Tag Archives: Muffin

Cheesy Apple Bacon Muffins [gluten free]

Posted on July 27, 2012 | 13 Comments

This blog used to basically be a muffin blog. I ate a muffin a day. Muffins and eggs, muffins and greek yogurt, muffins for dessert, muffins for snack.

And then I got muffined out.

And then I got more paleo.

And now the muffins are back.

Cheesy Apple Bacon Muffins

Recipe: Makes 6 muffins – Gluten free, Primal adaptable, Sugar free

  • 1/3 cup coconut flour
  • 4 eggs
  • 1/2 cup oat flour (you can make your own!)
  • 1/4 cup real or sugar-free maple syrup (depending on your needs…and politics)
  • 1 cup diced pink lady apple
  • 1/2 cup sharp cheddar cheese, shredded + extra for topping
  • 4 slices crispy bacon, nitrate free
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Primal version: 6 eggs and 1/2 cup coconut flour, no oat flour.

Directions – Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Microwave the bacon until crispy, about 5-6 minutes. Pour the grease into a jar and lay the bacon on a paper towel to dry. Dice the pink lady apple and set aside. Grate the cheddar cheese and set aside. In a large bowl, beat the eggs with the coconut flour. Add the oat flour (I simply ground up oats in a blender until powdery) and maple syrup (I use Joseph’s Sugar Free with malitol) and beat again. Sprinkle the salt and baking soda over the batter and stir. Crumble the bacon into chunks and bits. Fold the apples, cheese, and bacon into the batter. Bake for ~20 minutes, or until the muffins have risen and are just lightly browned.

come to mama.

bacon never looked so cute

I’m on a bit of a life high right now. Yesterday was my first day at my LINC (low income housing) volunteer position. I got there early and helped my supervisor set up the room for the after school/summer program for the kids. The kids trickled in around 2:15 and had Enrichment until 4. I helped the cutest pair of 6 year old twins I have ever seen with their reading and writing. One of them has an afro mohawk and was really into his work and getting as far through the workbook as possible. The other was completely disinterested in working and just kept gazing off at the other kids who had already finished. He simply didn’t believe in himself! He thought everything was too hard for him. I kept telling him that he could do it – he could do whatever he wanted to accomplish as long as he didn’t give up and worked at it. We got through a few pages, but then it was snack time. During snack, my supervisor introduced me and we had the kids go around and introduce themselves. They ranged in age from 6 to 14 and were all very lively. Next, I had an hour to teach them anything. I started out with asking them to name a food they like and a food they don’t like.

They liked chicken, carrots, pizza, mashed potatos, tamales, fish, and chocolate. They didnt like broccoli, sea food, peppers, peas, onions and more broccoli.

Next, I asked them to name a food they thought was healthy and a food they thought “wasn’t good for them.” They thought carrots, lettuce, broccoli, watermelon, and olives (?!) were healthy. They thought cake, chocolate, gravy, bacon, cupcakes, ribs, and pizza was not good for them. I told them that we needed to move ribs to the good list because it was such a great source of protein.   That lead to a great little conversation on why and how protein helps us grow up and get stronger.

The main thing I wanted to get out of this first session was seeing how much they knew about the food groups, what the thought was healthy versus not, and what kinds of foods they liked.

The most successful part of the lesson was when I asked them to look at the list of foods they said were bad for them and figure out what the cake, chocolate, and cupcakes had in common. Silence. Eventually, one of the older boys screeched SUGAR!!!

 I asked them why sugar was bad for them… Silence again. Come on you guys, why is sugar bad for you? A boy in a 49ers hat raised his hand and mumbled “because it makes you fat.” This gave me a way to talk about how eating too much sugar and not moving around enough can make us gain weight because our cells aren’t eating all of the food we are giving them. The more we move around, the more our cells will eat the food that we eat.  It we eat too much sugar and don’t do anything, the food will become fat on our bodies. Also, sugar may give us energy at first, but then it will make us sleepy and leave us with less energy than we had before. They all seemed to understand and were particularly interested in why sugar leaves us tired and why protein helps us get stronger. I did my best! They also wanted to know what was wrong with my foot (I didn’t drink enough milk and yogurt growing up and didn’t wear proper shoes to work out in) and what that thing on my arm was (its a machine that measures my heart rate and steps every day to make sure I am active enough). 

I have three more sessions with them, so I’m thinking of theming one veggies, one fruits, and one protein/dairy. I contacted Chobani and they are going to send me yogurt to give the kids! I am so excited – I am sure that none of them have been exposed to greek yogurt!

Thank you to the couple of you that gave me suggestions. I really appreciate it. Have a wonderful weekend, everyone!

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My first try at gluten free baking and why you should cook with grape seed oil

Posted on January 31, 2011 | 16 Comments

I can be a little bit needy.

Sometimes, I want my muffins to be carblicious. Other times, I want them to have more fat and fiber. And sometimes I simply make them to use up some bizzarre ingredient that I want to be rid of.

That would be why I have two different gluten free lemon poppyseed muffin recipes for you today. They both taste very similar but have different nutritional profiles. Also, one calls for lemon curd (which you could substitute out) because I wanted to get rid of it.

Luscious Lemon Poppyseed Muffins (GF)

Recipe: Makes 7 muffins

These muffins are delicious and packed with flavor. The consistency is very muffin like, but slightly more crumbly – in a good way. They are on the sweet side (in my opinion) and definitely a crowd pleaser.

Dry ingredients –

1 ¾ cup brown rice flour

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

½-1 tbsp poppy seeds

Wet ingredients -

1 egg

7 tsp lemon curd

1 tbsp grape seed oil

juice of 1 lemon

lemon zest of 1/2 lemon

5 tbsp sugar

Directions: In two separate bowls, mix all of the wet ingredients and all of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet over the dry and stir with as few swoops of a spatula as possible. Divide batter into a greased muffin tin and bake at 375 until they pass the toothpick test.

 

Now, although I loved those muffins, I was slightly disappointed by the lack of fiber in the gluten free flour. I did buy brown rice flour, which was better than the white rice, but I wanted the muffins to have a bit more staying power. So, I went to the Co-op and picked up some garbanzo bean flour which has an astonishing amount of fiber in it and is also gluten free! I also wanted to make them a bit lower sugar.

 

Luscious Lemon Poppyseed Muffins #2 (GF)

Recipe: Makes 6 muffins

Dry ingredients –

1 cup brown rice flour

1/2 cup garbanzo flour (or use 1/4 cup garbanzo flour and 1/4 cup whole wheat pasty flour if you don’t need it to be GF)

1 tbsp poppy seeds

1 1/2 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

Wet ingredients –

1 tbsp lemon curd (you can sub out with bit extra lemon juice and sugar)

3 tbsp sugar

1/4 cup lemon juice

14 stevia drops

1 egg

1 tbsp grape seed oil

optional: 1/2 tbsp lemon zest

Directions: In two separate bowls, mix all of the wet ingredients and all of the dry ingredients. Pour the wet over the dry and stir with as few swoops of a spatula as possible. Divide batter into a greased muffin tin and bake at 375 until they pass the toothpick test.

Benefits:

Garbanzo flour * 1 cup has 24 grams of protein, 20 grams of fiber, and 40% of your daily needed iron!

Lemon * a great source of vitamin C. Lemons are also said to help balance the bodies PH and put it into a more alkiline state.

Grape seed oil * contains 88% unsaturated fatty acids which are particularly good for the body due to their antioxidant activity. It is also high in vitamin E, flavonoids, vitamin C and beta carotene. It found to increase HDL (good) cholesterol levels and is great for high heat cooking!

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Pink Lady Apple Bran Muffins!

Posted on January 19, 2011 | 22 Comments

Happy Monday everyone! I hope your weekends were both fun and relaxing. Mine certainly was! I went to see Country Strong (eh, decent), studied at coffee shops, worked out a bit, and road tripped to San Francisco on Saturday night to go downtown with my roomy, Ruby! We went to a few bars and randomly met some UC Davis DG alumni’s who gave us some recommendations on where to go, a guy from Houston in the food industry, and a group of Ruby’s friends from back home.

Me and my Rubix Cube

Today, we made the trek to Whole Foods and I baked up a storm when I got home. I made these wonderful Pink Lady Apple Bran Muffins, some gluten-free Lemon Poppyseed Muffins, and a twist on Lori’s sunflower butter cookies!

Precious baby muffins

These muffins are seriously delicious. They are high fiber but still have a perfect muffin consistency. They are tart and sweet, but in a healthful fashion. Basically, they rock and you should make them.

Pink Lady Apple Bran Muffins

Recipe: Makes ~16 muffins

Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet in another. Pour the wet over the dry and stir with as few swoops as possible. Pour into a greased muffin tin. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

Dry ingredients –

2 cups wheat bran

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 1/4-1/2 cups cane sugar (I used 1 1/2, but they were quite sweet!)

2 tsp baking soda

lots of cinnamon

Wet ingredients –

3 small pink lady apples, chopped

2 eggs

1 tbsp grapeseed oil

~1 1/2 cups milk

1 tsp vanilla

coconut oil (to brush the muffin pan)

Benefits:

Wheat bran * contains TONS of iron, B vitamins, magnesium, phosphorous and antioxidants! 1 cup has 25 grams of fiber and 9 grams of protein!

Whole wheat flour * when you choose white flour over whole wheat flour, you are losing over half of the B vitamins, fiber, folic acid, calcium, zinc, phosphorous, copper, and iron. Whole grains reduce your risk for diabetes and have also been linked to weight loss and maintaining a lower BMI.

Pink lady apples * 3 a day can help decrease cholesterol by 10%!  They are rich in the antioxidants beta-carotenoids, vitamin C, and polyphenols. They also have filling fiber and pectin!

Cinnamon * The coolest thing about cinnamon is its ability to control blood sugar. Meaning, within reason, that if you use a fair amount of cinnamon in a dish that has sugar or another fast digesting carbohydrate, it will prevent the blood glucose spike that you would normally get. Why does blood sugar matter? Spikes in blood sugar are bad for your health because they cause your body to increase insulin production. Insulin, among many other things, tells your body to store fat. Therefore, eating a sugary/high-in-simple-carbohydrate meal = blood sugar spike = insulin spike = store fat.

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Feta cheese, please!

Posted on January 3, 2011 | 22 Comments

I was so excited to go grocery shopping today at Whole Foods (a 35 minute drive..wahhh) and Trader  Joes, so that I could cook my own meal for the first time in weeks!

Beef with Bulgur & Feta and Sauteed Rainbow Chard

Recipe: Serves 1

For the chard –

4 stalks rainbow chard, rinsed

1/4 of a sweet onion, chopped

1-2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 tbsp butter

shake garlic salt

shake salt

2 tbsp half and half (optional)

For the bulgur –

4 ounces grass fed ground beef

1/2 cup cooked bulgur

1/2 tbsp butter

3-4 tbsp feta

salt

Directions:

1. Place one large and one small non stick pan on the stove. Melt 1/2 tbsp butter into each.

2. In the small pan, add the beef on one side and the cooked bulgur on the other. Let the bulgur soak up the butter while the beef browns. Flip and let the beef cook all the way through. Using your spatula, chop up the beef and mix with the bulgur.

3. In the large pan, add your chopped onions and garlic and cook on medium-high heat until the onions are light brown.

4. Tear the leaves from the chard and throw into the large pan with the onions and garlic. Chop up some of the stalks and add. Stir.

5. Add the feta to the beef and bulgur. Stir and remove from heat.

6. Reduce the bulgur pan’s heat to low. Add 2 tbsp half and half and stir.

This dinner was seriously good. The chard, which is usually a bit bitter, was creamy and full of flavor. The beef and bulgur went extremely well with the feta, which was perfectly melty and delicious. Melted feta > firm feta.

One of my housemates, Chelsea, came home with tons of fresh produce from her grandfather’s farm! She asked me to make something with her overripe persimmons, so I happily did.

Tangerines, persimmons, grapefruits, and oranges, oh my!

I am not sure which blogger coined the term mookie, but I think it may have been Kelsey. I really like mookies. Cookies are often so dense that they just go too fast! Mookies are more airy than a cookie but more flavorful and dense than a muffin. If you change up the ratios, you could make these into muffins, cookies, or a loaf. It’s up to you!

(Gluten Free) Spicy Ginger Persimmon Mookies

Very tasty and different, in a good way!

Recipe: Makes 12 mookies

Dry ingredients –

2 cups teff flour

1/4 cup sugar

1-2 tsp baking powder (depending on how fluffy you want)

1 tsp baking soda

several shakes cinnamon

1/2 tsp mustard powder

dash allspice

dash nutmeg

dash cloves

1/2 tsp ginger

Wet ingredients –

pulp of three super ripe persimmons (the large kind, meant for baking)

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 tbsp coconut oil

1 egg

15 drops stevia

1/3-1/2 cup milk (depends on how much the persimmons yield)

1 tbsp pickled ginger, chopped

Directions:

1. Combine all the dry ingredients in one bowl and all the wet in another. Stir individually.

2. Pour the wet over the dry and stir with a spatula.

3. Divide the batter into 12 cookies on 2 greased baking sheets.

4. Bake at 375 for an unknown amount of time. Until they pass the toothpick test sounds good.

The ginger goes really well with the persimmons. I loved that the mookies were a bit sweet and spicy and also have that unique flavor that only teff can provide.

Benefits:

Rainbow chard * one of the most nutrient dense foods that exists! It contains at least 13 different antioxidants, one of which is syringic acid. Syringic acid helps keep blood sugar low by inhibiting alpha glucosidase which decreases the break down of carbs to simple sugars and thus regulates blood sugar. 1 cup of chard contains 716% of your daily needed vitamin K, 109% vitamin A, 52% vitamin C, and lots of magnesium, potassium, fiber, iron, vitamin E, copper, calcium, and more!

Bulgur * a whole grain fiber super star <3.  Also contains B vitamins, iron, phosphorous, manganese.

Teff  * is a unique Ethiopian grain usually used to make injera. It has moreprotein, calcium, iron, potassium, phosphorous, magnesium, and thiamin than wheat. Even better – the iron is easily absorbed by our bodies (unlike many other iron sources).

Ginger * contains gingerol which relaxes blood vessels and thus improves circulation. It also aids in digestion and can soothe the stomach. Contains TONS of compounds that fight cancer!

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My current breakfast obsession

Posted on November 22, 2010 | 21 Comments

Good morning!

I hope everyone had a nice weekend. I mostly studied for a midterm, ate vanilla bean ice cream, and watched House. I did, however, make myself presentable on Saturday for our winter formal.

I thought velvet was holiday appropriate

Kristi and I!

I refuse to do the sorority arm.

Remember last week when I made those pumpkin muffins? Well, every single day since then I have had the same thing for breakfast.

  • 1 cup plain greek yogurt
  • a few drops vanilla extract
  • 1 warm pumpkin muffin, crumbled in
  • large blob of homemade pecan butter

It is utterly addicting. I usually eat variations of this breakfast during the warm months, but the muffins and pecan butter are soo good that I forget about the fact that I can see my breath in my house.

Pre-attacking

I am currently finishing up a long, informational post debunking the myths surrounding fats. Get excited!

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I wouldn’t feed you something that I wouldn’t eat.

Posted on September 14, 2010 | 10 Comments

Before I type another word I need to get this out of my system:

Okay. I can start now. So, I have been admiring this cooking blog lately. It isn’t a health-oriented blog in the least; the recipes are very luxurious and well, you know, fatlicious. Her photography is marvelous and the food all just looks amazing. I had bookmarked 9 of her recipes to make and decided to tackle these here muffins first. So I went to the post, scrolled past the recipe, and started to read the ‘fluff.’ All of the sudden I came across this sentence:

“Normally I do not eat what I bake, I only taste-test and then away they go to a good home, where they are pampered, loved and sincerely appreciated. If I ate everything I baked I’d be 500 pounds.”

Excuse me? Giirrlll what the heck. If you wouldn’t eat your muffins, why would I want to?! After sitting there dumbfounded and slightly miffed for a little while, I started to think about what she wrote. And I get it. She wants to make the most beautiful and delicious desserts, baked goods, and meals because she can, not because she wants to eat them. I respect this approach to baking and cooking, but it is certainly not mine. I do not bake or make things for others that I would not (or do not) eat myself. And I do not blog recipes that I don’t personally utilize.

How do y’all feel about that? Do you make food but only give it away?

After reading the post, I still wanted to make the muffins. However, I doctored up the recipe to make them a bit more satisfying and nutritious. They went from calorie bombs to about 260 a piece, with 6 grams of protein and 30% of your daily needed vitamin A! They turned out wonderful and oh so delicious. They are not too sweet. They are muffins, not cupcakes, after all. :)

Sweet Potato Muffins Stuffed with Cream Cheese

Recipe: Makes 10 muffins

Muffins -
2 cups white whole wheat flour     (it is just as nutritious as brown whole wheat flour!)

1  3/4 tsp baking powder

1/2 ts table salt

1/4 ts baking soda

1/4 tsp ground nutmeg

1/3 cup plus 1 tbsp milk

1/3 cup heavy whipping cream

1 cup sweet potato puree

1 1/2 tsp good quality vanilla extract  (I also threw in some vanilla beans!)

1/2 stick unsalted butter, room temperature

2/3 cup brown sugar

2 eggs

Stuffing -
8 tbsp cream cheese

1 tbsp maple syrup

2 tbsp sugar

1 tsp ground cinnamon

& Cinnamon-sugar mixture to sprinkle on tops of muffins before baking.

1. In a medium bowl, combine all purpose flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda and ground nutmeg. Set aside.

2. In another medium bowl combine cream, milk, sweet potato puree and vanilla extract. Set aside.

3. In a large bowl, cream the butter and dark brown sugar with an electric mixer, until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition.

4. Also with the electric mixer, alternately mix in dry and wet ingredients into the butter, starting and ending with the dry; mix only until each addition is just incorporated.

5. Coat a muffin pan with nonstick spray and divide the batter into 10 cups. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with a generous amount of cinnamon-sugar mixture. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until it they pass the toothpick test.

6. The stuffing: combine all ingredients and beat until well incorporated. To fill the muffins, I carved out a smallish hole and squeezed the stuffing in from a plastic baggy with a tiny hole in the corner.

Benefits:

Sweet potato * SO good for you. Loads of vitamin A (as beta carotene!), C, copper, manganese, and fiber! The vitamin A acts as an anti oxidant in the body to eliminate free radicals that harm DNA. Its important to know that the skin contains 3x more antioxidant activity than the orange flesh!

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The last bran muffin recipe you will e v e r need.

Posted on September 13, 2010 | 13 Comments

As you know, I make muffins all. the. damn. time. My bran muffins were always just slightly off. They were either a little too branny or not enough. Too moist or too dry.

Never again.

I have finally found the perfect ratios of

bran to wheat

baking powder to flour

wet to dry

banana to egg

.

I seriously recommend you book mark this recipe, that is, if you like bran muffins. :)

I couldnt decide if I wanted to make nutty banana bran muffins or dark chocolate banana bran muffins, so I made a batch of go-either-way batter and made both!

All you gotta do is make the batter and then divide it into however many bowls (corresponding to how many different flavors).

I divided my batter into two bowls. To one I added dark chocolate chips, and to the other I added ground (this is KEY) walnuts and almonds.

Recipe: Makes 10 muffins

Mix the dry ingredients in one bowl and the wet in another. Pour the wet over the dry and stir with as few swoops as possible. Pour into a greased muffin tin. Bake at 350 for 30-40 minutes.

Note: Soak your grains first! This is a good resource.

Dry ingredients -

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1 1/2 cups wheat bran

1/2 cup sugar

2 tsp baking soda

pinch salt

ground, toasted walnuts & almonds (if making the banana nut muffins only)

Wet ingredients –

2 large super ripe bananas

1 medium egg

1 cup milk

1/2 tsp vanilla extract (if making the chocolate chip muffins only)

Benefits:

Bananas * High in potassium which helps the body eliminate excess salt and water (good for bloating)! Also help prevent muscular cramps and improve blood circulation. Bananas are high in zinc, which is key for healthy hair. They have also been linked to the prevention of stomach ulcers because they protect the stomach mucous layer. They are high in vitamins C and A, and phosphorus (which helps improve memory).

Wheat bran * contains TONS of iron, B vitamins, magnesium, phosphorous and antioxidants! 1 cup has 25 grams of fiber and 9 grams of protein!

Whole wheat flour * when you choose white flour over whole wheat flour, you are losing over half of the B vitamins, fiber, folic acid, calcium, zinc, phosphorous, copper, and iron. Whole grains reduce your risk for diabetes and have also been linked to weight loss and maintaining a lower BMI.

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Fiber lovin’

Posted on September 8, 2010 | 11 Comments

So I made these bran muffins, ya see?

And I am sitting here trying to think of a name for them. The names I think of either don’t do the muffins justice or they are too long and sound tacky.

Caramelized Peach Butter Bran Muffins

Southern Muffins

Peachy Pecan Muffins

Brantastic Peach Muffins

Butter Bran Muffins

Yeah. I have no idea. They are all bad. But the muffins are great, both in taste and nutrition. Each muffin boasts…

7 grams of fiber

4 grams of protein

10% DV of copper

10% DV of iron!

16% DV of magnesium

73% DV of manganese!!

12% DV phosphorous

10% DV of zinc

and more :)

Oh, you want the recipe? Yeah. Fine.

Recipe: Makes 10 muffins

Dry ingredients -

1.5 cups wheat bran

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

2 tsp baking powder & pinch of baking soda

3/4 cup chopped toasted, salted pecans

lotsa cinnamon

Wet ingredients -

1 large, juicy peach

1 tbsp maple syrup

a few drops lemon juice

cinnamon

4 tbsp butter

1 cup 2% milk

1. Preheat the oven to 350. When it is ready, toast pecans lightly for 3-4 minutes.

2. Slice the peach into thin pieces. Place them in a pan on the stove with a bit of water. Add a squeeze of lemon juice. Cover and cook them on med-high heat. As they soften, mash them and add the maple syrup and a few shakes of cinnamon. Lower the heat and continue to cook them, adding water when they get dry, until they are very soft, mushy, and fragrant. At this point, lower the heat to as low as it goes and add the 1/4 cup butter. Once it is melted, stir and remove from heat.

3. Place all the dry ingredients in a bowl and all the wet in another.

4. Pour the wet over the dry and mix lightly with a spatula.

5. Bake at 350 for 28-30 minutes.

Also, I need to share this amazing meal that Pace and I had last night. We went to Buenos Aires Cafe in Austin and it was seriously amazing. Especially the dessert…. again.

I ordered the veggie crepes and they were to die for. Truly the perfect vegetarian’s dish (even though I am not vegetarian). The crepes were stuffed with eggplant and mushrooms.

Uh-mazing.

Pace’s meal was crap but thats what you get when you order like a fool. Whyyyy would you order chicken fried beef covered in ham and cheese? Why why why?

Dessert was increible. That means incredible for you gringos out there ;) . It was my favorite, tres leches. Only it WASNT tres leches…..

It was quatros leches.

I will take 2 to go please. Yes, really. Thanks.

To Pace’s credit, he usually orders better than I do. Not this time, baby.

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Peanut Butter Crunch Muffins: A little tuft of heaven

Posted on July 26, 2010 | 22 Comments

I am currently addicted to these muffins.

I am quite proud of this recipe, despite its simplicity and ease. I am also loving the nutrition facts, which I will share (which is out of character for mee!). Each muffin boasts about 150 calories of 100% whole wheat goodness, a spoonful of sugar, and a tablespoon of healthy fats via crunchy peanut butter.

Recipe: Makes 6 muffins

Preheat the oven to 390. Put all the wet and dry ingredients into separate bowls. Mix. Pour the wet over the dry and mix with as few swoops as possible. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until they pass the toothpick test.

Dry ingredients:

2  1/4 cups whole wheat flour

1/4 cup sugar plus 2 tbsps

1 tsp baking powder

a dash of salt

Wet ingredients:

3/4 cup milk

1 egg

1/4 cup crunchy peanut butter plus 2 tbsps

as much water as needed to thoroughly mix

Other ideas: sub out some flour and add in Peanut Butter Puffins to make them more airy and less dense. Or add in chocolate chips! Or sub almond butter for the peanut butter, if you want.

I added more salt to my muffins because I wanted them to be a bit salty and not very sweet! The recipe I have posted is for a mildly sweet and not salty muffin. Adjust the salt and/or sugar to match your desire for the batch!

They are perfect to have for breakfast with a cup of greek yogurt for protein! And because of the carbs and staying power of the fat, they are ideal for a pre workout snack!

Benefits:

Peanut butter * a great source of manganese, Vitamin E, tryptophan (calming!), niacin, folate, and copper! Peanuts also contain lots of healthy monounsaturated fats and antioxidants! They have been linked to a reduced risk of cardiovascular disease and have been shown to significantly lower your chances of getting colorectal cancer.

Whole wheat flour * ffiiibbbeerrr! And B vitamins! And more protein and all things fantastic than white flour! Basically, if you eat white processed flour, you are letting The Man pull a fast one on you. Shame on you.

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Nana Bran Muffins

Posted on July 14, 2010 | 11 Comments

This recipe is based on my Old Man Bran muffins. I wanted to make them sweeter and give them a punch of flavor, so I added in banana and subbed in coconut milk. If you are looking for good breakfast muffin that you can have on a daily basis, this is definitely a good option. Lots of fiber and flavor… my foodie faves ;)  wahahaha

Recipe: Makes 6 muffins

Separate the wet ingredients and the dry ingredients into separate bowls. Combine and mix with as few spatula swipes as possible. Divide into 6 muffin tins that have been sprayed with oil. Bake at 400 for about 20-30 minutes, until they pass the toothpick test.

Dry ingredients:

3/4 cup whole wheat flour

3/4 cup wheat bran

pinch salt

almost 1 tsp baking soda

almost 1 tsp baking powder

3 tbsp sugar

Wet ingredients:

almost 1 cup coconut milk

1 small super ripe banana

1 tsp vanilla

1 egg

Benefits:

Bananas * High in potassium which helps the body eliminate excess salt and water (good for bloating)! Also help prevent muscular cramps and improve blood circulation. Bananas are high in zinc, which is key for healthy hair. They have also been linked to the prevention of stomach ulcers because they protect the stomach mucous layer. They are high in vitamins C and A, and phosphorus (which helps improve memory).

Wheat bran * contains TONS of iron, B vitamins, magnesium, phosphorous and antioxidants! 1 cup has 25 grams of fiber and 9 grams of protein!

Whole wheat flour * when you choose white flour over whole wheat flour, you are losing over half of the B vitamins, fiber, folic acid, calcium, zinc, phosphorous, copper, and iron. Whole grains reduce your risk for diabetes and have also been linked to weight loss and maintaining a lower BMI.

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