I made these a few weeks ago, when I decided it was high time to kick off my fall baking. I had a Granny Smith apple on hand and with only one apple, pie or apple crisp was out of the question, so muffins it was! After surveying the contents of my fridge, I found a bit of leftover buttermilk, and a quick Google search led me to a Martha Stewart recipe that I decided to play around with.
If I'm making "everyday" muffins that I'm not planning to share with friends or guests, I try to err on the side of healthy. For these, I reduced the sugar, used whole wheat flour, and added some flaxseed. I figured they'd be good--aren't all muffins?--but I didn't expect them to wow me. Guess what? They wowed me!
These apple muffins are light and fluffy, with just enough crunch from the apples and walnuts and spice from the cinnamon. I froze my entire batch and would throw a few into my lunchbox to enjoy, thawed the next day, at work. These might be "everyday, healthyish" muffins, but don't let that keep you from sharing these...although I totally understand if you don't want to!


One Year Ago: Tuna and Artichoke Sandwiches
Two Years Ago: Root Beer Float Cake and Bacon Turkey Burgers with Savory Apple Compote
Three Years Ago: Chocolate Chile Nuts and Black Bean and Walnut Salad
Four Years Ago: Magic Cookie Bars and Honey Wheat Sandwich Buns
Five Years Ago: Whole Grain Waffles and Homemade Granola Bars

One Thursday morning, Erin headed over with Eoin, my nephew, and Kate headed over with Huxley, her babysitting charge, and we had a playdate of sorts. Nevermind that the kids were all less than half a year old and didn't necessarily "play" together, doing more eating and sleeping than anything else. Us ladies took advantage of the chance to hang out and eat muffins! True to their name, these are basically individual portions of coffee cake. The tender muffins are sweet and cinnamon-packed and topped with a buttery, crumbly streusel, like all good coffee cakes are. They're good warm from the oven or at room temperature, and if you can't eat all of them at once, freeze them and pull them out on a day you're craving coffee cake but don't want to whip up a huge pan of it!


One Year Ago: Sour Cream Pancakes
Two Years Ago: Favorite Spring Dishes and BBQ Chicken Pizza
Three Years Ago: Raisin and Pine Nut Asparagus and Chocolate Bird's Nest Cookies
Four Years Ago: Lucky Charms Treats and Cranberry Orange Sour Cream Loaf

Lemon Berry Buttermilk Muffins

What's your least favorite dish to clean? For me it's the muffin tin! All those nooks and crannies! Yes, you can line the muffin tin, but even so I spill enough batter that I still find myself scrubbing the darn thing. Sure, I could quit making muffins, but that clearly doesn't sound like an enjoyable solution so instead I'll keep cursing the muffin tin each time I break it out. (Confession--right now I'm boycotting cleaning the kitchen and instead cuddling a certain baby, who is only content in her mom's arms these days. Can't say I'm complaining ;))

Cleaning the muffin tin is worth it when your muffins are this good. After two 70 degree days in a row earlier this week, I started craving all things bright and fresh and spring-like. The result? Lemon berry muffins! I had some buttermilk leftover from some other muffins I'll soon be sharing with you and when Driscolls sent me some coupons for some berries, I knew exactly how I wanted to use them.
These turned out exactly how I pictured, albeit a little browner around the edges than I anticipated (keep an eye on them in the last few minutes!). They're light and airy, the complete opposite of all the heavy winter foods I'm just done with! I actually made a double batch of them so that I'll have plenty to share at a playdate this morning and with my visiting family this weekend!

Looking for more muffin recipes? Driscolls is taking a cue from March Madness and instead spending the month competing muffins in #MuffinMadness. Check out the competing muffins here. Note--Driscolls did not sponsor this post in any way other than providing me coupons!

One Year Ago: Bailey's Coconut Chocolate Chip Cookies and Spicy Spinach Dip with Pine Nuts
Two Years Ago: Spicy Roasted Chickpea Fajitas and Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Cranberries with Barley
Three Years Ago: Banana Cream Cheese Muffins and Pecan Chocolate Chip Gooey Butter Bars
Four Years Ago: Whole Wheat Buttermilk Pancakes and Tabbouleh 

Banana Buttermilk Muffins

 I used to think I was a morning person, but over the past few years I’ve come to really appreciate my sleep. The 5 am wakeup calls Monday through Friday get old, fast, and I find myself fighting my way out of sleep more than I used to. Recently, I was in the middle of a dream that a giant (anaconda-sized!) snake had suddenly entered (I blame snake world!). As we encountered the snake, my alarm went off. Needless to say, that was one morning I was more than willing to get up!
One Year Ago: Corn, Avocado, and Tomato Salad with Honey Lime Vinaigrette
Two Years Ago: Rocky Road Ice Cream
Three Years Ago: Strawberry Amaretto Shortcakes

I know leftover (cooked) quinoa works in cookies, so this time I decided to give it a go in another baked good. While I don't remember the quinoa making the cookies particularly moist, these banana muffins practically melted in your mouth with each bite. In fact, though I prefer to err on the side of under-baking, these probably could have used a few more minutes in the oven.
Adding quinoa provides an extra boost of nutrition, especially compared to a flour-only muffin. I kept the sugar content pretty low because between the ripe bananas and the raisins these were plenty sweet. I do recommend storing them in the fridge and eating them within 3 or 4 days. I'm guessing they would also freeze and reheat well.

Now you have two excuses to make extra quinoa when you're making a pot of it for dinner!

One Year Ago: Avalanche Bars
Two Years Ago: Gorgonzola Smashed Potatoes
Three Years Ago: Frozen Cherry Limeade Pie

White Chocolate Banana Muffins

One Year Ago: Chicken, Rice, and Bean Freezer Burritos
Two Years Ago: Artichoke, Kale, and Ricotta Pie
Three Years Ago: Strawberry French Toast

 A few weeks ago I came home from the grocery store with lots of extra carrots. I was craving carrot cake, but didn’t have the time to make and frost a layer cake, nor did Ryan and I need a giant cake sitting around. Instead, I decided to fulfill my craving in a slightly healthier way—via carrot bread and muffins.

One Year Ago: Salty Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars
Two Years Ago: Chili Glazed Pork with Sweet Potato Hash
Three Years Ago: Caprese Sandwiches

 

 

This is a season of abundance. No matter how much we try to avoid it, the month of December is a lesson in excess. Excessive amounts of food, excessive spending, excessive gift-giving. Suddenly you find yourself dropping twenties like they're going out of style, drinking a glass of wine or two every more nights than not, and eating cookies for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

Don't get me wrong. I understand that this is a season of celebration. And no matter how much I try to focus on the true meaning of the season, it's easy to get caught up in the commercialized version of the holidays. These muffins take things in the opposite direction. They're humble, they're healthy, and the only thing excessive about them is the ratio of cranberries to square inch! 

These are a nice contrast to the heavy, rich food you've likely been eating all month and will continue to chow down on for the next few days. Much as I love to dig into a giant cinnamon roll on Christmas morning, these are a good alternative for the other days this week. They're best served warm from the oven, but ten seconds in the microwave and a smear of butter will keep these fresh for several days.

One Year Ago: Christmas Breakfast Ideas
Two Years Ago: Monster Cookies

 You would never guess these have over three cups of fruit and vegetables in them! Even after reducing the sugar and including whole wheat flour and ground flax, these tasted way more like an unhealthy coffee-shop muffin than they actually were. The chunks of carrot are visible throughout the muffins, but it's not so noticeable that it will frighten picky eaters. The only thing these were missing was a crunch, and only because I'd just run out of walnuts. I actually headed to the store the next day to pick up walnuts for batch #2 and I've included them in the recipe below. You can modify the recipe how you wish--omit the coconut, add chocolate chips, or sub raisins for craisins. Never throw away that last 1/2 cup of pumpkin again! (And for the few pumpkin haters out there--you'd never guess pumpkin was an ingredient, I even tested this theory!)
(You could also make Whole Wheat Pumpkin Waffles, Cinnamon Streusel Pumpkin Buns, Pumpkin Cheesecake Spice Bars, or Pumpkin Granola Bars with 1/2 cup pumpkin!)

Thank you guys for your dinner inspiration on Friday's post!! I picked my tshirt winners--commenters #4,11, and 26 [Lauren P. , Mandy, and Jane Gorski--yes my mom was randomly selected ha!]...ladies, send me an email at natalie@thesweetslife.com so that I can hook you up with your tshirt!

One Year Ago: Creamy Pumpkin Peanut Soup
Two Years Ago: Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Apples
Three Years Ago: Pizza Fail

I've been a little obsessed with fresh mango lately, enjoying it in salsa, ice cream, rice, and whatever else I can stick it in. Dried mango, on the other hand, is a different story. I'd never eaten it, let alone baked with it. When my Melissa's Produce package included some dried mango, I first though I'd just make Vegan Mango Banana Bread, using dried instead of fresh. But then I remembered the buttermilk I had hanging out in my fridge, and a google search led me to these muffins which featured coconut, another favorite. In just fifteen minutes, I mixed up the muffins and before I knew it I was breaking one in half, fresh from the oven.