Whole Grain Sour Cream Apple Muffins
Adapted from Pinch My Salt

Dry
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oat bran
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Wet
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup canola oil
2 eggs
3/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 teaspoons vanilla

1 apple, diced
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare a 12 cup muffin tin by oiling or using liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients (flour through cinnamon). In a separate bowl, whisk together wet ingredients (sour cream through vanilla). Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Fold in apples, raisins, and nuts. Divide batter between the muffin cups.

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

Carrot Chia Spelt Muffins

This was the view from my office on Monday! I left work early and didn't go to work yesterday. I think the snow has mostly stopped for now, but it's going to be really cold (-13C, feels like -23C).

I love Angela's baked goods. She's always coming up with delicious new healthy snacks like these muffins. And it's no easy feat to create yummy AND healthy muffins. These ones have carrot, chia seeds, cacao nibs, spelt flour and raisins.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Blueberry Spice Spelt Muffins
Pineapple Carrot Ginger Muffins
Double Chocolate Avocado Muffins
Coconut Banana Muffins

Carrot Chia Spelt Muffins
Adapted from Oh She Glows

Makes 12 muffins

Dry:
2 cups spelt flour
3 tbsp raw cane sugar
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin spice
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
2 tbsp cacao nibs
3 tbsp raisins

Wet:
2 tbsp chia seeds
1/2 cup + 2 tbsp non-dairy milk (I used unsweetened plain soy)
1 cup grated/shredded carrot
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 c maple syrup
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Preheat oven to 375F. Prepare 12 cup muffin tin with oil or liners.

In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry, and mix until combined (don't overmix). Divide batter evenly among the muffin cups.

Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Blueberry Spice Spelt Muffins

These are supposed to be blueberry ginger muffins. But while I love ginger in savoury dishes, I'm not a huge fan of it in sweets. So I omitted the crystallized ginger. But the muffins still tasted strongly of ginger due to the 2 teaspoons of ground ginger. In the future I'd change the spice levels and combination. I'd probably use 2 teaspoons of cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon cloves (my favourite spice) and 1/4 teaspoon ginger. I will definitely make these again, as I loved how nice and soft they were.

Abby looks either like she's about to fall off the pillow, or like I'm annoying her. Both are likely.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Pineapple Carrot Ginger Muffins
Bakery-Style Berry Muffins
Double Chocolate Avocado Muffins
Coconut Banana Muffins

Blueberry Spice Spelt Muffins
Adapted from Vegan Brunch

Makes 12 muffins

2 1/2 cups whole grain spelt flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup yogurt (soy yogurt for vegan muffins)
1 cup nondairy milk (I used unsweetened plain soy)
1/3 cup safflower oil
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/4 cups blueberries

Preheat the oven to 375F. Prepare muffin tins with oil or liners.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and spices. Make a well in the center and add the yogurt, milk, canola oil and vanilla. Stir to combine. Fold in the blueberries.

Scoop the batter into the muffin tin; it should almost fill the entire tin. Bake for 28 to 32 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin comes out clean. Let cool for a few minutes in the tin before transferring the muffins to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Pineapple Carrot Ginger Muffins

I love carrot cake, especially when there's pineapple in it. These muffins are healthy carrot cake you can have for breakfast! The ginger is prominent (freshly grated) but not too strong. I found the texture a bit wet, but that could be because I used flax eggs instead of regular eggs - and maybe I should have just added 2 tablespoons of ground flax and no additional water instead? Something to try for next time.

Random personal tidbit for the day - Thursday is my favourite TV day. I love Grey's Anatomy, Vampire Diaries and Secret Circle. More so the first two, but I'm a sucker for any supernatural show.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Healthy Carrot Cake Power Scuffins
Garden Harvest Cake
Morning Glory Muffins
Spiced Carrot Muffins

Pineapple Carrot Ginger Muffins
Adapted from The Muffin Myth

Makes 12 muffins

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup oat bran
1/3 cup loose packed brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tin (398ml) crushed pineapple – don’t drain!
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 flax eggs (2 tbsp ground flax + 6 tbsp water, let it sit for 5 minutes)
2 tbsp fresh grated ginger
2 cups grated carrot (about 3 carrots)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350F. Prepare muffin tins and set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift dry ingredients together. In a slightly larger bowl, whisk together crushed pineapple, flax eggs, olive oil, and grated ginger. Add the dry ingredients all at once, and stir until just combined. Add grated carrot and walnuts, stirring to distribute evenly through the batter. Spoon into prepared muffin tins. Bake for 30 min, rotating the tins half way through. Gently release the muffins from the tins, and turn onto their sides in the tins to cool.

Bakery-Style Berry Muffins

These are the kind of muffins that I rarely make. White flour and a decent amount of sugar and oil - though actually I've seen muffins with more sugar and oil/fat so I guess these aren't too terrible. Well taste wise, they are not terrible at all. They're the perfect muffin - soft insides with hard tops. If you want to retain the crisp muffin tops, freeze the muffins immediately after cooling - then when you want to eat them, thaw them on the counter and eat shortly after. While I did not make these with soy yogurt (I've actually never tried non dairy yogurt if you can believe it), that's what the original recipe calls for so I'll leave it that way. I can't wait to try other mix-ins using this muffin base.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Double Chocolate Avocado Muffins
Coconut Banana Muffins
Healthy Carrot Cake Power Scuffins
Blackberry Orange Tea Scones

Bakery-Style Berry Muffins
Adapted from Vegan Brunch

Makes 12 muffins

2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup soy yogurt
1/2 cup nondairy milk (I used unsweetened plain soy)
1/2 cup olive oil (or canola or safflower)
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups frozen mixed berries (I used raspberries, blackberries and blueberries)

Preheat the oven to 375F. Prepare a muffin tin with oil or liners.

In a large mixing bowl, stir together flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Make a well in the center and add the yogurt, milk, oil, and vanilla. Stir to combine. Fold in the berries.

Scoop the batter into the muffin tin; it should almost fill the entire tin. Bake for 26 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick or butter knife inserted through the center of the muffin comes out clean. Let cool for a few minutes in the tin, then transfer muffins to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Double Chocolate Avocado Muffins

I love avocado, but usually eat it fresh like in guacamole, salad, or just as part of any meal. I haven't baked with it much, though I've seen tons of other bloggers making yummy things. So I decided to try out these double chocolate avocado muffins. And they did not disappoint. These cupcakes-masquerading-as-muffins are super soft and moist. When they're warm you can slightly taste the avocado, but not so much when they're cool. If you were to put frosting on these, you would think this was just a regular (and awesome) cupcake.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Healthy Carrot Cake Power Scuffins
Coconut Banana Muffins
Pumpkin Muffins
Chocolate Chunk Vanilla Muffins

Double Chocolate Avocado Muffins
Adapted from Muffin Tin Mania

Makes 12

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 medium-sized ripe avocado, pitted and peeled
2/3 cup pure maple syrup
3/4 cup unsweetened plain soymilk
1/3 cup coconut oil, melted
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350°. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

In a food processor or high powered blender such as the Vita-mix, puree the avocado, maple syrup, soymilk, oil, and vanilla extract together until smooth. Add the avocado mixture to the dry ingredients; mix until all the flour is combined. If the mixture is too dry, stir in additional milk. Fold in chocolate chips.

Divide the batter between 12 medium-sized muffin cups, and bake for about 22 minutes, or until a tester comes out with just a few crumbs. Let cool before unmolding.

Healthy Carrot Cake Power Scuffins

These scuffins are one of my favourite muffins/scones that I've made recently. First of all, I love carrot cake. Second of all, I love the texture of these. Carrot muffins and cookies are usually quite soft. Which is nice, but I love how these scuffins are a bit more scone like, soft but denser, a bit like a cookie but not crisp. E really didn't like the coconut on top and I could go either way with it.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Pumpkin Muffins
Morning Glory Muffins
Spiced Carrot Muffins
Garden Harvest Cake

Healthy Carrot Cake Power Scuffins
Adapted from Oh She Glows

Makes 6-7 scuffins

1 cup whole grain spelt flour
1/2 tsp baking power
1/4 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup pure maple syrup
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 tbsp ground chia seeds + 3 tbsp water, mixed and set aside for 5 mins
1/2 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup shredded or grated carrots (approx 2 medium)
1/4 cup raisins
1/4 cup toasted, chopped walnuts
Coconut, for garnish (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients (flour through pumpkin spice). In a medium sized bowl mix together the wet ingredients (oil through carrots). Add wet to dry and mix until just incorporated. Fold in the walnuts and raisins. Scoop mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or Silpat mats. Scoop about 1/4 cup for each scuffin. With wet hands, flatten into disks. Sprinkle with coconut if using. Bake for 25 minutes at 350F.

Coconut Banana Muffins

At first I wasn't sure whether I liked these muffins enough to share them on my blog, but I kept eating them and began to really love them. I think I would've loved them immediately had I not had the memory of these unhealthier addictive banana coconut muffins in my memory. These ones are similar but with some whole wheat flour, less sugar, less butter and more vanilla. My two favourite things about these muffins are that the banana doesn't overpower the coconut, and the texture (soft and slightly dense). If you want to make these muffins look fancy, sprinkle coconut on top. Sometimes I like to be fancy with my food though usually I just make things the way I like to eat them, so I mixed all the coconut into the batter.

I'm going to bike to work for the first time today and am super excited about it! It's cold out but I bought some cycling clothes to keep me warm, and the sun is out. It is going to be glorious. The bike ride is only about 20 minutes and it's mostly downhill on the way there. Coming home will be a good workout!

If these sound good, you might also like:
Pumpkin Muffins
Morning Glory Muffins
Banana Peanut Butter Oatmeal Muffins
Spiced Carrot Muffins

Coconut Banana Muffins
Adapted from Dinner with Julie

3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup shredded unsweetened coconut
2 mashed very ripe bananas
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/3 cup melted butter
1/3 cup plain unsweetened yogurt
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 375F and line muffin cups with paper liners.

In a large bowl, stir together the flours, baking powder, salt and coconut. In another bowl whisk/mash together the bananas, brown sugar, butter, egg and vanilla; add to the dry ingredients and stir just until blended. Don’t overmix.

Divide batter among lined muffin cups. Bake for about 25 minutes, until puffed and golden, about 25 minutes. Makes about 10 muffins.

Pumpkin Muffins

When it comes to pumpkin I can't help myself so I'm sorry if you guys are totally pumpkined out. I greedily collect all the pumpkin recipes I find and buy extremely large cans of pumpkin that are way too big to be used up in one recipe. I found this healthier version of pumpkin muffins on A Fat Cat Created a Vegetarian and of course had to make them. (Hers look cuter with pumpkin seeds on top!) I love how these muffins rose up so beautifully and have nice domed tops. They might be my new favourite pumpkin muffin. I also want to try making Ellie Krieger's apple muffins.

In other news, it sounds like there's some sort of animal in our ceiling. I didn't think it was an animal before (though I heard sounds) but then another woman who lives in our building said she thought it was a squirrel, so now I think it might be an animal. How appropriate that I'm currently taking a pest management course!

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Morning Glory Muffins
Oatmeal Raisin Muffins
Spiced Carrot Muffins
Banana Peanut Butter Oatmeal Muffins

Pumpkin Muffins
Adapted from Ellie Krieger

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
3 tablespoons molasses
1/4 cup canola oil
2 large eggs
1 cup canned pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup lowfat buttermilk (or 1 tbsp vinegar + milk to make up 3/4 cup)

Preheat oven to 400F. Prepare a 12-cup muffin pan.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and nutmeg.

In a large bowl, whisk the sugar, molasses, oil and eggs until combined. Whisk in the pumpkin and vanilla. Whisk in the flour mixture in 2 batches, alternating with the buttermilk. Whisk just until combined.

Pour the batter into the prepared muffin pan. Bake for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center of 1 of the muffins comes out clean.

Let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes. Take the muffins out of the pan and completely cool on a rack.

Morning Glory Muffins + Sweet Harvest Muffins

As I'm sure I've mentioned before, I get quite tired of "sweet" muffins and scones. What I mean by "sweet" are things like fruit muffins or scones, or things with chocolate. They're okay sometimes but I usually lean towards the savoury side. However, these morning glory muffins are SO good, moist and flavourful that I would be happy to eat them all the time. I love that they're so packed full of stuff, and you can use up whatever you have (which was the reason I went searching for a recipe like this actually - to help use my wheat germ and Costco sized bag of apricots). I did make efforts to make this muffin recipe healthier than the original, though in this case I don't think you can tell.

Speaking of muffins that are more sweet than savoury (oops I had it the other way around before), I also love these sweet harvest muffins from Ricki's cookbook Sweet Freedom. I can't share the recipe with you but can tell you that they're really delicious and soft, and each muffin gives you a serving of vegetables! I'll definitely be making them again.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Spiced Carrot Muffins
Banana Crunch Muffins
Grandma Jennie's Date and Nut Bread
Garden Harvest Cake

Morning Glory Muffins
Adapted from King Arthur Flour

Note: The original recipe calls for 2/3 cup vegetable oil and 1/4 cup orange juice. What I did was kind of complicated/weird but it worked for me. I reduced the vegetable oil to 1/3 cup, and added in some extra juice to result in using 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp juice. Leave it as it was in the original recipe if you don't mind the amount of oil.

3/4 cup dried apricot, chopped (or any other dried fruit)
2 cups whole wheat flour
2/3 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups (7 ounces) carrots, peeled and grated
1 large tart apple, peeled, cored, and grated
1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/3 cup wheat germ
3 large eggs
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup + 2 tbsp mango juice (all we had was mango juice, but the original recipe uses orange)

Preheat the oven to 375F. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin, or line it with papers.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, spices, and salt. Stir in the carrots, apple, coconut, nuts, and wheat germ. In a separate bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and juice. Add to the flour mixture, and stir until evenly moistened. Stir in the dried apricots. Divide the batter among the prepared pans.

Bake for 25 to 28 minutes, until nicely domed and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven, let cool for 5 minutes in their pan on a rack, then turn out of pans to finish cooling.

Oatmeal Raisin Muffins

I was looking for a muffin recipe that would be really quick to make and came across these oatmeal muffins. While I wouldn't call them healthy (as I prefer most of the muffins I bake to be), they do fall somewhere between cupcake style "muffins" and healthy actual muffins. (Speaking of delicious unhealthy muffins, why haven't I made Peabody's peanut butter oatmeal chocolate chip muffins yet?!) They're 2/3 oats and 1/3 whole wheat flour, and nice and soft, especially for a whole grain muffin. They do have 1/2 cup of melted butter but hey butter is delicious! I added some raisins, as E thinks many baked goods are improved with them and he really liked them.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Spiced Carrot Muffins
Maple Pecan Muffins
Banana Peanut Butter Oatmeal Muffins
Whole Wheat Orange Spice Muffins

Oatmeal Raisin Muffins
Adapted from The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook

Makes 12 muffins

2 cups rolled oats (not quick cooking oats)
1 1/2 cups milk (I used 1%)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 400F. Grease a 12 cup muffin tin.

In a medium size bowl, mix the oats and the milk and set aside for 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients, making a well in the center. Stir in the liquid ingredients and the oatmeal mixture until just combined, being careful not to overmix. Fold in raisins. Batter may be lumpy.

Fill the muffin cups about three quarters full. Bake for 16-18 minutes until lightly golden or a toothpick inserted into center of muffin comes out with moist crumbs attached. Do not overbake.

Blackberry Orange Tea Scones

I know these scones might look like a bit of a mess, but trust me, they're yummy! So yummy in fact that my brother asked for the recipe and made them himself a few days later (and he doesn't usually bake - aside from bread). They're really soft and moist, more cakey/muffiny than sconey though. Personally I prefer my scones more scone-like but whether you call these scones or muffins, they're delicious. I found the blackberries hard to "fold" in so I had to mush them around.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Apricot Orange Scones
Orange Cream Cheese Muffins
Orange Berry Muffins
Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

Blackberry Orange Tea Scones
Adapted from Blackberries: Recipes From Powell River

Makes 18 scones

3 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup butter, cold
1 egg
2/3 cup milk
1 orange, juice and zest
1 cup blackberries

Preheat oven to 425F. Prepare baking sheet by greasing or using a Silpat baking mat.

In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles fine crumbs. In another bowl, combine egg, milk, juice and zest. Stir into dry ingredients, then fold in blackberries.

Turn onto lightly floured surface and knead 10-12 times. Pat down to 1/2" thickness, and cut into triangles. (Note: My dough was way too sticky to pat out, so I ended up treating them like drop scones and used an ice cream scoop. My brother didn't have any trouble patting them out though.) Place 1" apart on baking sheet and bake 12-15 minutes.

Sun Dried Tomato, Feta and Oregano Muffins

As much as I love sweet baked goods, I think I like savoury baked goods better because you can eat them more often! This muffin is a variation on another savoury muffin I made before - caramelized onion, sage and cheddar muffins. This time I did things a little bit different using sun dried tomatoes, feta and oregano, and I used all purpose flour instead of whole wheat and all milk instead of half heavy cream. I loved the texture of the muffins which was tops with scone-like crispy edges and insides that were nice and soft. The tomato flavour is really strong so I might cut back a bit on that next time though.

It's been a really long time since I've participated in the blog event No Croutons Required. This month, you have to make a bread recipe (quick bread or yeast bread) that you think would go well with soup or salad. I think this muffin would go great with a Greek red lentil soup or Mediterranean pepper salad. You have until July 20 to submit your entry. I can't wait to see all the savoury baked goods!

If this sounds good, you might also like:
A Dilly of a Cheese Scone
Cheddar and Black Pepper Scones
Irish Soda Bread
Cheddar & Dill Beer Bread Rolls

Sun Dried Tomato, Feta and Oregano Muffins
Adapted from The Sweet Melissa Baking Book

Makes 12 muffins

3 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tbsp salt
3/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp sugar
1 1/4 tsp dried oregano
10 tbsp unsalted butter, melted and cooled a bit
2 large eggs
1 cup milk, at room temperature (I used 1%)
1 cup crumbled feta cheese
1 cup sun dried tomatoes, chopped (rehydrated in hot water if not packed in oil)

Position a rack in the center of your oven. Preheat the oven to 350F. Line a standard 12 cup muffin tin with muffin papers (or butter and flour the cups or spray them with nonstick vegetable cooking spray).

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, black pepper, sugar and oregano

2. In a small bowl, whisk together the melted butter and eggs. Whisk in the milk until combined.

3. Add the cheese and sun dried tomatoes to the flour mixture and gently toss with your fingers to coat. Make a well in the center. Pour the butter mixture into the center of the well and using a rubber spatula, gently pull the flour mixture into the center of the well until just combined.

4. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling each cup until full. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until lightly golden and a wooden skewer inserted into the center come sout clean. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Spiced Carrot Muffins

You may have noticed that I make a lot of muffins. My fiance and I pretty much take a muffin or biscuit or something of the sort to work/school everyday. And I get pretty sick of "sweet" muffins (with fruits and/or nuts). Not that the muffins I make are that sweet - since we're eating them pretty much everyday I make them healthier (whole wheat, cut down the sugar and fat, etc) but still. However, even when I was in a hating-sweet-muffins mood, I really loved these. There's something about a carrot spice muffin/cake that I don't think I'll ever get tired of. I loved these little muffins. They were nice and soft and deliciously carrot spicey! I'd highly recommend using the finer grater holes because the first time I made these I used the slightly bigger holes (the ones I use for cheese) and I didn't like how big the carrot pieces were.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Maple Pecan Muffins
Bill's Big Carrot Cake
Banana Peanut Butter Oatmeal Muffins
Whole Wheat Orange Spice Muffins

Spiced Carrot Muffins
Adapted from Martha Stewart

Makes 12

1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons pumpkin-pie spice
2 teaspoons baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cups plain yogurt (I used 2% plain yogurt)
4 tablespoons melted unsalted butter
1 large egg
2 cups peeled, shredded carrots (about 5 medium)

1. Line 12 cups (each 2 1/2 inches wide) of a standard muffin tin with paper liners; set aside. In a large bowl, stir together whole wheat flour, sugar, pumpkin-pie spice, baking powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

2. In a separate bowl, whisk together yogurt, butter, and egg. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add yogurt mixture. Stir until just combined. Fold in carrots.

3. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. (If desired, muffins can be baked immediately in a 375-degree oven for about 20 minutes.) Freeze until firm, about 30 minutes, then cover tin with plastic wrap, and freeze until ready to bake, up to 3 months.

4. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake muffins (still frozen) until a toothpick inserted in center of one comes out clean, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Maple Pecan Muffins

I'm a bit of a squirrel. And by squirrel I mean I like to hoard things. My pantry and cupboards are full of things to be used "one day". I stock up on hard to find grains, beans, baking supplies, etc when I come across them thinking that if I don't get them now, I might not be able to for a long time. But the thing is, because a lot of these ingredients are not as common and everyday (at least for me), I don't often think to use them. Some examples are farro, malt powder, chickpea flour, and fenugreek. Anyway so I've decided to start going through and using things up as I can. Going through the grains and beans is easier, but going through bags of wheat germ, wheat bran and oat bran will take some more time.

So I set out to find a recipe that used one of those three and found these maple pecan muffins. Which are my new favourite healthy-ish muffins, and possibly my new favourite muffins period. I adore them. They kind of remind me of bran muffins (but not as moist), and are a bit crumbly so also remind me of cornbread. And most exciting of all, I could actually taste a bit of the maple syrup which is used as a sweetener - usually it just disappears into the other ingredients. The first time I made these muffins, I wanted to fancy them up a bit so sprinkled some pecans on top. But from now on I'll just mix them all in because it's easier.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Banana Peanut Butter Oatmeal Muffins
Strawberry Lemon Sunflower Seed Muffins
Whole Wheat Orange Spice Muffins
Candied Maple Walnut Pancake Loaf

Maple Pecan Muffins
Adapted from Feast (found on The Wednesday Chef)

Makes 12

1 cup pecans, roughly chopped
2 cups whole wheat flour (I used 263 g)
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup wheat germ
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup milk
1 egg
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Fill a 12-cup muffin tray with paper liners.

2. Mix together the pecans with flour, salt, wheat germ and baking powder. In another bowl, whisk together milk, egg, maple syrup, oil and vanilla.

3. Pour the liquids into the dry mixture. Gently fold to mix. The batter can have some lumps. Do not overmix because these muffins can get tough. Spoon batter into muffin cups.

4. Bake for about 15-20 minutes until tester comes clean. The nut topping turns golden, but the muffins will be somewhat pale. Remove muffins to a cooling rack.

Chocolate Chunk Vanilla Muffins

I don't usually watch really any of the Olympics but since it's in Vancouver I'm watching as much as I can! And learning lots of interesting things about the different sports and athletes. We went and saw the cauldron/torch and next week will go check out the Olympic village. So much is going on in Vancouver right now!

I love chocolate chip muffins but never buy them or make them because I guess I want to pretend that muffins are healthy, and if there's chocolate in there it makes it a bit harder! But I wanted to bake something to bring to friends with a new baby, and who doesn't like chocolate muffins? These ones were yummy and soft. I love coarse sugar on top of muffins, mmm. My only disappointment was that they didn't taste more strongly of vanilla so next time I would add more.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Orange Cream Cheese Muffins
Snickerdoodle Muffins
Orange Berry Muffins
Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

Chocolate Chunk Vanilla Muffins
Adapted from Great Coffee Cakes, Sticky Buns, Muffins & More

Makes 12 muffins

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour, spooned in and leveled (I used 197 g.)
3/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, slightly firm
2 tsp pure vanilla extract
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 cup sour cream
3.5 oz bittersweet chocolate, chopped

4 tsp coarse sugar

1. Position the rack in the lower third of the oven. Preheat the oven to 375F. Line a muffin pan with cupcake liners, or grease the pans.

2. In a large bowl, thoroughly whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Set aside.

3. Place the butter in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Add the vanilla and mix on medium speed until smooth and lightened in colour, about 1 minute.

4. Add the granulated sugar and mix for 1 minute longer. Scrape down the side of the bowl. Blend in the eggs, one at a time, and mix for another minute.

5. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add the flour mixture alternately with the sour cream, dividing the dry ingredients into two parts, starting and ending with the flour. Mix just until blended after each addition. Fold in the chocolate chunks.

6. Portion the batter into the prepared pan. Sprinkle the top of each muffin with coarse sugar.

7. Bake for 23 to 25 minutes, or until the muffins are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. To ensure even baking, toward the end of baking time, rotate the pans top to bottom and front to back. Remove from the oven and place on a rack to cool.

Sun-Dried Tomato Cottage Cheese Muffins

Happy new year everyone!! Did anyone make new years resolutions/goals? I made a list of about 10-15 things I want to do in 2010. A few of them are join Toastmasters, donate blood and take swing dancing lessons! Some of my goals I need to make more concrete like eat healthier and reduce stress.

I've been neglecting my blog recently but hopefully will get back into it soon. Only a few days left of vacation then back to school on Monday! Yikes. Anyway, these sun dried tomato cottage cheese muffins were quite yummy and are good for a snack or for breakfast. These muffins really stuck to the muffin tin (as you can kind of see in the back of the photo) so I very highly recommend you use baking cups, unlike I did.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Savoury Green Onion Ricotta Muffins
Caramelized Onion, Sage and Cheddar Muffins
Cheddar & Dill Beer Bread Rolls

Sun-Dried Tomato Cottage Cheese Muffins
Adapted from 101 Cookbooks

The recipe requires very finely ground almonds, which you can buy or do yourself. I ground the almonds with the 1/4 cup flour to try and minimize the chance of almond butter being created!

Makes 10-11 muffins

1 cup plain cottage cheese (low-fat is fine)
3/4 cup parmesan cheese, freshly grated
1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup almonds, very finely ground
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 cup sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped (Ashley note: If using dried and not in oil, rehydrate in boiling water first.)
2 tbsp freeze dried basil (Ashley note: Original recipe calls for 1/4 cup fresh. You could also use 2-4 tsp dried.)
1/4 cup water
4 eggs, lightly beaten
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 400F degrees. Line a muffin pan with medium-sized paper baking cups, you'll need nine of them.

Put the cottage cheese into a bowl with all but 1/4 cup of the Parmesan cheese, the flour, ground almonds, baking powder, sun-dried tomatoes, basil, water, and eggs, and season with salt, then mix all together.

Spoon the mixture into the muffing cups 3/4 full, scatter with the remaining Parmesan, and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until set, risen, and golden brown. Serve as hot or at room temperature.

Savoury Green Onion Ricotta Muffins

I've made tons of sweet muffins, and I'm starting to get sick of them. So now I'm on to savoury muffins! For me they're a lot more versatile because I can eat them as snacks or as part of a meal. I love that these muffins use ricotta, though I was disappointed to not taste it at all. I guess that makes sense since ricotta doesn't have a strong flavour - though my boyfriend thought they tasted cheesy. You can easily modify this recipe to use your favourite herbs or add in different things like olives or sauteed onions.

It's been too long since I posted an Abby photo! I need to take more.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Caramelized Onion, Sage and Cheddar Muffins
Cheddar & Dill Beer Bread Rolls
Basic Focaccia
Oatmeal Knots

Savoury Green Onion Ricotta Muffins
Adapted from Lisa's Kitchen who got it from Mollie Katzen's Sunlight Cafe

Makes 12

2 cups of whole wheat flour (280 g)
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder
1/8 teaspoon of baking soda
2 tablespoons of sugar
1/2 cup chopped green onions
1 cup of ricotta cheese
1 cup of buttermilk
2 large eggs
4 tablespoons of melted butter

In a medium-sized bowl, combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, sugar and green onions.

In a small saucepan, melt the butter over low heat.

In another medium bowl, beat together the ricotta and milk using a wire whisk. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

Pour the ricotta milk mixture, along with the melted butter, into the dry ingredients. Using a rubber spatula, stir until just combined.

Spoon the batter evenly into 12 greased muffin cups. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20 - 25 minutes or until the tops of the muffins are lightly browned and a cake tester inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean. Let the muffins sit in the pan for 5 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool for about 30 minutes.

Chocolate Walnut Yogurt Muffins

When I saw these double chocolate yogurt muffins on Cookie Madness, I knew I had to try making them. I love yogurt in baked goods. I wanted to try making them healthier though so I changed a bunch of stuff. Now that I'm looking over the recipe, I'm thinking maybe I should've added more liquid to compensate for the sugar and butter I took out (well I replaced sugar with maple syrup and butter with oil, and reduced both amounts). But they turned out nice and soft when I made them. Next time I'll add more cocoa powder to make them more chocolatey. These muffins are a healthier version of a chocolatey bready baked good, but if that's not your thing then check out this coco-nana bread I made not too long ago.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Banana Peanut Butter Oatmeal Muffins
Strawberry Lemon Sunflower Seed Muffins
Whole Wheat Orange Spice Muffins
Applesauce-Oat Bran Muffins

Chocolate Walnut Yogurt Muffins
Adapted from Cookie Madness

1/2 cup maple syrup
1/4 cup oil
1 cup yogurt, vanilla flavoured or plain
1 egg
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour (215 g)
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a muffin tin with paper muffin cups.

Stir maple sugar and oil together in a medium size bowl. Add yogurt, egg and vanilla and stir until thoroughly blended.

Combine flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder in a large mixing bowl. Add yogurt mixture to flour mixture, stirring only until blended. Fold in walnuts. Spoon batter into greased muffin tins and bake for 22-25 minutes.

Makes 12

Banana Peanut Butter Oatmeal Muffins

As I've mentioned before, I get kind of sick of banana loaf, banana muffins, and bananas in baking in general - not because I don't like bananas (I eat one pretty much everyday) but because I guess they're not exciting to me anymore. However, I've been obsessed with the idea of peanut butter and banana in a muffin together. So I made these muffins which are exciting, fairly healthy and excellent. They're really moist, don't have a too distinct whole wheat flavour, and the banana and peanut butter flavours are well balanced.

Abby loves laying on her back and sprawling out like this. When we walk by she'll roll over a bit to reach out her paw to try and grab us.

If this sounds good, you might also like:
Roast Banana-Pumpkin Breakfast Bread
Banana Crunch Muffins
Mom's Banana Apple Bread
Whole Wheat Orange Spice Muffins

Banana Peanut Butter Oatmeal Muffins
Adapted from Baking Bites

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour (207 g)
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 cup mashed banana (about 2 med.)
1/2 cup natural peanut butter
1 cup light buttermilk

Preheat oven to 375F. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin tin.
In a large bowl, whisk together flour, oatmeal, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
In a medium bowl, whisk together vegetable oil, brown sugar, eggs, mashed banana, peanut butter and buttermilk until very smooth, making sure all egg has been well-incorporated. Pour into flour mixture and stir until no streaks of flour remain.
Divide batter evenly into prepared muffin tin, filling each just about up to the top.
Bake for 16-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the top springs back when lightly pressed.
Remove muffins from tin and cool on a wire rack.

Makes 12.