Muffins

Oatmeal Goji Berry Muffins

Muffins, Unfussy

I usually don’t stress too much about antioxidants, but I thought these goji berries looked intriguing so I mixed them up in some oatmeal muffins. Each time I eat one it adds a year to my life. Pretty sure that’s how it works.

  • 1 cup goji berries
  • boiling water
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 1 cup whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 cup old-fashioned oats
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1 TBSP baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp. kosher salt
  • 1/4 cup oil or melted butter
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract
  • 2 TBSP turbinado or other coarse sugar

Measure goji berries in a 1-cup liquid measuring cup. Pour boiling water over the berries until just covered. Let sit until the berries have softened and cooled to room temperature.

Preheat oven to 400°F.

Line 12 regular or 6 large muffin cups with paper or grease each with butter.

Stir together whole wheat flour, all-purpose flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.

Drain goji berries, reserving liquid in a 2-cup liquid measuring cup – you should have about a 1/2 cup.

Combine reserved liquid with enough milk to equal 1 cup.

Beat together milk and reserved goji liquid, eggs, oil or butter and vanilla. Pour over oat mixture and gently stir, until just moistened. Add goji berries and fold until there are no flour patches remaining.

Divide batter among the muffin cups, filling each 3/4-full. Top each muffin generously with turbinado sugar.

Bake regular sized muffins for 20 minutes, large muffins for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick in the center comes out clean.

Let cool for 5-10 minutes before removing from muffin tin.

Look-No-Further Zucchini Bread

Bread, Muffins, Unfussy

This time of year I usually blindly pick a zucchini bread recipe to make from an online source or a cookbook so I can scratch the itch. I make it once, decide it’s not my favorite, and wait until next year to try again. This time I tested a few, tweaked the one I liked, and finally settled on this recipe. Moist, simple, not ridiculously sweet, with plenty of zucchini (in this case, the yellow variety).

  • 2 1/2 cups flour
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 TBSP cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 3/4 cup brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup white sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 3/4 cup coconut oil, melted
  • 1 TBSP vanilla
  • 2 cups (250g) shredded zucchini

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease one 8.5×4.5″ loaf pan.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. In a medium bowl, whisk together sugars, eggs, coconut oil and vanilla. Pour over flour mixture and fold with a rubber spatula until just moistened.

Fold in shredded zucchini until uniform and all the flour has been incorporated. The batter will be stiff.

Scrape into prepared pan – it should fill the loaf pan 3/4 of the way up.

Bake at 350 for 45 minutes. Tent loosely with foil and continue baking for an additional 30 minutes, until no longer doughy in the middle.

Let cool 10 minutes in the pan before turning out.

Makes one loaf. Makes fine muffins too.

Blueberry Muffins

Breakfast, Muffins, Unfussy

I made these for an after school snack this week and then immediately made them again. The addition of coconut oil keeps the muffins nice and moist for a couple days, if they last that long. I like to add the blueberries with the flour to the mixer which helps them from sinking to the bottom of the muffin, and so some of the blueberries break down and get jammy up in there.

  • 4 TBSP butter
  • 1/4 cup triple-filtered coconut oil
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 2 cups all-purpose or white whole wheat flour
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 cup sour cream
  • 1 pint blueberries
  • 1/4 cup Turbinado sugar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease or line a 12-cup muffin tin.

Cream butter, coconut oil and sugar together until light and fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, scraping bowl in between. Add vanilla and mix.

Whisk nutmeg, flour, salt and baking powder together. Add blueberries to flour and toss to combine.

Add half of the flour/blueberry mixture to the mixer and mix briefly. Add the sour cream and mix. Add the remaining flour/blueberries and mix well. Give it a good stir with the spatula to make sure it is evenly mixed.

Divide batter among the 12-cups – each about 3/4 full.

Sprinkle a generous 1/2 tsp Turbinado sugar over each muffin.

Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes, until the center of the muffins are just firm.

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Breakfast, Muffins, Unfussy

These muffins pop up in my kitchen and my sister-in-law’s kitchen frequently – pretty much whenever there are 3 ripe bananas that need to be used. They stay moist and are kinda healthy.

This recipe is from King Arthur Whole Grain Baking.

  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 1 tsp vanilla
  • 1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (3 large)
  • 1/4 cup honey
  • 2 eggs
  • 2 cups whole wheat flour
  • 3/4 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 1 cup chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or line a 12-cup muffin tin.

Cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add vanilla, banana and honey and mix until smooth. Beat in eggs. Whisk dry ingredients together. Add to egg mixture. Stir in chocolate chips. Remove from mixer and give a good stir to make sure all the ingredients are incorporated.

Fill muffin cups almost to the top. Bake 20-25 minutes, until firm in the center.

Bran Muffins

Breakfast, Muffins, Unfussy

These muffins are super moist, light, and delicious. Mix them by hand in a large bowl, bake what you want, then refrigerate the batter for up to 2 weeks and bake them as needed. This is my mom’s recipe.

  • 3 cups All Bran cereal
  • 1 cup boiling water
  • 1 cup brown sugar
  • 2 cups buttermilk
  • 2 eggs
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil
  • 2 1/2 cups flour (you can substitute up to 1 cup whole wheat flour)
  • 2 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1 cup raisins (optional)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Grease or line your muffin tin.

In a large bowl, mix bran with hot water until moistened. Stir in brown sugar. Add buttermilk, eggs and oil, stirring until well combined. Add flour and baking soda, then raisins, if desired.

Scoop batter into greased muffin cups, filling about 3/4 full. Bake for 15-18 minutes until the tops spring back when touched. Serve hot with butter or jam or both or none.

Makes 24 muffins