Carrot Cake Muffins (Gluten Free and Vegan)

CARROT CAKE MUFFINS

I made some blueberry muffins (see link below) they other day and they turned out great.  I made a few changes to make the muffins vegan (swapped out soy yogurt for cow’s milk yogurt and used flax egg in place of regular eggs).  The muffin had a nice dense, moisture texture and I instantly thought that I would like to try to make this muffin with different ingredients since I liked the muffins so much.  Today was my attempt at a Carrot Cake Muffin and the results were great!  These muffins are gluten free, oil free, and vegan.  Today I made both the blueberry version and the carrot cake version and now my freezer is well stocked with healthy and easy snacks.

Carrot cake muffins

Inspired by a recipe on www.glutenfreeonashoestring.com

https://glutenfreeonashoestring.com/healthy-blueberry-muffins/

INGREDIENTS

2 1/4 cups (225 g) certified gluten free old fashioned rolled oats (or regular rolled oats if GF is not an issue)

1/2 cup (80 g) granulated coconut palm sugar (or light brown sugar)

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

3/4 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly grated if you have it

1 cup (240 g) smooth applesauce, at room temperature

1/2 cup (114 g) plain yogurt (I used Silk brand soy yogurt), may use any other plain yogurt if desired

2 flax eggs (combine 2 tablespoons ground flax need/ground flax seed with 5 tablespoons water, let it rest for about 10 minutes before adding to the dry ingredients), may use 2 eggs if desired

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup coarsely grated carrot (about 2 medium carrots), I used my box grater

1/2 cup pecans, chopped

1/4 cup raisins

• Preheat your oven to 325°F. Grease or line the wells of a standard 12-cup muffin tin, and set it aside.
• In a blender (or food processor fitted with the steel blade), place the oats and process into a fine powder. If you’re using coconut palm sugar, place that in the blender, too, and process it too. Pour the oat flour mixture into a bowl. Add in the baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Stir to combine.
  
  Create a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the applesauce, yogurt, flax eggs, and vanilla, and mix nearly combined. Add the carrots/pecans/raisins and mix gently until these ingredients are evenly distributed throughout the batter. The batter will be thick but very soft. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared wells of the muffin tin. Shake the tin back and forth to evenly distribute the batter in the wells.
• Place the tin in the center of the preheated oven and bake until the tops of the muffins are nicely domed and they spring back when pressed gently with a finger, 20 to 22 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for about 10 minutes in the tin before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.
  
  

  

  
  

Healthy Marbled Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins

Healthy Marbled Chocolate Pumpkin Muffins



I get lots of emails from lots of cooking blogs to alert me about new recipes.  Today before we went for a hike with the dogs out in the cold and drizzly weather, I saw this recipe for Healthy Marbled Pumpkin Muffins featured on the "Ambitious Kitchen" blog.  I've been itchin' to do some bakin' so I made these muffins after our hike.  It was a good day to crank up the oven, warm up the kitchen, and fill the house with delicious smells... vanilla, cinnamon, pumpkin, allspice, chocolate.... Mmmmmm.



Aren't these gorgeous looking muffins? They were super fun to make.  Now I want to make marbled EVERYTHING!




I did not make many changes to this recipe.  I used vegetable oil in place of the coconut oil and just added it in with the other wet ingredients.  I used mini chocolate chips in place of larger chips and used less than the recipe called for.  For the flour, I used 1/2 white whole wheat flour and 1/2 unbleached all purpose flour.  The original recipe can be found HERE and also includes instructions for how you can make this recipe GLUTEN FREE and VEGAN if you'd like.

I'm looking forward to sharing these tasty treats with my friends at the yarn shop tomorrow!  I bet the ladies will love them.

Flourless Pumpkin Blender Muffins with Chocolate Chips and Walnuts

Flourless Pumpkin Blender Muffins with Chocolate Chips and Walnuts

I've made a lot of blender muffins in the past year or so and this one is probably my favorite. I tweaked the recipe just a tad and I love these muffins.  The recipe source is a blog called "Making Thyme for Health".  I think I may have made these muffins once before, but I added raisins and walnuts.  I guess my only changes this time around were (1) using extra virgin olive oil instead of the recommended peanut butter or coconut oil, (2) using plain almond milk instead of vanilla flavored almond milk, and (3) adding walnuts along with the chocolate chips.  

RECIPE SOURCE:

http://makingthymeforhealth.com/healthy-flourless-pumpkin-muffins/

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons evoo
• 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 2 and 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts 

DIRECTIONS:

Preheat the oven to 350°F and then grease or line a muffin tin for 12 muffins.

Starting with the wet ingredients first (pumpkin, maple syrup, eggs, etc.) layer everything except the chocolate chips and walnuts into a blender or a food processor; blend until smooth.

Using a spoon, gently stir the chocolate chips and walnuts into the batter. Pour the batter into the muffin tin, filling each about 3/4th of the way full. Bake in the oven for 22 minutes, until light golden brown.

Allow to to cool for at least 10-15 minutes before stuffing in your face.

I am sure these probably freeze well like the other blender muffins I've made but these are all gone. I took some to the knit shop to share with my friends and I ate the rest! 

 

Pumpkin Muffins with Raisins and Walnuts (Wheat Free Blender Muffins)

Pumpkin Pie Muffins with Raisins and Walnuts



I've made a lot of flourless blender muffins in the past year or so.  This recipe is great. It comes from a blog with a clever name: Making Thyme for Health.  Here is the ORIGINAL recipe link (click HERE).

http://makingthymeforhealth.com/healthy-flourless-pumpkin-muffins/

I made a few changes to the recipe and the muffins turned out great.  I am certain the original recipe is super good but I knew my husband would not eat pumpkin muffins with chocolate chips.  Some folks just don't get the pumpkin/chocolate combination.  My changes to the original recipe included omitting chocolate chips, and adding in raisins and walnuts, as well as ground ginger and cloves.



Flourless Pumpkin Pie Muffins with Raisins and Walnuts

Ingredients:

• 1 cup pumpkin puree
• 1/2 cup pure maple syrup
• 2 eggs
• 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
• 3 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
• 1/4 cup unsweetened almond milk
• 2 and 1/4 cup rolled oats
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• heaping 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup raisins
• 1/2 to 3/4 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350°F and then grease or line a muffin tin for 12 muffins.
Starting with the wet ingredients first (pumpkin, maple syrup, eggs, etc.) layer everything except the chocolate chips into a blender or a food processor and blend for about 30 seconds, or until smooth.
Using a spoon, gently stir the raisins and walnuts into the batter. Pour the batter into the muffin tin, filling each about 3/4th of the way full. Bake in the oven for 22 minutes, until light golden brown.
Allow to cool for at least 10-15 minutes.

These muffins keep best stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Be sure to use certified gluten-free oats (such as Bob’s Red Mill) for allergies.

Healthy Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Healthy Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Healthy Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Recipe from "Ambitious Kitchen"

Link:  http://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/2014/07/healthy-double-chocolate-zucchini-muffins/

Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour or white whole wheat flour
• 1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted and cooled (I used extra virgin olive oil)
• 1/3 cup honey or agave nectar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 egg
• 1 egg white
• 1 cup shredded zucchini (about 1 medium)
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce (you can also use greek yogurt!)
• 1/2 cup Almond Breeze Unsweetened Almond Milk
• 1/2 cup regular or mini chocolate chips (I used a little less)

Instructions

1. Preaheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line 12 cup muffin tin with cupcake liners and generously spray inside of liners with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Squeeze shredded zucchini of excess water with a paper towel. This is important, so don’t forget!
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt; set aside.
4. In the bowl of an electric mixer, add coconut oil, honey, vanilla, egg and egg white; mix on medium-low until smooth and well combined. Add in zucchini, applesauce, and almond milk; mix again. Slowly add in dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Gently fold in chocolate chips.
5. Evenly divide batter into prepared liners. Bake 22-25 minutes or until toothpick inserted into middle comes out clean. After 5 minutes, remove muffins and transfer to wire rack to finish cooling. Enjoy!

Notes

To keep muffins dairy free, use dairy free chocolate chips.

I love adding a few extra chocolate chips (2-3) on top of each muffin before baking to make them look pretty, but it's up to you!

3.2.2807

It's a cold and snowy April day in Southern Colorado.  Despite there being leaves on all the trees, as there should be this time of year, we have wet, gloppy snow coming down.  Hopefully we don't lose any tree limbs and hopefully we don't lose heat and power with limbs falling on above ground power lines.  We briefly took the dogs for a walk this morning, but it was cold, wet, and WINDY.  When I came home from our brief morning walk, cranking up the oven seemed like a really good idea. I made these Healthy Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins from www.ambitiouskitchen.com.  These muffins are delicious and taste just like cake.  My muffins are a little crumbly but I am not complaining.  Did you hear me say... "they taste like CAKE?!?" 

Carrot Cake Flourless Blender Muffins

I've been craving carrot cake.  I've especially been craving the kind with a big old layer of cream cheese frosting up on top.  Around Easter, I found plenty of carrot cake and carrot cake cupcake recipes on line and they looked amazing.  I decided to go for a healthier carrot cake muffin and basically added grated carrot and some other ingredients to the flourless blender muffins I've been making for months.   

The base of the muffins is always oats, eggs, bananas, applesauce, honey, Greek yogurt, salt, baking powder, and baking soda.  I've made a number of different varieties by adding in ingredients such as zucchini, coconut, nuts, coconut, chocolate chips, and so on.  Ordinarily the recipe makes 12 muffins, but since I add over 1 1/2 cups of extra ingredients in this recipe, it's better to make 14 or 15 muffins out of this recipe.  I made 12 muffins this time around and the muffins took much longer to bake and it was difficult to tell when they were done.  The other thing I noticed about these muffins is that, when the muffins first come out of the oven, it's hard to get the paper liners off of the muffins cleanly.  The next day, however, the paper liners come off much more easily.  Foil muffin liners may work a bit better and of course you can avoid this problem all together by not using muffin liners at all (just make sure you have a good non-stick surface and you use non-stick spray in your muffin pans).

Carrot Cake Flourless Blender Muffins

Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients

2 cups old fashioned oats (use certified gluten free oats if desired)

2 ripe bananas

2 eggs

1/4 cup Greek yogurt or light sour cream

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

3 Tbsps honey

1 1/2 tsp baking powder 

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

1/3 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

1/3 cup raisins

2 finely grated carrots, small to medium size (about 1 cup)

Optional:  additional chopped nuts to sprinkle on muffins before baking

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In your blender, pulse together all ingredients except for the chopped nuts, raisins, and grated carrots. Pause to stir if ingredients do not blend well at first.  Blend until well combined.  Pour contents of blender into a large bowl.  Add in chopped nuts, raisins, and carrots; gently fold in ingredients until well incorporated. 

2. Pour batter into muffin pans lined with paper cups. Makes 14 - 15 muffins.  If desired, sprinkle additional chopped nuts on top of the muffins.  Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until the tops are puffed and golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Blueberry Muffins

Blueberry Muffins

Blueberry muffins seemed like a good idea today. Blueberries were on sale this week so I got just one 6 ounce container. I used just one cup of berries in the muffins, ate a few berries solely for the purpose of quality assurance (yeah, right!), and then also poked a few blueberries into the muffins just before I popped them in the oven.

This recipe is based upon some Almond Poppyseed Muffins I made with Zach this past summer. It's a really basic muffin batter and can easily be adapted to make different flavors of muffins.  I've also used this recipe to make Chocolate Chip Muffins (just use the recipe below and add about 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup mini-chocolate chips in place of the blueberries).  This recipe calls for sour cream which I often have on hand. Today I only had 1/4 cup sour cream so I used 1/4 cup sour cream plus 1/4 cup Greek yogurt in place of the 1/2 sour cream and the muffins turned out great.

Blueberry Muffins
Adapted from a recipe on www.bettercrocker.com

Ingredients

1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
1 1/3 all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 cup fresh blueberries

Heat oven to 350°F. Line 12 medium muffin cups with paper or foil baking cups (or spray cups with cooking spray or grease with shortening).

In large bowl, stir together the sugar, oil, egg, and vanilla. Beat in sour cream and milk until blended.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, and baking soda; stir until well blended.  Add dry ingredients in to the wet ingredients; gently stir until nearly all the flour mixture is moistened.  Add in the blueberries and carefully stir a few more strokes until the flour mixture is all moistened and the blueberries are evenly distributed in the batter.  Lumps are okay; do NOT overmix.

Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. 

Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (my muffins were lightly browned at 19 minutes). Remove from pan to wire rack. Serve warm or cool.

Banana Chocolate Chip Zucchini Coconut Pecan Flourless Blender Muffins

Banana Chocolate Chip Zucchini Coconut Pecan Flourless Blender Muffins (Gluten Free)

For some reason, I feel compelled to list every special ingredient in the title of the recipe.  These muffins are full of goodies.  Once again I found myself with over ripe bananas on my counter top.  I find that my bananas seem to be under ripe one day and then over ripe the next day.  This explains why there is a wide assortment of flourless blender muffins in my freezer.  This week, I have been craving a little chocolate and this treat resolved that craving.  This past summer I made some cookies with zucchini, chocolate chips, coconut, oats, and nuts, so maybe that's why it occurred to me to pile all these ingredients into muffins. Whatever the case may be, I am enjoying these muffins. They are only slightly sweet from a touch of honey and ripe bananas. If you like your muffins on the sweeter side, you may opt to add in a bit of brown sugar to make them sweeter.  You could also use sweetened coconut and/or sweetened applesauce to make things a little sweeter too.

Banana Chocolate Chip Zucchini Coconut Pecan Flourless Blender Muffins

Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients

2 cups old fashioned oats (use certified gluten free oats if desired)

2 ripe bananas 

2 large eggs

1/4 cup plain Greek yogurt

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

3 Tbsps honey (may substitute maple syrup)

1 1/2 tsp baking powder 

1/2 tsp baking soda 

1 tsp vanilla extract 

1/8 tsp salt 

1/3 cup semi sweet mini chocolate chips

1/3 cup unsweetened coconut

1 cup coarsely grated zucchini

3/4 cup chopped pecans (or walnuts)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In your blender, pulse together all ingredients except for the chocolate chips, coconut, zucchini, and pecans.  Pause to stir if ingredients do not blend well at first.  Blend until well combined.  Stir in the chocolate chips, coconut, zucchini, and pecans  

2. Pour batter into a 12-cup muffin pan lined with paper cups.  (If using a silicone pan, you can skip the paper cups or generously spray muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray).  Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until the tops are puffed and golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (Mine were done at 14 minutes).

Flourless Pumpkin Blender Muffins with Walnuts and Raisins

Flourless Pumpkin Blender Muffins with Walnuts and Raisins

So nice to wake up to these yummy muffins this morning!

The other day I opened up a BIG can of Libby's Pumpkin Puree. 

First, I made up a batch of Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Cookies; the ladies at the knit shop loved them. They are tender and cake-like; they kind of remind me of muffin tops (the best part of a muffin!). Here is the recipe:

http://www.cookiemadness.net/2008/10/pumpkin-chocolate-chip-cookies-with-oil/

I also made up half of a batch of Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Energy Bites; I made this recipe several weeks ago.  They are delicious!  I keep them in the freezer and just defrost a few here and there (the ladies at the knit shop loved these, too!).  Here is the recipe:

http://kimscookingfrenzy.blogspot.com/2016/08/pumpkin-chocolate-chip-energy-balls.html?m=0

I still had about half of the big can of pumpkin puree in my refrigerator yesterday.  Not wanting it to go to waste, I found a few more recipes to make using up the last of the pumpkin. 

If you've been following along the past few weeks, you know that I've recently discovered Flourless Blender Muffins.  The muffin batter is mixed in a blender and the muffins are flourless because rolled oats are used in place of any flour.  A week or two ago, I TRIED to make up Flourless Blender Muffins with pumpkin based on the successful recipe I had been making.  My Flourless Pumpkin Blender Muffins were an EPIC FLOP!  There was not enough moisture in the mix and the batter would not blend.  I went to take the lid off of my Ninja Blender (which screws on tightly), and a lot of pressure had built up in the blender. I had a Blender Blow Out! Pumpkin-oat GOO everywhere.  I tried to salvage the batter by adding in some unsweetened almond milk.  I baked the muffins but they just were not good. They tasted more liked baked oatmeal (but not in a good way!) and I ended up throwing them out. What a waste! 

So I was all to happy to try out a new recipe for Flourless Blender Muffins with Pumpkin where someone else already did the experimentation for me.  I made these muffins last night and I am really pleased with them.  They are dense, hearty, moist, and flavorful, but they are only slightly sweet.  If you like sweeter muffins you can easily increase the sweetness by adding more sugar or maple syrup (or honey).  If you use vanilla yogurt in place of the plain yogurt, or if you use sweetened applesauce in place of the unsweetened applesauce, then of course your muffins would be a little sweeter.  I was worried about my muffins a bit because my pumpkin puree, yogurt, and eggs, were all cold right out of the refrigerator when I blended up my muffin batter.  It would be preferable to let your cold ingredients come up to room temperature or at least sit out on the counter top for a bit.  Despite my ingredients being cold, my muffins turned out fine; however, I do think I had to bake them just a tad longer.

Here is the link to the recipe I made yesterday:

http://www.runningwithspoons.com/2015/11/20/pumpkin-oat-greek-yogurt-muffins/

I did make a few alterations to the recipe and you will find my version below.  My alterations included the following:

I added a bit of salt

I omitted the chocolate chips and added walnuts and raisins

I used 1/2 the recommended amount of yogurt and substituted unsweetened applesauce

I used brown sugar and maple syrup in place of the sweetener recommended

I decreased the cooking temperature from 400 degrees to 375 degrees Fahrenheit

Flourless Pumpkin Blender Muffins with Walnuts and Raisins

Adapted from www.runningwithspoons.com

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 cup canned pumpkin puree
• 2 eggs
• 2 cups rolled oats (old fashioned)
• 1/4 cup light brown sugar (not packed)
• 2 tablespoons pure maple syrup (or honey)
• 1½ tsp. baking powder
• ½ tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1 tsp. vanilla extract
• 1/8 tsp. salt
• 2/3 cup raisins
• 2/3 cup chopped walnuts
• pumpkin seeds for topping (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and prepare a muffin pan by spraying cavities with cooking spray or lining them with paper liners. Set aside.
2. Add all ingredients except for raisins and chopped walnuts to a blender or food processor and process on high until oats are broken down and batter is smooth and creamy, about 2-3 minutes. Stir in raisins and chopped walnuts by hand by hand.
3. Pour batter into prepared muffin pan, filling each cavity until it is about ¾ full. Sprinkle a few pumpkin seeds, if desired.
4. Bake for 15-18 minutes, until the tops of your muffins are set and a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool in pan for ~10 minutes before removing. Store in an air-tight container for up to a week.  Muffins also freeze well.

Here are some photos from the hikes I took yesterday.  In the morning, we were up at Tunnel Drive (below).  You can see the Arkansas River and Grape Creek in this photo.

In the afternoon, we were hiking up on Skyline Drive and the Hogbacks.  We found a furry friend along the way.

I recently discovered that my iPhone tracks my steps, distance walked, and changes in elevation.  It's fun to see.  Below is a summary of yesterday's hikes:

More Flourless Blender Muffins: Zucchini, Walnuts, and Raisins

Flourless Blender Muffins:

Zucchini, Walnuts, and Raisins

I've been enjoying Flourless Blender Muffins for the past several weeks.  They freeze really well; I just thaw out a few here and there.  I've made some with bananas, nuts, and mini-chocolate chips (see HERE) and I've made others with bananas, nuts, and spices so the muffins are similar to banana bread (see HERE).  Today, I thought I'd try to make some with zucchini, walnuts, and raisins.  They turned out good, but they are NOT very sweet (if you like sweeter muffins, you might want to add in a few tablespoons of brown sugar).  My muffins just have a little honey for sweetness, with additional sweetness coming from the raisins and the bananas.

Flourless Blender Muffins: Zucchini, Walnuts, and Raisins

  

Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients

2 cups old fashioned oats (use certified gluten free oats if desired)

2 ripe bananas

2 eggs

1/4 cup Greek yogurt

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

3 Tbsps honey

1 1/2 tsp baking powder 

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/8 tsp salt

1/8 tsp ground allspice

1/8 tsp ground cloves

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

Add in: 2 to 3 tablespoons brown sugar if you desire sweeter muffins

3/4 cup grated zucchini

1/2 cup raisins

3/4 cup chopped walnuts (if desired, reserve some and sprinkle on top of muffins just before baking)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In your blender, pulse together all ingredients except for the zucchini, raisins, and walnuts. Pause to stir if ingredients do not blend well at first.  Blend until well combined.  Stir in the zucchini, raisins, and walnuts. 

2. Pour batter into a 12-cup muffin pan lined with paper cups.  (If using a silicone pan, you can skip the paper cups or generously spray muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray).  Sprinkle with reserved chopped nuts, if desired.  Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until the tops are puffed and golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (Mine were done at 12-13 minutes).

Blender Muffins: Flourless Banana Nut Bread Muffins

Flourless Blender Banana Nut Bread Muffins

After having such great success with Blender Muffins earlier this week (click HERE if you missed that recipe), I just had to make another batch. My husband did not care for the initial recipe since he did not like the combination of banana and chocolate chips.  He thought they'd be better if they were more like Banana Nut Bread. So this batch of muffins is for him.  He said they are great!

This week, I was out of Greek yogurt. The first blender muffin recipe I made called for 1/2 cup Greek yogurt. I ran out of Greek yogurt so I used 1/4 cup Greek yogurt and 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce with great results.  Since I was out of Greek yogurt this time around, I used 1/4 cup light sour cream and 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce. It seems that playing around with these ingredients is working, which make this such a great, flexible recipe. I love that the yogurt, applesauce, or (in this case) light sour cream all take the place of butter or oil in the recipe.

Flourless Banana Nut Bread Muffins

Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients
2 cups old fashioned oats (use certified gluten free oats if desired)

2 ripe bananas

2 eggs

1/4 cup Greek yogurt or light sour cream

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

3 Tbsps honey

1 1/2 tsp baking powder 

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 scant cup chopped nuts (I used a combination of pecans and walnuts)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In your blender, pulse together all ingredients except for the chopped nuts. Pause to stir if ingredients do not blend well at first.  Blend until well combined.  Stir in all but 1/4 cup chopped nuts (reserve some to top the muffins before baking). 

2. Pour batter into a 12-cup muffin pan lined with paper cups.  (If using a silicone pan, you can skip the paper cups or generously spray muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray).  Sprinkle the reserved chopped nuts.  Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until the tops are puffed and golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (Mine were done at 12-13 minutes).

I hope you give blender muffins a try.  As you can tell, I am a big fan. They are so easy and they don't make too many dirty dishes.  I like to think of these as a healthier version of a muffin.  I am baking and freezing these muffins so that I can enjoy them for a few weeks and also keep the portions in control a bit.  Such a yummy treat!

Flourless Blender Muffins: Banana Chocolate Chip Walnut Muffins

Flourless Blender Banana Chocolate Chip Walnut Muffins

What a fun idea.  Place all ingredients for muffins in a blender, blend away, pour into a muffin tins, and bake!  Ordinarily making muffins makes a lot more dirty dishes than this recipe.

This recipe is really great. I found it on the internet (Facebook) and I felt compelled to make it because: (A) The recipe looked pretty healthy, (B) I had all of the ingredients on hand to make the recipe, and (C) Every day is better with baked goods!  Turns out, while making this recipe, I ran out of honey, Greek yogurt, and baking powder, but the recipe still worked.  I needed 1/2 cup Greek yogurt but only had 1/4 cup so I made up the difference with unsweetened applesauce.

My husband was a little worried about theses muffins and grilled me about the ingredients. It was pretty funny. 

He specifically asked, "Is there FLAX in these muffins!?" 

Nope, I assured him: no flax.  We had some coffee and some muffins together this afternoon (Yes, retirement is so ROUGH!).  My husband said these muffins would be better without the chocolate chips.  He's never been a fan of banana bread with chocolate chips either.  He suggested these muffins would be better if they were made with spices to make them taste like banana bread.  I agree that these muffins would be great that way, too.  I'll try that next time.

What I like about this recipe is that the batter is a great base and one could easily change up the "add ins" to make up many variations:  raisins and walnuts, grated apple and cinnamon, grated carrot, blueberries, dried cranberries, orange zest, and pecans, and so on. 

Flourless Blender Banana Chocolate Chip Walnut Muffins

From www.twobiteclub.com

  

Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients

2 cups old fashioned oats (use certified gluten free oats if desired)

2 ripe bananas

2 eggs

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt (I used 1/4 cup Greek yogurt and 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce)

3 Tbsps honey (I used about 2 1/2 tablespoons... I ran out)

1 1/2 tsp baking powder (I ran out and only used 1 teaspoon)

1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/8 tsp salt

1/2 cup mini chocolate chips

Optional: I added in 1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  In your blender, pulse together all ingredients except for the chocolate chips and walnuts. Pause to stir if ingredients do not blend well at first.  Blend until well combined.  Stir in the chocolate chips and walnuts (if using). 

2. Pour batter into a 12-cup muffin pan lined with paper cups.  (If using a silicone pan, you can skip the paper cups or generously spray muffin tins with non-stick cooking spray).  Sprinkle with additional chocolate chips, if desired.  Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until the tops are puffed and golden and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. (Mine were done at 12-13 minutes).

Recipe Link:

http://www.thetwobiteclub.com/2016/07/flourless-banana-chocolate-chip-muffins.html?m=1

Almond Poppy Seed Muffins

Almond Poppy Seed Muffins
Adapted from a recipe on www.bettercrocker.com

Ingredients

1/2 cup sugar
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 teaspoon almond extract
1/2 cup sour cream
1/4 cup milk
1 1/3 all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons poppy seed
2 tablespoons sliced almonds

Heat oven to 350°F. Line 10 medium muffin cups with paper baking cups (or spray cups with cooking spray or grease with shortening).

In large bowl, stir together the sugar, oil, egg, and almond extract. Beat in sour cream and milk until blended.

In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda and poppy seed; stir until well blended.  Add dry ingredients in to the wet ingredients; gently stir just until all dry ingredients are moistened.  Lumps are okay; do NOT overmix.

Divide batter evenly among muffin cups. Sprinkle batter with the almonds.

Bake 15 to 20 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean (my muffins were lightly browned at 19 minutes). Remove from pan to wire rack. Serve warm or cool.

I mentioned awhile back that I found store bought muffins (gasp!) at home when I came back from my Alaskan cruise.  Since Zach has been wanting to learn to cook this summer, I told him we could make muffins at home so he could learn about baking.  He's been so busy this summer that I offered to just make the muffins for him, but he said he'd like to make them with me.  That sure warmed my heart!  We made these muffins the other day and they turned out great.  Since the muffins have such a nice, moist texture, we talked about how one could use a muffin recipe like this and convert it to make other varieties (ie. blueberry, chocolate chip, and so on...)

This recipe is DEFINITELY a KEEPER!

Blueberry Muffins (Another recipe using yogurt)

Blueberry Muffins with Yogurt

 

A recipe from the Pioneer Woman: "Ellen's Awesome-est Blueberry Muffins"

In the past few posts, I've chatted about making yogurt at home and I've tried out a handful of recipes using yogurt. I made yogurt three weeks in a row and I did not do a good job eating the last batch.  I had spent a bundle on fresh blueberries to make yogurt parfaits. So I had blueberries and yogurt in the fridge, both about to go bad.  I did a Google search for blueberry muffins using yogurt and came across this great looking recipe on the Pioneer Woman's blog.  I am a big fan of her recipes and her show.  

 

I loved that I had all the ingredients on hand to make these muffins. 

The recipe can be found on the Pioneer Woman's blog HERE.

 

The Awesome-est Blueberry Muffins from www.thepioneerwoman.com

3 cups minus 2 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
Heavy pinch of salt
Dash of Nutmeg
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
1 generous cup plain, unflavored yogurt
2 cups fresh blueberries
Vanilla Extract
Softened Butter, for muffin tins (I used paper and foil liners in the muffin tins)
Turbinado sugar (optional)

Preheat oven to 385 degrees (I baked my muffins at 350 degrees).

In a large bowl sift flour, baking soda, nutmeg, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
In another large bowl whisk together sugar, oil, cap-ful of vanilla, egg, and yogurt. Add the dry ingredients and stir to a count of 10.

Add blueberries, reserving 1/2 cup, to mixture and stir 3 times.

Add mixture to well-buttered muffin pans. Sprinkle remaining berries on top and press down lightly. Sprinkle turbinado sugar over top. (Brown sugar can be used instead.)

Bake 20 to 25 minutes (mine were done at about 17 minutes) and allow to cool completely.

*****************
So far, my husband has tasted tested these and he said they are really good!

I think I got 21 muffins out of this batter.  I used foil and paper cupcake liners in my muffin pans and baked my muffins at a lower temperature for a shorter period of time.  I just know my muffin pans and my oven, and I also live above 5,000 feet in elevation.  I need to invest in an ice cream scoop so I can scoop my muffins and cupcakes more evenly.  This batter is just really thick and gorgeous. It might be a great basic muffin batter recipe which can easily be adapted to other varieties.  I might give that a try sometime.