If you follow me on Instagram, you'll notice during the winter months that I'm frequently baking batches of muffins.
Last week I finished reading The Little Book of Hygge, and it reminded me of my hopes to have a cozy, a warm winter. The smell of muffins baking is comforting, the warm oven helps heat the home, and we can fill our bellies with something sweet and delicious.
Even though spring is nearly here, the temps are due to drop down again and we're due for more snow. Boo. As we make this transition to spring here in the northeast, let's make muffins!
A few notes about muffins...
1. I love to make them from scratch. I like to know what's in the foods we make, I like keeping our baked goods a little healthier (whole wheat flour, for example), and I enjoy the slowing down of the process.
2. I do all of the mixing. No stand mixer is needed for any of these muffin recipes. Just a bowl, and spoon, and some stirring/folding of the batter.
3. All of the recipes I'm sharing are husband and toddler approved. I love having a batch of muffins on hand for snacks and breakfast. They taste great crumbled into a bowl of yogurt or on their own with coffee or tea.
4. I substitute safflower or sunflower oil for the oil (or butter or margarine) called for in a recipe. Both oils cook well at high heat, and are neutral in flavor.
5. If a muffin recipe only calls for white flour, I do half whole wheat, half white.
6. I often make a double batch and throw half in the freezer. Once we've finished the first batch, I'll empty the frozen batch into a container to leave on the counter, so they can defrost and we eat them over the next few days.
Greek Yogurt Whole Wheat Toddler Muffins
These muffins are a big hit in our home. To me they taste like a pancake in muffin form, with maple syrup used as a sweetener. I've made them with regular plain yogurt, and that works well too.
We had way too many carrots in the fridge that had to get used up, so a bunch of carrots got grated up for this recipe. These muffins are light and fluffy. I haven't tried freezing them yet, but imagine they would freeze well. The next time I make them I want to substitute unsweetened shredded coconut flakes for some of the carrot.
Flourless Peanut Butter Banana Muffins
We are not gluten free, but I do sometimes try gluten free recipes when I'm intrigued. And these muffins are delicious. They're rich and peanut buttery, and are a great way to use up eggs. They're one of Josh's favorites. (I haven't tried freezing these ones yet, so I'm not sure how they would do.)
Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins
This recipe is set to make a batch of 24, perfect for freezing! I made a huge batch the other week, and omitted the chocolate chips, and they were still really good. I also cut the amount of sugar in half. I love that this recipe uses a whole can of pumpkin so I'm not looking in the fridge wondering how to go about using up a little bit of leftover canned pumpkin.
It's funny. We're actually not one of those families to have brown bananas lying around. We eat bananas so much as snacks and in smoothies that we usually eat them while they're still yellow. Two weeks ago, though, they were on super sale at the supermarket, so I bought twice as much as usual. Half stayed on the counter. A quarter got chopped up and placed in the freezer for smoothies. And another quarter got saved to make these muffins. So easy and good.
