I decided to make a variation of A Healthier Wei breakfast muffins today after being inspired by Nancy, who always calls me after she makes a new type of muffin using our basic recipe. She made a “sweet potato pistachio” variation, which I would have tried had I had any luck finding canned sweet potato in the grocery store that was not drowning in high fructose corn syrup or in some pineapple orange syrup. So instead, my batch today is “Pumpkin Carrot,” and while it’s in the oven on this gorgeous Orlando Sunday afternoon I thought I’d share the recipe with you. Start with the base as described below, then add whatever you want which will equate to about 2 cups of mashed fruit or vegetables, and you can come up with most variations which I hope someday to assemble in “A Healthier Wei Cookbook” for you. In our book A Healthier Wei, there are 2 recipes for muffins: one that is banana chocolate chip and the other is dark chocolate cherry. There was a typo as I never use all purpose flour but instead use whole wheat flour when making these nutritious and delicious muffins.
NANCY AND JULIE'S BASIC WHEAT/BRAN/OAT MUFFIN RECIPE
Ingredients:
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 cup oat flour
- 1 cup golden flax seed meal
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup of plain soy milk or skim milk
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 2 cups of mashed fruit/vegetables (see variations below)
Directions:
Preheat oven to 350o Line muffin tins with 18 cupcake size paper muffin cups. Mix everything together in a large bowl using a mixing spoon. Place about 1/3 cup of batter into each paper cup. Bake at 350o for 25 min or until a toothpick comes out clean, remove from pan, let cool. Enjoy. May put in freezer zip lock bags and defrost the night before for a great morning breakfast.
SWEET POTATO PISTACHIO
- Use 2 cups of canned sweet potato and ½ cup of chopped pistachios
PUMPKIN CARROT
- 2 cups of Libby’s canned pumpkin
- 1cup of shredded carrots
- ½ cup raisins (optional)
- ½ cup pistachios or chopped walnuts (optional)
BANANA/BLUEBERRY
- 2 cups of mashed bananas
- 1 to 2 cups of whole blueberries (mix a tablespoon of flour with the blueberries before adding to mix to keep them from exploding)
DARK CHOCOLATE CHERRY
- 2 cups of apple sauce
- 1 cup of Dark chocolate chips
- 2/3 cup of dried cherries
These muffins are great for breakfast for everyone. They taste awesome with coffee for the adults and kids will like them as well. You will feel great and take comfort in the fact that your family is getting great fiber and omega-3 (from the ground flax seed meal), both of which will keep their digestive tract moving, healthy, and happy without artificial preservatives, sugars, or any ingredients you and your family members can’t pronounce. Claire loves anything that has chocolate chips in them, so I use dark chocolate chips or simply chop up a block of dark chocolate, any brand.
I freeze about 6 per bag to keep them moist and fresh throughout the week. It’s best to refrigerate these muffins, else they may be a bit too moist after 2 days especially if there are fresh fruit in the muffin.
Making breakfast muffins has become a Sunday ritual for me, so that I know that mornings are going to be that much easier. All I have to do is make sure we have fresh fruit to serve the muffins with, and I love we don’t eat anything greasy first thing in the morning during the week. Now Saturdays and Sundays, I bring out the bacon and make chocolate chip pancakes or French toast! Thanks to these muffins, I continue to be clean and free of my "Cheetos" addiction late at night. I will eat one of these muffins instead of chips or other sugary snacks for the occasional evenings when I feel I must eat again even though it may be within the hour of bedtime.
Have a wonderful Sunday and an even better Monday!