Eggnog Cranberry Muffins

I meant to make these muffins last year. Then with watching Mischa and my thyroid stuff, it got pushed off and off and then never happened. So, when Big Chubb begged me to get eggnog, I decided I would make these.

I don't know if Mom ever made them. I was skeptical because I am not an eggnog fan. Yet, they turned out pretty tasty. So tasty that I took all the ones leftover and made another batch the next day and took them to our ward Christmas brunch. They all disappeared, probably because they were the only homemade muffin and most of the baked goods were cinnamon rolls.

Pumpkin Bread (or muffins or cake)

I'm on a roll. I've always been a fan of sweet bread. I made these in muffin form to try and entice Owen to eat something. The recipe was one of the Mount Vernon Ward recipes given to Mom; this one is from Rhoda.

Pumpkin Bread
1/2 c butter
1 c sugar
3/4 c canned pumpkin
1 3/4 c flour
1 t baking soda
1 t cinnamon
1/2 t salt
1/2 t nutmeg
1/4 t cloves
3/4 c pecans

Cream butter, sugar and egg. Add pumpkin and mix. Set aside. In another bowl, sift dry ingredients. Gradually add dry ingredients to wet mixture. Beat till well blended. Add pecans if desired. Grease 15''x10''x1'' pan. Bake 350 for 20-25 minutes.

Frosting
6 T margarine
3 oz cream cheese
1 t vanilla
1 t milk
2 c powdered sugar

Cream together.

Since I put mine a muffin tin, I didn't realize it said to cook it in a jelly roll pan. No wonder it was so good--it is basically cake. They really were delicious. Owen ate most of one, which is pretty good for him. I ate many. I didn't make the frosting, but I'm sure it would have been delicious. I made it full fat for Owen's weight-gain benefit ( also probably my weight gain side-effect), but this recipe would probably be a good candidate for an applesauce substitution. I did use whole wheat flour, which is maybe why they didn't seem super cakey. Nonetheless, they were really good.

Oatmeal Muffins

So, we don't have a microwave. I don't want to buy one for the 3 months we will be in this place, so we are doing without. I didn't think it would be a big deal, but we use the microwave more than I thought. Since it takes longer to make oatmeal in the mornings, we've been eating some other things for breakfast.

Oatmeal Muffins

1 c buttermilk or sour milk*

1 c rolled oats

1 egg, unbeaten

1/2 c (packed) brown sugar

1 c all-purpose flour, stirred and measured

1/2 t salt

1 1/2 t baking powder

1/2 t soda

1/4 c vegetable oil

Raisins or dates (optional)

Pour buttermilk over oats. Let stand 5 minutes. Add egg and brown sugar to oats; mix well. Add sifted dry ingredients and oil; mix thoroughly. Spoon into 12 greased muffin tins or cupcake liners. Raisins or dates may be added, if desired. Bake at 400 degrees F. for 18 minutes or until done. Makes 12 large muffins.

*Sour milk: Sour milk can be substituted for buttermilk. To make sour milk, place 1 T vinegar in 1-cup measure; add milk to measure one cup; allow to stand for 3 minutes.

I made this to use up some sour cream, and I just realized that it calls for sour milk, not sour cream. It worked just as well with sour cream, probably better. They were good. With how much sugar they take, they definitely weren't very sweet. They were perfect with a little jam on top and some fruit on the side.

Blueberry Muffins

 I made these for breakfast when the other day when I was craving a good carb heavy breakfast.

 The batter was sweet when I tried it, but then the muffins themselves were not overly sweet.


And, in case you want to microwave them:

The kids were only slightly interested in them. None of them would eat them when they wanted a snack later on that afternoon.

I thought they were just your basic blueberry muffin.

The Official New York State Apple Muffin

The official muffin of New York State, the Apple Muffin, was created by elementary school children in North Syracuse.

Ingredients:
2 cups New York State Empire apples, coarsely chopped
2 cups flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon cloves
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup walnuts
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1/2 cup butter, melted
4 ounces cream cheese, cut into small pieces
1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Topping:
1/2 cup walnuts
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon lemon peel, grated
2 tablespoons melted butter

Cooking time: 25m

Directions
For topping: Combine ingredients and set aside.
Combine flour, sugar, salt, spices and baking soda; set aside.
Combine apples, raisins, walnuts, eggs, butter, cream cheese and vanilla. Add dry ingredients, a little at a time, to the apple mixture.  Stir until just combined.  Do not over mix.  Portion batter into muffin papers, sprinkle with topping.  Bake at 375̊ for 20-25 minutes. Makes two dozen muffins.

Sounds good, huh? They were just okay. Maybe it was because I didn't make the topping (I just sprinkled on some raw sugar), but I wasn't super impressed with the muffins. They seemed to have too much baking soda taste, which is weird since there are only 2 teaspoons for the two dozen muffins. Maybe my expectations were too high.

Zucchini Day 2015

We had zucchini day yesterday, sponsored by The Cupboard Project. We don't have enough to do zucchini week, but one day of all zucchini meals was pretty good.

I began with these muffins.

Zucchini Muffins

Mix together:
1 1/3 c flour
1 t salt
2 t baking powder
1/4 c sugar

Combine 1/4 c oil
2/3 c water
1 egg, beaten
1/2 c dry milk
1 c shredded zucchini

Fill greased muffin pans two-thirds full. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes. Take out of pans immediately.

They were pretty good, especially considering I used whole wheat flour and, substituted the oil with applesauce. They were plenty sweet, even with only 1/4 c sugar.


For lunch Camille and I had Vegetable Quesadillas:

1 c salsa
1 c drained canned black beans, rinsed
1 zucchini, shredded
eight 6 inch fat free flour tortillas
3/4 c shredded Monterey Jack cheese

In medium bowl, combine salsa, beans, and zucchini. spread 1/4 mixture over each of 4 tortillas. Top each portion with 3 tbsp cheese. Cover over with another tortilla.
Heat an 8in nonstick skillet over med. heat. One at a time, cook each quesadilla, turning once until cheese is melted, about 1 min per side. Cut each into quarters.
Makes 4 servings - 5 pts per serving.

I really liked these. C told me she didn't like the red in it or the zucchini in it, but I managed to get her to eat a few bites.

Dinner was this Zucchini Beef Bake:

2 zucchini (sliced in 1/4 inch slices)
1 lb ground beef
1 T chopped onion
1/2 c diced celery
8 oz can tomato sauce
1/2 t salt
1/2 t basil or oregano
1/4 t pepper
1/2 lb mozzarella cheese

Layer a 9x13 pan (greased) with 1/4 inch slices of zucchini. Brown ground beef with onion and celery. Pour off grease. Stir in tomato sauce, salt, pepper, and basil or oregano. Pour over zucchini. Spread grated mozzarella cheese on top. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.

This was especially good. Brian said it tasted kind of like lasagna. Since it has zucchini instead of noodles, it must be healthier, right? I made it in a smaller pan (8x11 maybe) because I didn't think I could spread the 2/3 lb of meat I had across a 9x13. It has been a long time since I used real ground beef instead of ground turkey. I forgot how fatty it is when you buy the cheapest kind.

Bonus Dessert! Brian actually made these a few days ago. C and O "helped." Brian commented that he didn't understand how I ever managed to cook anything without going nuts when the kids help. The cupcakes were delicious. I remember Mom making them a few times. They are pretty ugly cupcakes, but they are also very yummy. 

Zucchini cupcakes

3 eggs

1 1/3 c sugar

1/2 c vegetable oil

1/2 c orange juice

1 t almond extract

1 1/2 c all-purpose flour

2 t ground cinnamon

2 t baking powder

1 t salt

1/2 t ground cloves

1 1/2 c shredded zucchini

Caramel Frosting

1 c packed brown sugar

1/2 c butter or margarine

1/4 c milk

1 t vanilla extract

1 1/2 to 2 c confectioners sugar

In a mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar, oil, orange juice, and extract. Combine dry ingredients; add to the egg mixture and mix well. Add zucchini and mix well. Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until cupcakes test done. Cool for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack.

For frosting, combine brown sugar, butter, and milk in a saucepan; bring to a boil over medium heat. Cook and stir for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat; stir in vanilla. Cool to a lukewarm consistency. Stir in confectioners sugar until desired consistency is reached. Frost cupcakes. Yield: 1 1/2-2 dozen

Oh, I forgot to mention that the cupcakes really didn't rise much at all. Brian was a little disappointed, but again, they were delicious, so appearance doesn't matter.

Banana Blueberry Muffins

This is written on an index card in Mom's handwriting. I've had them before.

Banana Blueberry Muffins

2/3 c milk
1/4 c oil
1 mashed banana
1 egg
2 c flour
2/3 c sugar
2.5 t baking powder
1/4 t nutmeg
1 c blueberries

400 degrees
12 muffins
I just cooked until they looked done

We liked these for blueberry muffins. They were light and tender and not too dry.

Sweet Potato Maple Walnut Muffins

It looks like it was copied out of a cookbook.

Sweet Potato Maple Walnut Muffins

"What a delightful way to get your beta carotene and your potassium in every delicious bite, plus a good helping of precious linoleic acid, which helps prevent harmful deposits of cholesterol and contributes to smooth, beautiful skin."

2 eggs
1/3 c maple syrup
2 T sweet butter or olive oil
1/2 c crushed, unsweetened pineapple with juice
1 t vanilla
1 c grated raw sweet potato
1/2 c raisins, plumped
1/2 c sunflower seeds or chopped walnuts
1 3/4 c sifted whole wheat flour
1/4 c wheat germ
2 t baking powder
1 t cinnamon
1/8 t ground nutmeg

In a large bowl or food processor, blend together the eggs, maple syrup, butter or olive oil, pineapple, vanilla, sweet potato, raisins, and walnuts or sunflower seeds.

In another bowl, stir together the wheat flour, wheat germ, baking powder, cinnamon, and nutmeg.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease or line 3 dozen minimuffin wells or 1 dozen regular-size
muffin wells.

Combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix only enough to combine the ingredients. Spoon the mixture into prepared muffin tins. Sprinkle a few nuts or seeds on each muffin.

Bake 12 to 15 minutes for minimufffins, 20 to 25 minutes for regular-size muffins or until golden brown and a cake tester comes out clean.

Yield: 3 dozen minimuffins or 1 dozen regular-size muffins.
Approximately 50 calories each for minimuffins, approximately 179 calories each for regular-size muffins.

These have some weird ingredients, but I happened to have everything when I was looking for a muffin recipe this morning, so I made them. We liked them. The raisins were a little overpowering, and I really couldn't taste the sweet potato, but the overall taste was good. I like the sunflower seeds in it. Too bad I only had about 2 tablespoons of seeds. I have lots of other muffin recipes I like, so I probably won't go out of my way to make them again, but they are good.

Peach Muffins

I really like muffins. I had been waiting around for fresh peaches to make these, but I realized I could use canned just as well. I whipped them pretty quickly after that.

Peach Muffins

400 degrees--20-25 min.
1 dozen

1/2 c butter
3/4 c sugar
 1 egg
 1/2 c sour cream
1 t vanilla
1 1/2 c flour
1 1/2 t baking powder
1 c chopped peaches
1 c chopped pecans

Cream butter and sugar. Add egg, sour cream and vanilla. Mix well. Add dry ingredients til just moistened. Fold in peaches and pecans. Fill (greased) muffin tins 3/4 full.

They were fine--very much like coffee cake. I think I would have liked them better as coffee cake because they fell apart so badly when I tried getting them out of the muffin tin. Also, they would have been good with something else on top like a little sugar, or maybe the nuts (that I omitted).

Banana Oat Muffins

 I didn't take a picture of these, because they just look like plain muffins.  They tasted pretty much like the average banana muffin, too.  They get 4.5 stars on allrecipes, but I would probably only give them 3.  I guess I think an entire cup of sugar is too much, especially when you already have banana in there. I assumed they were healthy muffins, when they are a far cry from that.  Just because they contain banana and oats doesn't mean they are healthy. 

Banana Oat Muffins
from AllRecipes

Ingredients:

1 cup rolled oats 1 cup all-purpose flour 1 tablespoon rolled oats 1/2 cup chopped walnuts 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 1/2 teaspoon salt 1/2 cup butter, softened 1 cup white sugar

2 eggs 1 cup mashed ripe banana 1 teaspoon vanilla extract 1/2 cup sour cream   1/3 cup rolled oats 4 tablespoons brown sugar 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon 2 tablespoons butter, chilled 1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease 12 muffin cups or line with paper muffin liners.
2.	Place 1 cup rolled oats in a food processor and process until ground. In a large bowl, combine ground oats with flour, 1 tablespoon rolled oats, chopped walnuts, baking powder, cinnamon and salt.
3.	In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Beat in the eggs one at a time, then stir in the banana and vanilla. Stir in sour cream. Mix oat/flour mixture into egg mixture. Spoon batter into prepared muffin pans.
4.	To make Topping: In a small bowl, combine 1/3 cup rolled oats, brown sugar, cinnamon. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs; stir in 1/4 cup chopped walnuts. Generously sprinkle muffins with topping.
5.	Bake in preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.

Wheat Muffins

Another recipe from my page of wheat recipes.  I wanted muffins one morning, but didn't have many ingredients.  This is a very basic recipe, which takes very basic ingredients, so I whipped them up. 

Wheat Muffins

Ingredients:
2 eggs, beaten
1 c milk
3 T brown sugar
2 T melted butter or oil
2 c sifted whole wheat flour
1/2 t salt
3 t baking powder

Directions:
Combine eggs, milk, sugar, and oil or melted butter.  Add flour, salt, and baking powder sifted together.  Stir only until flour mixture is absorbed.  Bake in greased muffin tins 20 to 30 minutes at 375-400 degrees.

We thought these were good, but way too plain for us.  They would be better with a mix-in like chocolate chips.  The kid really, really liked them, however.  She ate them very well and whined to have them as a snack, so I guess they were a win. 

Apple Crunch Muffins

Another way to use those apples.

Apple Crunch Muffins

1 1/2 c sifted flour
1/2 c sugar
2 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/2 t cinnamon
1/4 c shortening
1 egg, slightly beaten
1/2 c milk
1 c diced apples

Sift flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon in mixing bowl. Cut in shortening until fine crumbs form. Combine milk and egg. Add to dry ingredients along with apples. Stir just to moisten. Spoon batter into muffin cups filling 2/3 full. Sprinkle with 1/4 c brown (packed), 1/4 c chopped walnuts, 1/2 t cinnamon, (mix these 3 ingredients before sprinkling on muffins). Bake at 375 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm; Serves 12.

These are pretty similar to baked apple donuts. I prefer baked apple donuts because the nutmeg, the grated apple, and the cinnamon sugar tops are superior to these guys. But these were still good. I used whole wheat flour, and they weren't quite as tender as they could have been with white. Oh yeah, I didn't have walnuts to put on the top, so I didn't. I guess I missed out on the crunch, but I still think the butter/cinnamon sugar topping would be better.

Lentil-Banana Muffins

Yes, this is another muffin recipe, and yes, it has lentils in it. Don't run away! They were good. I do realize that most people probably will not puree some lentils just to make these muffins, but if you happen to have some extra cooked lentils around from a previous recipe, this would be a great way to use them. Or you could cook some extra next time you make a lentil meal and use them in this.

I did puree some lentils just for the purpose of making the lentil chocolate cake, and I froze the extra. I found both the frozen pureed lentils and the Luscious Lentils recipe collection around the same time. These muffins were meant to be made.

Lentil-Banana Muffins

Makes 12-16
1/2 c butter or margarine
1 c sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 medium bananas, mashed
4 T buttermilk or sour milk
1/2 c lentil puree
1 t vanilla
2 C flour
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 c chopped nuts

Cream butter and sugar, add eggs, beat well. Add well-mashed bananas and beat. Add sour milk and lentil puree. Add vanilla and dry ingredients and mix by hand. Add nuts.

Fill well-greased muffin tins 1/2 to 3/4 full. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until tops spring back to touch.

Surprise! They were good. The banana (I only used one; also found in the freezer) covered any lentil taste very well. We both liked them. Brian said they tasted healthy, but I informed him that beside the lentils, they really were not very healthy at all. A cup of sugar and 1/2 cup butter? Too much. I made them as written for testing purposes, but I think they would be fine with substituting half the butter with applesauce and using much less sugar, like half. You could probably also use regular oil instead of butter. I did use at least half whole wheat flour, which was good. I sprinkled the tops with turbinado sugar because I'm trying to find ways to use it, and I liked that. Oh, I omitted the nuts because I never buy them, though they would be good with them.

So, the moral of the story is that if you have extra lentils, give these muffins a try, and feel free to healthify them.

Honey Corn Muffins

I love when I want to make something and I find a Cupboard Project recipe of it just waiting to be made. These are from the same honey booklet as the honey chocolate cake I posted previously.


Honey Corn Muffins

3/4 c sifted flour
1 1/4 t baking powder
1/2 salt
1/3 c cornmeal
1/4 cup prepared diced apple
1 egg, well beaten
1/3 c milk
1/4 c honey
3 T shortening, melted

Sift flour  once, measure, add baking powder and salt, and sift again. Add cornmeal. Wash, apre, and dice apple. Combine egg, milk, honey, and shortening. Add all at once to flour-cornmeal mixture, stirring only enough to damoen all flour. Fold in apple. Bake in well-greased 2-inch muffin pan at 400 degrees for 20 minutes, or until done. Makes 8-12 muffins.

They tasted pretty good, but there were some issues. It made nine tiny muffins, the smallest only like an inch tall. Part of that might be my fault because I forgot the egg, but surprisingly the structure and texture was fine, and the bigger muffins rose fine. I probably wouldn't recommend these. There are better cornbread recipes out there. And the apple was kind of weird.

Cracked Pepper Cheddar Muffins

Cracked Pepper Cheddar Muffins

Ingredients

2 cups all-purpose flour
  1 tablespoon sugar
  3 teaspoons baking powder
  1/2 teaspoon coarsely ground pepper
  1 egg
  1-1/4 cups 2% milk
  2 tablespoons canola oil
  1 cup (4 ounces) shredded cheddar cheese

Directions
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder and pepper. In another bowl, whisk the egg, milk and oil. Stir into dry ingredients just until moistened. Fold in cheese.

Fill muffins cups coated with cooking spray two-thirds full. Bake at 375° for 25-30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Serve warm.

Yield: 1 dozen.

Originally published as Cracked Pepper Cheddar Muffins in Taste of Home December/January 2008, p38

I whipped these up to go with some soup we had while Dad was here. Dad liked them. Brian and I thought they were bland. The texture was good, alittle bit like popovers, and I liked the pepper/cheddar taste. They are probably worth doctoring up a little since they were fast and easy. Probably a little salt and some garlic and/or onion powder would help. I cut back on the baking powder because 3 teaspoons is a lot. I did about 2 teaspoons, and they still rose nicely.

Morning Muffins

Morning Muffins

TOTAL TIME: Prep: 20 min. Bake: 20 min. MAKES: 12 servings

Ingredients
1/4 cup butter, softened
  1/2 cup packed brown sugar
  2 eggs
  1 cup (8 ounces) sour cream
  1 cup shredded carrots
  1/2 cup flaked coconut
  1/2 cup raisins
  1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
  1 teaspoon baking soda
  1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  1/2 cup chopped nuts (I omitted)

Directions
In a small bowl, cream butter and brown sugar. Add eggs and sour cream; beat well. Stir in the carrots, coconut and raisins.
Combine the flour, baking soda and cinnamon; stir into creamed mixture just until moistened. Fold in nuts.
Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups three-fourths full. Bake at 375° for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in muffin comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing from pan to a wire rack. Yield: 1 dozen.
Originally published as Morning Muffins in Taste of Home February/March 2008, p15

I liked these. They were very moist. Brian thought it was weird eating carrot in a muffin until I pointed out to him that the crunchies he thought were carrot were probably coconut. And despite the fact that they have carrot and raisins, they are not very healthy muffins. They are, however, a good way to get a toddler to eat a vegetable for breakfast.

To Die For Blueberry Muffins

I made these for Jacob when I was to be gone last week.  He doesn't ever seem to have time for breakfast when I'm not around, so I wanted something he could grab and eat quickly.  These were a good choice, as he told me two days after I left that they were all gone.

To Die For Blueberry Muffins
Recipe from Allrecipes

Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour 3/4 cup white sugar 1/2 teaspoon salt 2 teaspoons baking powder 1/3 cup vegetable oil 1 egg

1/3 cup milk 1 cup fresh blueberries 1/2 cup white sugar 1/3 cup all-purpose flour 1/4 cup butter, cubed 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Directions:

1.	Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line with muffin liners.
2.	Combine 1 1/2 cups flour, 3/4 cup sugar, salt and baking powder. Place vegetable oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup. Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries. Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
3.	To Make Crumb Topping: Mix together 1/2 cup sugar, 1/3 cup flour, 1/4 cup butter, and 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
4.	Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven, or until done.

Jacob really liked these.  They are by no means health muffins, but the streusel on top makes for one tasty blueberry muffin.  A 4.7 star rating by 2000 reviews is pretty good, I'd say.

Mandarin Orange Muffins

Interesting--muffins with orange chunks in them.  I thought I'd make them for breakfast for the Joslin crew and Brooke and myself. 

Mandarin Orange Muffins

Muffins
11 ounces fresh mandarin segments
1 1/2 c all-purpose flour
1 3/4 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/4 t nutmeg
1/4 t allspice
1/2 c sugar
1/3 c shortening
1 egg, lightly beaten
1/3 c milk

Topping
1/4 c melted butter
1/4 c sugar mixed with 1/2 t cinnamon

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Drain oranges well and pat dry while mixing batter.  Mix flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, and allspice (I added sugar here.  It never said where to add it).  Cut in shortening.  Add drained orange segments and mix lightly.  Combine egg and milk. Add all at once to flour mixture, and mix until flour is moistened.  Spoon into greased muffin pan about 3/4 depth.  Bake 20-25 minutes.  Remove from pan.  While hot, dip in melted butter, then roll in cinnamon sugar mixture.  Yield: 12 large muffins.


These were basically Baked Apple Donuts with orange instead of apple.  Joanna said they were a little drier than she liked, probably because I didn't mix the orange chunks in well enough to spread throughout.  I liked them, especially when there were a lot of orange in a bite.  If I want Baked Apple Donuts, but have oranges instead of apples, I would make these.  Otherwise I would still make the Baked Apple Donuts.

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

This recipe comes from a website that apparently no longer exists because I hoped to find it so I wouldn't have to type the entire recipe in by hand. No such luck.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Baking time: 30 minutes
Makes 6 jumbo or 12 regular muffins

Ingredients
For the muffins
3 c. fresh blueberries, divided
2 1/4 c. all purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
3/4 c butter at room temp
1 c granulated sugar
2 large eggs
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 container (8 oz) lemon yogurt

For the Streusel
1/2 c all purpose flour
1/3 c packed brown sugar
1/4 c butter

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease 6 jumbo or 12 regular muffin tins. Wash and dry the blueberries. In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking powder, salt and nutmeg.

2. Using an electric mixer on high speed, beat thhe butter and granulated sugar. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating after adding each. Add the vanilla; beat until fluffy. Stir in half of the flour mixture and then the yogurt. Stir in the remaining flour; fold in 2 1/2 c. blueberries.

3. To prepare streusel topping, in a medium bowl, combine the flour and brown sugar. Using two knives, cut the butter into the flour and sugar until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

4. Fill the muffin cups half-full with batter. Sprinkle the muffins with half the streusel. Top with the remaining batter; sprinkle with the remaining streusel. Sprinkle the muffins with the remaining 1/2 cup berries; bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 degrees and bake jumbo muffins 20 minutes longer (bake regular muffins 10 minutes longer), or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool muffins in the pan for at least 10 minutes.

I thought these muffins were just fine and nothing spectacular. Big Chubb loved them, and I can't remember how the Little Chubb felt about them. We only had Greek yogurt when I made them and so the muffins had a very distinct Greek yogurt taste. And, I felt they were a little too moist. But, that was what Big Chubb liked about them.

Carrot-Bran Muffins

I was in the mood for something special for breakfast, so I dug through my recipes and chose this one. What I really wanted was a really good coffee cake, but I felt like I needed something healthier (and faster), so I whipped up these. It's an old recipe written by Mom on an index card and taped onto a sheet of notebook paper.

Carrot-Bran Muffins

1 1/2 c whole bran cereal
1 c buttermilk
1 c flour
1/4 c brown sugar, packed
2 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 beaten egg
1 medium carrots, finely shredded (3/4 c)
3 T cooking oil

Combine bran and buttermilk; let stand about 3 minutes. In mixing bowl, stir together dry ingredients. Combine milk-bran, egg, carrot, and oil; add to flour all at once, stirring just til moistened. Fill greased muffin cup 2/3 full. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 minutes. 12-14 muffins.

They were very...healthy. There was just a slight hint of sweetness (Read: Add more sugar). They would also probably do well with raisins. I'm trying to increase C's fiber intake, so hopefully these help. Note: They were done in 16 minutes. 25 would have been way too long.