lemon berry muffins

If you can't tell, I'm on a muffin kick! I just love muffins and think that they are such a convenient breakfast, not to mention a healthy one, too! And there is such variety in muffins-sweet, savory, hearty, light, heavy-you name it. [And let me tell you, if you haven't tried my triple chocolate muffin recipe, stop what you're doing and go bake those now, or at least plan to make them ASAP... You won't regret it!] Without further ado, here is the latest of my muffin baking obsession, this time tangy, yet sweet. Plus, it's another tasty recipe that is freezer friendly.

what you'll need:

• 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 6 oz. plain Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 2 large egg whites
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen berries (I used frozen raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries)

how you'll do it:

preheat oven to 400*

fill muffin tins with liners (or use non-stick spray)

combine all ingredients in mixing bowl.

[zest the lemon first, then juice it completely]

then, fold in berries

fill muffin tins about 2/3 full and bake for 15-20 minutes

 yields 18 muffins

Freezer instructions: let muffins cool completely. place in freezer bags and press out all of the air. to eat, heat in microwave 30-60 seconds

Alterations: The whole wheat flour made them a little heavy, so next time I plan to half and half it with all-purpose flour.

recipe adapted from once a month mom

zucchini carrot muffins

Last week I started some freezer cooking after getting inspired by the site onceamonthmom.com. If you don't know what freezer cooking is, it's simple! It's taking a day and cooking a lot of food and freezing it all to eat throughout the next weeks or over the month, depending how much you make. These next few posts will be of recipes that I made for that.

I love muffins! Especially if made right, they are a hearty, healthy breakfast that are easy to grab and go. As you know, I love trying new things, and these hearty, zucchini-carrot muffins a new favorite! You should try them too, even if you don't freeze them!

what you'll need:

• 1 cup all purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 cup oil
• 1/4 unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 plain Greek yogurt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup shredded zucchini
• 1 cup finely chopped carrot
• 1 tsp. vanilla

 how you'll do it:

preheat oven to 350*

fill muffin tins with liners

combine all dry ingredients in mixer and mix

add all wet ingredients and blend until combined

it will have the chunky consistency of oatmeal

fill muffin tins 2/3 full

bake for 15-20 minutes

yields 24 muffins

To freeze: let muffins cool completely; place in freezer bags and press out all the air. heat in microwave 30-60 seconds to eat.

recipe modified from 30daygourmet

triple chocolate muffins

These muffins are so great, they are healthy yet rich and so good! I made them as dessert, but if you are a big chocolate fan, I bet you could force yourself to eat them for breakfast ;)

what you need:

• 1 3/4 oats
• 3 egg whites
• 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/2 cup Greek yogurt
• 2 tsp vinegar
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 cup hot water
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 cup dark chocolate chips, separated

how you'll do it:

• preheat oven to 350*
• line muffin pans with liners
• mix all ingredients (except chocolate chips) in a food processor *note, I mixed ingredients in a bowl and used my hand mixer "stick" with the blade adapter*
• mix in 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• scoop into muffin tins and bake for about 10 minutes
• open oven and distribute the remaining chocolate chips on the tops of muffins
• bake 2-3 more minutes

Be sure to watch the muffins as they bake for 10 minutes-my oven cooks hot so by the time my timer went off they were already completely done and you want them to need to cook a little longer for the top chips to melt into the tops. Still, these didn't turn out bad at all! Hope you enjoy.

Variation:

-Next time I am going to reduce the sugar to 1/2 and see how that works because the dark chocolate is so rich, I don't think you need THAT much added sugar. Suit your taste buds.  :)

blueberry muffins

Can you tell I'm on a breakfast baking kick? :) But really, I love to bake, and what's better than a warm, homemade breakfast? Found this recipe on Pinterest described as the "perfect" blueberry muffin recipe, but I'm not yet sold with that description. That being said, they are still really yummy and wonderful.

what you'll need:

• 5 Tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 egg
• 3/4 sour cream or plain yogurt (I used SC)
• 1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/4 tsp. baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 fresh blueberries (frozen can work too)

how you'll do it:

 preheat oven to 350* and line muffin pan with liners

 with a hand mixer, blend butter, egg, and sugar

add sour cream or yogurt and blend until smooth

sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt into bowl

blend until all ingredients are combined

fold in blueberries with wooden spoon, the scoop out into muffin tins

makes about 12 muffins

Viola! Enjoy! Add more blueberries as you wish :)

blueberry upside-down muffins

I found this recipe on Pinterest and decided to try it for Saturday breakfast. It didn't turn out as pretty as the picture (of course!) but they were pretty tasty!

what you'll need:

• for topping:
• 1 1/2 cups blueberries
• 3/4 cups sugar
• 1 Tbsp. water or lemon juice
• for batter:
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 Tbsp. baking powder
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 cup milk
• 4 Tbsp. melted butter
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract

 how you'll do it:

• preheat oven to 400*
• spray muffin tin with nonstick spray and place in oven to get warm

mix blueberries, sugar, and lemon juice or water in a pot on medium heat

 

continue mixing until blueberries pop, about 10 minutes. set aside to cool

 in a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder

remove muffin tin and add blueberry mix

in a small bowl, combine melted butter, egg, milk, and vanilla

combine butter and flour mixture. don't over-stir

top blueberry mix with batter

bake for about 10-14 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean

like I said, maybe not so pretty, but still pretty tasty!

Side note:

• I think preheating the pan was a bad idea, as the nonstick spray I used kind of cooked itself, and I'm pretty sure that's why the blueberry topping did in fact stick to the pan
• Also, I used 1 cup all-purpose flour and 1 cup whole wheat
• If the blueberries don't seem to be popping, don't be afraid to help them along :)