Oatmeal Applesauce Muffins

The husband and I recently headed up the coast a bit to visit some friends for the weekend and celebrate their daughter's 1st birthday. This was our first trip up to see them, after they've made many visits down here, and we were spending the weekend in their (gorgeous!) home, so I wanted to bring a 'thank you' treat. I figured with two small children, fruit muffins would be appreciated-they're great for a healthy afternoon snack or quick breakfast.

I hesitated on whether or not I should bring them after asking the husband his opinion once I took them out of the oven. I wasn't offering a taste, so he just took a look and made a face, saying they didn't look that great. I waffled back and forth over taking them or not, but as there wasn't enough time to make anything else, I decided to just go ahead and pack em up, ugly or not.

Thankfully, our friends care less about looks and more about taste, and were more than happy to receive these muffins. G, who is obsessed with fiber, was even more excited when I told him they were made with whole wheat flour, oats, and tons of fruit...in other words, packed with fiber. The kiddos made quick work of a couple muffins right away, gobbling them down as a late afternoon snack. Their one-year-old daughter seemed to especially like them, eating two in quick succession!

Oatmeal Applesauce Muffins
Source: Adapted from Joy the Baker
Printable Recipe

Ingredients
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/4 cups oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/2 cup firmly packed brown sugar
2 Tablespoon canola oil
1 large egg lightly beaten
1 cup berries, fresh or frozen (I used a combination of frozen mixed berries and sliced fresh strawberries)
Strawberry halves for garnish, optional

Directions
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Spray a muffin pan with nonstick spray, or line with paper liners.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Stir just until combined.

In a separate medium bowl, combine the applesauce, buttermilk, brown sugar, oil and egg. Stir until combined.

Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and stir just until combined. Gently fold in the fruit with a spatula.

Strawberry, Banana, Blueberry Muffins

My cousin and his wife recently had a baby, who I couldn't wait to meet. In a nice twist of fate, my first day of spring break also happened to be the same day of their 2nd wedding anniversary, so they asked me not only to come visit, but to babysit for a few hours while they went out to dinner. Initially I was a bit nervous...I haven't babysat since high school and I haven't spent anytime taking care of a 4 week old baby alone. But I love babies, I was excited to see my newest relative, and I wanted the new parents to be able to enjoy their anniversary, so of course I agreed.

Before I got in the car for my trip down to San Diego, I baked up a batch of these muffins to take with me. I love baking for friends, and with new parents usually exhausted from caring for their baby, I figured they would enjoy not having to worry about making breakfast for awhile. My cousin ate one the moment he walked in the door from work, so I'm pretty confident these were a welcome treat!

The husband was a bit sad that I only left him one muffin (not that he can complain too much, since he ate all of the leftover strawberries and cream cake while I was gone!), so I baked up another batch for the two of us to enjoy. I bet these would be great with some whipped honey butter smeared inside!



Strawberry, Banana, Blueberry Muffins
Source: Adapted from this recipe, originally from Vintage Victuals
Printable Recipe

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups unbleached whole wheat flour

1 cup oats, rolled or quick

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground flax seeds, optional

2 eggs

1/4 cup apple sauce

1/4 cup fat free sour cream or crema

1 mashed ripe bananas

1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen
2 cups strawberries, fresh or frozen, sliced

Directions
Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. Spray muffin tins with non-stick spray, or line them with paper liners.

Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl. Set aside.

In a small bowl, mix the eggs, apple sauce, sour cream, and fruit (except for the blueberries) together.

Pour into the dry ingredients and mix with a spatula until just combined. Gently fold in the blueberries.

Fill each muffin tin about 2/3 full and bake for 17 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Oatmeal Banana Breakfast Muffins

I saw these muffins on Stephanie Cooks and knew immediately that I wanted to try them. I am a huge fan of muffins and I already had all the ingredients on hand, so I couldn't wait to bake up a batch.

Well to say these were a hit would be an understatement. The husband and I gobbled them up in 2 days, scarfing 2 at a time. He was upset that I ate the last two muffins for breakfast without saving him any. In my defense, I eat in the car while driving on the freeway and I need a portable breakfast. The husband wakes up long after I have already left for work, has time to eat before leaving home, and only has a 4 mile commute straight down the street. He can deal. :)

These are not very sweet, but they are really flavorful and incredibly moist. I might add some brown sugar next time to up the sweetness factor (I have a huge sweet tooth), but then they won't be very health-friendly.

Oatmeal Banana Breakfast Muffins
Source: adapted from Stephanie Cooks
Printable Recipe

Ingredients
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup milk
2 eggs
1 tablespoon baking powder
3 cups Old Fashion or Rolled Oats
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1-2 tablespoons cinnamon
2 teaspoons nutmeg
3 tablespoons mini chocolate chips (or you can chop up regular chocolate chips)

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Mix all ingredients together.

Spray a muffin pan with non-stick spray.

Divide batter into 15 muffin cups, filling nearly all the way.

Bake 20-30 minutes, until the edges begin turning to brown and they are slightly firm to the touch.

Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins

It's fall, which in the baking world, means time for pumpkin. I am not a huge Stabucks fan; I pretty much only order their black iced tea (no sweetener) or in the winter, their caramel apple cider. But I do love the pumpkin cream cheese muffins they bring out every fall. The big dollop of cream cheese in the middle is such a great contrast to the moist pumpkin. But at nearly $2 a pop, I can't afford to indulge in these treats very often, so I scoured the internet looking for a knock-off recipe. Ok, I didn't scour the internet; I pretty much just used the first recipe I found. But these muffins came out even better than the Starbucks original. They are dense, moist, spicy, and the cream cheese is perfect. I couldn't find any pumpkin seeds at my grocery store, so I omitted them, but if I had found them, I think I would have toasted them in butter and brown sugar.

These muffins taste even better a day or two after making them. The spicyness of the various spices really kicks in, giving these muffins a more pronounced tasted. That came out weird...they just taste better after a few days. I took a platter of these muffins to work and they were completely gone within an hour. I think that's a pretty good indicator of how great they really are!

The original recipe called for 1 1/4 cups of vegatable oil. I replaced the entire amount of oil with applesauce to cut down on some fat and calories. I also used neufchatel cheese instead of cream cheese; the grocery store worker told me they were interchangeable, with neufchatel cheese containing less fat than regular cream cheese. I didn't notice any difference in flavor. Also, the original recipe called for 2 cups white sugar, but I decided to use half white and half brown, just to change things up a bit.



Pumpkin Cream Cheese Muffins
Adapted from Musings of a Mommy
Printable Recipe

Ingredients
For the muffins:
3 cups flour
1 heaping teaspoon cinnamon
1 heaping teaspoon nutmeg
1 heaping teaspoon ground cloves
4 1/2 heaping teaspoons pumpkin pie spice
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 eggs
1 cup white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups canned pumpkin puree
1 1/4 cups unsweetened applesauce

For the cream cheese filling:
8 ounce package cream cheese (or neufchatel cheese), softened
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon brown sugar



Directions:
Pre-heat your oven to 35o degrees.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the first 7 ingredients for the muffins. Mix together until just combined.

In a seperate bowl, beat the eggs and mix in the sugars.

Add the egg and sugar mixture to the dry ingredients. Add in the pumpkin puree and applesauce, and mix until well combined.

Spoon into greased muffin tins. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine the cream cheese, vanilla, powdered sugar, and brown sugar. Mix until well combined.

Spoon into a sandwich bag sized ziploc. Cut off the tip of one corner. Pipe the cream cheese into the muffin batter, pushing it down into the batter slightly.

Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the muffin (avoid the cream cheese) comes out clean. Let cook 5-10 minutes before serving.

Fruity Oat Muffins

I love muffins. I love fruit. I also love when my clothes fit. I have been craving cupcakes, but when I saw these muffins on Elly's blog, I decided I needed to make them instead of cupcakes if I want my clothes to fit. I made some changes, which I have noted in italics. Check out Elly's Vintage Victuals blog for the original recipe.
They totally hit the spot, without busting up my diet (*again*). Well, I did eat 3 right away....not sure how diet-friendly that is.

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups unbleached whole wheat flour

1 cup oats, rolled or quick (I used old fashioned oats)

1/4 cup brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground flax seeds

2 eggs

1/4 cup apple sauce

1/4 cup buttermilk or fat free sour cream (I used sour cream since that is what I already had)

1 cup mashed ripe bananas (I just used one banana)

1 1/2 cups blueberries, fresh or frozen 1/2 a mango, diced and mashed

Directions:
Pre-heat your oven to 400 degrees. Spray your muffin tins with non-stick spray, or line them with paper liners. (I am partial to silicon muffin pans, no liners. I just spray them and easily pop out the muffins after they've cooled a bit.)

Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.

In a small bowl, mix the eggs, apple sauce, sour cream, and fruit (except for the blueberries) together. Pour into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Gently fold in the blueberries.

Fill each muffin tin about 2/3 full (I filled mine pretty much all the way...I like big muffins).



Bake for about 17 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean (unless you poke it into a blueberry!).