What Breakfast Muffins Do You Swear By?
This morning was my boys’ first day of school — for eighth and 11th grades! — and while I was ready with big hugs and clean socks, the breakfast scene was pretty bleak. Toby said he wasn’t hungry, and Anton made himself burnt toast with a scrape of Vegemite.
With the goal of making our mornings yummier, I’m now on the hunt for breakfast muffins, which are such a warm, cozy treat. Bonus: We can make them together.
We’ve featured Jenny’s cinnamon apple spelt muffins, and our tried-and-true recipe is a batch of zucchini muffins with chocolate chips — we’ve probably made them 40 times. I’m also eyeing Genevieve Ko’s oatmeal muffins.
And, of course, you can always make a cake loaf. Deb Perelman promises you can throw together her blueberry muffin loaf while “half-asleep like the zombie I am most mornings.” And we’ve been long-time fans of Alison Roman’s banana bread and this apple pound cake, which French kids learn to make in pre-school.
Please tell me, what breakfast bread or muffin recipes do you swear by? The boys and I would love to hear.
P.S. Three throw-together breakfasts, and a Trader Joe’s breakfast hack.
Comments
117 commentsFor the celiacs (or those hosting them): did you know that a King Arthur GF Muffin Mix can be easily split into thirds? I’d prep three bowls of the batter, then each of my two kids could toss in whatever they wanted. For example, we’d end up with four Nutella, four cinnamon, and four blueberry. It’s also fantastic for potlucks, since you easily provide multiple flavors. Alternatively, you can substitute one can of pumpkin for the milk and throw in pumpkin pie spice. https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/blog/2014/11/12/mix-it-up
Here to encourage you to try Dan Pelosi’s Pumpkin Cardamom Crumb muffins – so delicious. I love them this time of year. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1026115-pumpkin-cardamom-crumb-muffins
Krusteez box mix cinnamon cake made into muffins is SO good
Yes!! The gluten free mix is also so good!
Jordan Marsh Blueberry Muffins from NYT. Best muffins ever. We make these weekly in our house.
Oh, and the best part about the baked oatmeal bites from Stacie Billis is that you don’t need *any* baking experience or expertise!
I’ve made these so many times its become solely muscle memory. They’re an old recipe from Stacie Billis of coolmompicks.com and are endlessly adaptable and super easy and quick. https://staciebillis.com/make-ahead-breakfast-recipe-baked-oatmeal-bites/
Okay, stay with me – this pumpkin chocolate chip muffin recipe technically comes from a food blog dedicated to homemade baby and toddler food. BUT! These are seriously the most delightful muffins. Easy, relatively healthy, somehow even better on day 2 (if you even have any left by then). My boys (not babies anymore) will devour a whole pan within an hour of them coming out of the oven. https://babyfoode.com/blog/mini-pumpkin-muffins-for-toddler-kids/
I like that site and use a lot of her recipes! Gotta try these.
Deb’s blueberry muffins are the best. You really can’t go wrong with Smitten Kitchen baked goods. https://smittenkitchen.com/2010/08/perfect-blueberry-muffins/
so true! I love her pumpkin bread that uses the whole can!
I love this Jo! Muffins make mornings so much more fun 🥳 one that return to often is the 6 week bran muffins, it makes a big batch and you can store the batter in your fridge for 6 weeks and just make as many as you need when you need. I cut the sugar in half, if not more!
Please share your recipe! Oh my gosh. My mom made these when I was a kid, but when she left my dad suddenly she also left many things behind including the recipe for these. They were my absolute favorite, and I haven’t been able to find the recipe anywhere.
Anyone have ideas for a muffin that uses lots of raisins? We have a Costco sized bag to use up. Thinking the Sunset bran muffin below sounds good, any others welcome!
https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/morning-glory-muffins-recipe We have made these approximately 1 million times since my now teens were toddlers
These muffins are THE best. Even people who don’t like raisins devour them. All-Bran Classic Carrot Muffins 1 1/2 cups Whole wheat flour 1 1/2 cups All Bran cereal (or any bran cereal) 1 tsp Baking powder 1 tsp Baking soda 1/2 cup Brown sugar, packed 1 tbsp Cinnamon, ground 1/4 tsp Salt 1 cup grated carrots Zest of 1 lemon or 1 orange 1 cup Raisins or chopped dates 1 Egg 1/4 cup Vegetable oil 1 3/4 cups Buttermilk (or soured milk, or combo of milk/sour cream) Preheat oven to 400°F. In large bowl, stir together flour, cereal, sugar, cinnamon, baking powder, soda, salt, raisins and carrots. Add buttermilk, oil, egg and lemon rind, stirring just until combined. Spoon into greased non – stick muffin tins. Bake in 400°F (200°C) oven for 20 minutes or until tops are firm to the touch.
Jasmine Guillory once shared a recipe for blueberry muffins that benefit from the batter sitting overnight, which is truly the best way to deal with muffins, and so that’s the one I return to most: https://jasmineguillory.substack.com/p/happy-summer-everyone
OMG the banana bread Sammy and Toby made at my house the other week was insane! I googled “best banana bread,” printed it out, and sent them off!
I’ve tried those cinnamon apple spelt muffins and they are yummy, but the spelt is a bit obscure for my pantry. At my house, nothing beats OG blogger Swistle’s Increased Nutrition Muffins, which are whole wheat-banana-pumpkin-walnut-chocolate chip-peanut butter-flaxseed. It sounds like a lot, but they basically taste like mildly sweet banana bread with chocolate chips. You can also sub in a lot of other things, like oatmeal (dry or cooked), or applesauce instead of one of the fruits, and/or you can add cinnamon or pumpkin spice. I’m still making these even though we just moved to France (land of breakfast pastries), because my girls love them, but I had to order some pumpkin spice because I couldn’t find it here! PSL people, consider yourselves warned.
The absolute best blueberry muffins! Whenever we have overnight guests I serve these with a side of yogurt and granola for breakfast. They are always a hit! https://ourbestbites.com/streusel-topped-blueberry-muffins/
We are a big breakfast muffin family! Our go to is using the Kodiak pancake mix because it’s full of healthy ingredients and protein/fiber. Favorite recipe: 4 cups of Kodiak pancake mix 4 bananas mashed 5-6 eggs Vanilla (however much you like…I season liberally), dash of cinnamon, 2-4 TB chopped walnuts (whatever nut you like) 48 oz of frozen pineapple (roast at 425 for about an hour, let cool, and do a rough chop) If you’d like add in some shredded coconut Mix everything together Oil muffin tins Bake at 390 for ~30-35 min
Love this, thank you!
Thank you! We always have Kodiak mix at our house. We might tune this for hummingbird/carrot cake flavors.
I love baked oatmeal for breakfast or dessert. I’ve tried quite a few recipes and these are my two favorites. Carrot cake and Almond Joy. I usually make in advance and keep in fridge or freezer. https://ohsheglows.com/heavenly-carrot-cake-baked-oatmeal/ https://www.kimscravings.com/healthy-almond-joy-baked-oatmeal/ Roxanne
After years of trying (unsuccessfully) to get my kids to eat “healthy” muffins, I have finally cracked the code- mini muffins! My kids will eat an entire batch- doesn’t matter the recipe. I just cook them at a little bit lower temp and for less time.
Okay, so not muffins, but my new go-to is steel cut oats in the instant pot. Lots of cinnamon and whatever else sounds good and it really doesn’t take long and keeps you full.
Joanna Gaines’ Magnolia Table: After School Banana Bread rivals my mom’s recipe, even she started to use this one! Not bread based but an easy on the go egg option; Breakfast Casserole! I scramble eggs, pre bake diced sweet potatoes, sausage, and sauté some chopped spinach and a diced pepper. Put it all together in a baking dish and bake at 350F until set, usually 15-20 minutes.
I’m a longtime Cup of Jo reader and I would love to share my secret breakfast recipe! I have my own version of baked oatmeal that has a better, more muffin like texture and is more nutritious: I mix grated fruit or puree, like apple, pumpkin or sweet potato, plums, pears, etc, with rolled oats, then add a tsp of flaxseed, and a pinch of salt and bake this in the oven at 330 F until it’s golden on top. The quantity doesn’t have to be exact and it’s a great way to use up whatever fruit/veg you have. Roughly 1 cup of puree to 1 cup of oats. No need to add eggs or butter, but you can add berries, almond flour or whole wheat flour (for more cake-like fluffiness and nutrition), olive oil, coconut milk, any kind of milk or yogurt, hemp seeds, dried fruit to make it richer and any spices/flavorings like cinnamon, pumpkin spice, or vanilla. Adjust the quantities so the raw mixture is about the texture of thick pancake batter or wet mulch, it’s very forgiving. And adjust the bake time the bigger your quantity. For a baking pan full, I bake this for about 1 hour at 330 F. You can bake them as muffins, in a loaf, or tray. Once they cool, you can easily cut them into squares, and freeze them in ziplock bags. I take one frozen square and microwave it for a minute or two for a quick breakfast every morning. It’s more delicious than baked oatmeal and you can drizzle honey on top if you want it sweet. I hope you try this! It has made breakfast so much easier for me!
I forgot to mention it should be ground flaxseeds (not whole)! I actually can’t digest flaxseeds or granola very well—but I can digest flax and oats in this recipe with no problem due to the long and slow baking time!
I love this idea, thank you!
Omg THANK YOU!! This sounds right up my alley!
I made these superhero banana muffins yesterday, and they’re great. They’re made with ground oats and almond flour, and they’re pretty light for a gluten free muffin. https://www.nowfoods.com/healthy-living/recipes/banana-bread-superhero-muffins
Vegemite? Respect.
The absolute best muffins in the world, and I will die on this hill, are Julia Turshen’s, from Small Victories, with my own grew-up-baking-with-a genius-baker-mom twists to make them lighter, moister, flurffier, and with a chewier top! I have made them probably a thousand times. The original recipe is for apple walnut (I think) but she offers three or four variations on her basic recipe, which I’ve now forgotten, because I choose a flavor based on whatever fruit is in the fridge or ingredients I have on hand. I’ve made banana walnut or banana pecan so many times my son is maybe 50% Julia Turshen banana nut muffin. But also blueberry, roasted pear, raspberry almond (I added almond paste; this is my family’s favorite), cranberry (using leftover cranberry sauce from Thanksgiving), dried cherry and cranberry, with jam and homemade cherry compote swirled in, and probably a zillion others I’m forgetting; I’ve turned them into vanilla, strawberry, and chocolate cupcakes, and brought them to every family breakfast at my kids’ many schools, to every neighborhood brunch, bake sale, housewarming, to every new mom friend. And, seven years ago, when my son and I were diagnosed with celiac, I began swapping in King Arthur’s Gluten Free flour and they are just as good, somehow???? (My husband says better.) My twist on Julia’s amazing recipe: I add half a cup of yogurt at the end, stirring very gently, which adds the aforementioned moisture and chewy crust, and sprinkle with either cinnamon and sugar or demerara sugar at the end. Try them, I beg you. https://people.com/food/julia-turshen-apple-toasted-oat-muffins-recipe/
Absolutely 1000000% agree!!!!! I make a batch of the banana version every week (sometimes twice a week) and they are the BEST. we do chocolate chips and no nuts
We love Morning Glory Muffins from the Baltimore Sun in 2007: https://www.baltimoresun.com/2007/03/28/moist-muffins-to-start-the-day/ Great as a muffin or a loaf and so many good for you things in there that you can feel good about them.
Right now we like Smitten Kitchen’s ponderosa cake (banana-chocolate chip-cinnamon sugar) with very dark chocolate chunks, as muffins. Erin Jeanne McDowell’s Gluten Free Apple Butter Loaf (as muffins). Zucchini carrot cake muffins. We make the sun-dried tomato version of these cottage cheese muffins and call them « Pizza muffins. » https://www.101cookbooks.com/cottage-cheese-muffins/ I used to make these funky PB Ginger ones in college, they taste like a farmer’s market or maybe a health food co-op, but in a good way: https://www.thekitchn.com/peanut-butter-ginger-muffins-f-139757
Kim Boyce’s Whole Wheat Sweet Potato Muffins!! My secret is I do the smitten kitchen slow roasted sweet potato, which makes them sweeter. They work well gluten free (I use sorghum flour plus AP). They’re absolute stunners on flavor, my preferred fall muffin. I’ll post below since The Wednesday Chef is no longer online. Kim Boyce’s Whole-Wheat Sweet Potato Muffins Servings: 12 Description: Teff flour Mochiko Potato starch Tapioca Sorghum Almond Xanthum gum Psyllium SK slow roasted sweet potatoes Ingredients: 1/2 pound sweet potatoes (also known as yams) Vegetable oil spray for coating the tins 1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter 3 tablespoons dark brown sugar 3 tablespoons sugar 1 cup flour 3/4 cup whole-wheat flour 1/4 cup whole-wheat pastry flour 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/2 teaspoon baking soda 1/2 teaspoon salt 1 tablespoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon ginger 1/2 teaspoon allspice 1 cup buttermilk 1/4 cup plain yogurt 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla 12 Medjool dates, pitted and cut into 1/4- to 1/2-inch pieces Directions: 1. Make Smitten Kitchen’s Slow Roasted Sweet Potatoes (2.5 hours at 275), cool and mash. 2. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees. Lightly spray the muffin tin with vegetable oil. 3. Cream the butter and sugars until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. 4. In a medium bowl, sift together the flour, whole-wheat flour, whole-grain pastry flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, ginger and allspice. In a separate bowl, whisk the buttermilk, yogurt, egg and vanilla together. 5. Scrape down the sides of the butter bowl and alternately add the dry and wet ingredients; do not overmix. Gently fold in the sweet potatoes, then the dates. 6. Using an ice cream scoop (about one-half cup capacity), scoop the batter into each of 10 prepared muffin cups, about 1 scoop per muffin. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes. The muffins will be dark golden brown on the bottom. Source: https://www.thewednesdaychef.com/the_wednesday_chef/2007/11/kim-boyces-whol.html
As a vegemite loving Australian- why is nobody commenting on Anton’s breakfast of champions? A scrape of vegemite on burnt toast (hopefully with butter) is a perfect start to the day. If you want to be fancy add some ripe avocado or a poached egg or both. Well done Anton.
Absolutely. All of this muffin talk is completely overwhelming. Toast + butter + Vegemite = happiness, at any time of day.
Because North Americans seem to gravitate towards sweet breakfasts (I’m Canadian). Probably not ideal from a health perspective, but it’s the norm here.
Smitten kitchen whole wheat apple muffins, blue berry muffins, and morning glory cake/muffins are on heavy rotation. She also has a good cranberry orange one too!
There’s a chocolate chip banana bread recipe that comes out great every time and everyone raves about. I made it into muffins this morning instead and cut the baking time down, my son loved it in his lunchbox :)
King Arthur Banana Muffins on NYT. Makes 12, which is the perfect amount for you three. And it is just bananas how delicious they are. (See what I did there??)
Anyone else love Sarah Kramer’s “How it All Vegan” cookbook series from the late 90s? I continue to make Wolfie’s Naner Bars for midweek breakfasts. My whole fam loves them.
Aussie reader here. Um, we are gonna need the backstory about Anton’s love for Vegemite.
We loveeee baked oatmeal and it’s so easy to reheat later in the microwave! https://www.onceuponachef.com/recipes/baked-oatmeal-with-apples.html
Bless, I love oatmeal and can’t wait to try this!
Ali Stafford is my most trusted resource for recipes, and I can testify that her Buttermilk Blueberry Breakfast Cake is excellent, to the degree that it’s difficult to stop eating it once it’s made. So I suspect the muffin version of that recipe is outstanding too, the Best Lemon-Blueberry Muffins.
I love a mildly sweet carb for breakfast. Is there a muffin that is sweet but doesn’t make you crash? The chocolate zucchini ones sound like my taste (remember Veggies Taste Great products mmm) – I’ll give em a go.
If you eat it with nut butter or greek yogurt to add some protein, that’ll help prevent a crash! I also like these breakfast cookies from Sally’s Baking Addiction. Not muffins, but same breakfast family? https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/blueberry-banana-breakfast-cookies/
My move is extra protein and fiber! So subbing in almond flour, or using some psyllium or mashed sweet potato, or using oat flour. I can also usually reduce the sugar by 1/3-1/2.
I am HERE for all the recipes in the comments! Also noticing Jo doing a food post… is Kelsey still around?!
hi!! her six-month role ended and she has moved on — she was the best and we will miss her! she still has some posts coming up :)
Company muffins!!!
not muffins, but close enough: https://thenaturalnurturer.com/pumpkin-baked-oatmeal/ DELICIOUS baked pumpkin oatmeal!
About to look through all these suggestions in the comments! I used to eat the zucchini muffins daily, I had the recipe written out with weight measurements and taped to my cupboard!
Smitten Kitchen’s blueberry muffins are our family’s go-to. So good. Dead easy.
I have boys the same ages as yours and all of the sudden, they must have protein in everything (thanks to all the TikTok weight lifters out there). Anyway, so that they don’t subsist on protein supplements alone, I have been making “muffin quiches” every Sunday. For a pan of 12, I use 10 eggs, a container of cottage cheese (shhh, don’t tell them) and blend that until smooth. Then I put cooked and crumbled sausage and some shredded cheddar (or you could use spinach, bacon, whatever) into each muffin well and pour the egg mixture on top until each cup is full. Bake on 350 for 25 minutes, cool, store in fridge and reheat in the microwave for 30-45 seconds.
I do think boys need protein. If I gave my boys a sweet muffin only and sent them to school they would be bloody grumpy by the time they came home and I’d pay for it. Have to do the full cooked breakfast with eggs which is a pain but worth it for better behaviour alone let alone muscles.
It’s not just boys! I make my teenage daughter egg muffins in batches. I’ll freeze them and pull out 5 on Sunday night thaw in the fridge. She can toast in the morning. I add cheese and baby spinach to the egg patty and put it non an English muffin, bagel, or tortilla.
Lo, can you please share your egg muffin recipe that your daughter toasts in the morning? I tried pre-made breakfast burritos for my son who needs protein but he got bored of them. Would love to try something else.
Smitten Kitchen Blue Sky Muffins! Healthy, yummy, easy! https://smittenkitchen.com/2014/05/blue-sky-bran-muffins/
Made these for the freezer postpartum and they’re delicious as well as easy!
Same same!
Do you think these would be good without the fruit? I want to try them for my kids but they wont eat chunky muffins.
Growing up, my mom made a bran muffin recipe from Sunset magazine where you mixed up a big batch of batch and then you could leave the uncooked batter in the fridge for three weeks or longer, and we would bake the batter in Pyrex custard cups in the toaster oven in the morning, so we could have fresh muffins. I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to find it online, but it looks like King Arthur published a very similar looking recipe. https://www.kingarthurbaking.com/recipes/zella-lanes-2-week-bran-muffins-recipe
We had those so often as a kid. Yom yom!
My mom would make these, too! She’d put a little spoonful of jam in the middle. They were sooooooo good. She stopped making them when our little grocery stopped carrying her preferred bran and then lost the recipe. Thank you so much for sharing this!!!
Hooray for muffins! Always a fan of Sprouted Kitchen’s recipes: https://www.sproutedkitchen.com/home/2016/10/17/post
We’ve been making the Oatcakes recipe in Heidi Swanson’s Super Natural Every Day for 15? years! – excellent carry-along snack too! I like to divide them over 2 muffin tins, otherwise they’re so filling my 2nd grader won’t finish one. Add choc chips, of course. They last a week in an open jar on the counter, although they eventually dry out into what we affectionately refer to as ‘dwarf sustenance’ status. https://figsinmybelly.com/2011/11/15/oatcakes/
This is the only muffin recipe I make now, year-round! Nothing else tastes good after making these. Don’t skip browning the butter–it’s actually pretty easy and so worth it. https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1018354-pumpkin-maple-muffins?unlocked_article_code=1.8lA.LLqM.Ik50Q5mrpZrP&smid=share-url
When my freezer overflows with the overripe bananas “I’m saving to bake with..” my go to recipe is Genevieve Ko’s Whole Wheat Banana Muffins. They are delicious and filling and the whole grain flour makes them feel “healthy.” Sometimes I’ll throw in chocolate chips and the toppings options are endless (pumpkin seeds, whole oats, black sesame seeds, etc.) I’ve subbed in Bob’s Red Mill GF flour to make them gluten free and those are delicious too! Luisa Weiss adapts the recipe here beautifully and with less sugar: https://thewednesdaychef.com/2021/04/06/genevieve-kos-whole-grain-banana-yogurt-muffins/
Banana chocolate chip muffin recipe from Spend with Pennies!
I second this! Always a big hit.
Not a muffin, but I enjoyed the NYTimes Bircher Muesli to mix up breakfast: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1021262-muesli This Granola Recipe: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1014304-eleven-madison-park-granola?q=Madison%20granola These bran muffins from Smitten Kitchen: https://smittenkitchen.com/2014/05/blue-sky-bran-muffins/ This Chia Pudding: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/760457435-chia-pudding And if you want to be fancy, these overnight tested waffles from ATK. Love that you make the batter the night before: https://www.wskg.org/episodes/2021-02-04/1063113
That granola recipe is sooooo good!
These! EVERYONE LOVES THEM (no mean feat with 4 kids) and they’re full of goodness. https://wellnessmama.com/recipes/almond-flour-muffins/
We make these when zucchini is in season and my kids love them- can decrease sugar since there’s a lot of chocolate chips. https://www.ambitiouskitchen.com/healthy-double-chocolate-zucchini-muffins/ Looking for an amazing almond flour, gf lemon poppyseed muffin recipe if anyone has suggestions.
How about these from Kathleen Ashmore? https://kathleenashmore.com/bakery-style-lemon-poppy-seed-muffins/ I usually do half almond, half GF AP flour, and increase the lemons to 3. They’re written as with yogurt but I often use leftover ricotta.
These Peach & Blueberry Round Swamp Farms dupe: https://susanality.substack.com/p/blueberry-peach-muffins SO good, and with summer peaches it brings so much joy
I love Butternut Bakery’s recipes. Her blueberry muffins are chocolate chip muffins are soooo good. There’s also a really tasty recipe for vegan chocolate chip muffins on the Kitchn.
Smitten Kitchen’s ultimate zucchini bread (https://smittenkitchen.com/2019/08/ultimate-zucchini-bread/) is SO good, as is Alison Roman’s plain banana bread from “Sweet Enough” cookbook.
Any ideas for an easy gluten free muffin/cookie.for my toddlers? Preferably just sweetened with fruits or savory and not too chewy, they’re still teethinf. If it freezes well (and tastes well without reheating) or can be stored for 2-3 days that’s a plus! I had a couple of misses when I tried out recipes so any trusted recipes are welcome!
Hi Anne! I’ve really enjoyed these before and they would tick all your boxes aside from only fruit sweetener. But check the comments as readers often offer modifications that have worked: https://minimalistbaker.com/peanut-butter-and-jelly-muffins-vegan-gf/#wprm-recipe-container-35595
We haven’t tried this recipe yet, but we have baked other good ones. https://www.mamaknowsglutenfree.com/gluten-free-banana-muffins/
These are good and freeze really well—I like to keep them in the freezer for sweets cravings and I also travel with a few in a ziplock! https://www.racingtowardhealthy.com/easy-protein-banana-muffin-recipe/?fbclid=IwY2xjawNE4RJleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHoB_jXCnjtZ3g-ti9DbGdZfjvrejW2ealzuv1bMuoW14gamhzAtCECA4YFa5_aem_Io5IRQBzS0TqpgULIfZfQg
These ABC (apple banana carrot) muffins are pretty good, sugar-free and I think you could use GF cup for cup no problem. Even me and my husband like them with a pat of butter. But make sure to store in the fridge as lack of sugar makes them mold very fast! https://www.yummytoddlerfood.com/baby-muffins/
I like the Natural Nurturer for gluten free easy muffins loaded with veggies!
Cookie and Kate has great healthy muffin recipes that I have successfully made with gf cup for cup flour if not already gf. They are usually sweetened with honey or maple syrup so might not be what you are looking for, but they are delicious and not too sweet.
These have ground oats and almond flour. You can reduce the honey https://www.nowfoods.com/healthy-living/recipes/banana-bread-superhero-muffins
Look up Nikki’s healthy banana cookies on the 101 cookbooks site. My very picky children have enjoyed these for years. The only added sugar comes from the chocolate chips and I bet you could swap those with raisins or chopped dates if you wanted (although the chocolate is a winner). They are very moist cookies so I don’t store them long (A couple of days is fine but much more than that and I worry about mold, tbh) but they do freeze well.
We love Amanda Brook’s raspberry corn muffins! https://gardenandgun.com/recipe/raspberry-corn-muffins-amanda-brooks
Thanks for sharing this! I would never have thought of Garden & Gun as a resource for recipes, but these sound absolutely delicious and I will give them a try. And will investigate Amanda Brooks further too.
I started baking my Aunt Kassie’s baked oatmeal into muffin pans. Any baked oatmeal recipe will do. They’re the perfect serving size (one or two or three) popped in a bowl, add milk and chocolate chips, and you’re done!
Martha Stewart Banana Bread is my ride or die. Sometimes I add a cinnamon sugar crust. Sometimes I make muffins instead of bread. But it’s always so moist and good!! My family devours it.
This might be a stretch, but does anyone have recommendations for gluten free muffins that are also nut free, and taste good leftover? I’m celiac and our son’s preschool is nut free, which eliminates almost all of the muffin and baked good recipes I used to use and the ones I’ve found since becoming celiac. Most recipes either use wheat flour or almond flour and/or crumble into dry sand after they cool (or both, lol)
Hi! You might try exploring King Arthur Flour’s Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour – it is nut-free and is pretty decent for doing a straight swap in any muffin recipe. I’ve had great success using it to bake for family that are dairy-free, nut-free, and have celiac disease. KAF’s website also has an awesome collection of muffin recipes – and the company is employee-owned and generally a really positive one to support :)
Pinch of yums carrot muffins are delicious and gluten free. I don’t add any nuts.
Hi S! My husband and son are celiac and my mom is allergic to nuts! I’ve found that I can sub sorghum flour for almond flour in my favorite muffin recipe when my mom is visiting and it works great. I also sub Bob’s 1-1 in some recipes. Recipes with more eggs (2-3) and oil (1/4 cup) are good for getting the GF muffins to keep longer without getting crumbly. Here is my favorite muffin recipe (loose dupe of the blueberry Flax 4 Life muffins) with the sorghum sub: 1 c. sorghum flour 1 c. flax meal 1/2 c. brown sugar 1 t nutmeg 1 t cinnamon 2 t baking powder 1/2 c dried blueberries (or frozen, just bake longer!) 3 eggs 1/2 c. applesauce (or one apple carrot pouch…) 1/4 c. oil Turbinado sugar topping Mix dry ingredients. Stir in wet ingredients. Distribute into muffin pan and sprinkle on turbinado sugar topping. Bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes. Wishing you joy and good health in the celiac world! :)
I am in the same boat! I make the lunchbox harvest muffins from the nytimes with cup4cup and they are DELICIOUS! Almost always with more veggies than the recipe calls for, I skip the coconut and raisins.
I would get a scale and start converting by weight! Muffins are probably the easiest place to do this. Freee flour or the Bob’s Red Mill Cup4Cup Baking (that’s the blue bag not the yellow) work amazingly when subbed at 120 grams per one cup wheat flour. I’m still using the scale I bought in my 20s at a basic kitchen supply store. Smitten kitchen’s newer recipes all have weights, which makes things easy! My gold standards for GF sources are Bojon Gourmet and Aran Goyoaga (her bread cookbook is amazing and I’ve been making her GF recipes for 20 years!).
Try meaningfuleats.com . I have good luck with her GF recipes and she has a ton of muffin recipes.
I make baked overnight oats which look like muffins and smell like muffins. Are they as delicious as muffins? No. But they are quite healthy and almost impossible to mess up. I blend up eggs with maple syrup and 0% Greek yoghurt. I add this to a mix of oats, chopped apple and frozen blueberries and frozen raspberries. You can add chia seeds and linseeds if you want extra fibre. You want the consistency to be like thick overnight oats. You can let it absorb for a bit or no. You can blob them on a baking sheet like scones or bake them in muffin cases. I bake them at around 200c for maybe 20 mins. As you can tell my technique is very vibes based but they always turn out nice, they freeze really well and they keep my energy levels even all morning.
Glorious Morning muffin aka morning glory muffins. It’s a shredded carrot, raisins, nuts, moist bran muffin. I’d add blueberries and dates instead of raisins.
Especially the Sally’s Baking Addiction version! https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/simple-morning-glory-muffins/
Love this post – I was just wanting more muffin recipes after finding some blueberry muffins in the back of my freezer this weekend! I popped them in the oven at 325 degrees, not waiting for the oven to preheat or anything, and they came out so great it was like I had just baked them. So freeze any leftovers because they reheat quickly with no loss of texture or flavor!
NYT whole wheat yogurt banana muffins are excellent even without any of the added sugar or honey. The bananas make them plenty sweet, especially if you add way more cinnamon than it calls for and add other spices (ginger, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves) to bring additional sweetness and dimension. Sprinkle with hemp seeds for some crunch and you have delicious, healthy muffins that get rave reviews from adults and kids alike.
Ok, so I can’t vouch for these yet, but this post sent me on a quest for muffin recipes and I found these that you mix the batter and then freeze, so you can make as many as you want to on any given morning. Brilliant concept, and based on the article, it looks like they are well researched and reasonably calculated to be very tasty! https://www.americastestkitchen.com/articles/7361-ready-to-bake-freezer-muffins
The Smitten Kitchen’s blueberry loaf is sooo good! Her pumpkin loaf is also delicious, if you’re short on time the trader joes pumpkin bread mix is good and easy. I add pecans or almonds to up the protein. Homemade egg bites are like savory muffins and you can add veggies and bacon!
This is more of a hack than a recipe, but it’s delicious. Here it goes: In a large mixing bowl, combine one box of cake mix (15.5 oz or so) with one can of pumpkin. Pour into muffin tins and bake as you would cupcakes, typically for 12 mins or so, at the temperature specified on the back of the box. Perfection. If you feel like it, you can add things: freshly ground cardamom is nice, and chocolate chips or raisins would be good as well. In a pinch, you can use vanilla cake mix instead of spice cake mix. Midwesterners will know that these steps are just a variation on the classic two-ingredient cake hack: any can of pie filling, mixed with any cake mix, will typically produce something sweet and edible, and often delicious.
I do this all the time in the autumn! I use the Duncan Hines spice cake mix, can of pumpkin, and maybe add in a Tbs. of molasses and extra spices. But it’s perfectly delicious on its own.
Also have an 8th and 11th grader this year! Junior year is so weighty with harder classes, college prep, and big decisions looming. I have been querying all my Mom friends about how they are navigating this. Joanna- any tips or shared thoughts on how you are approaching this particular stage of parenting?
I need the middle school version of this. Friends with phones and loose boundaries, eek 🫠
My friends didn’t believe that I handmade these muffins from a NYT recipe. They thought I bought them at a local bakery and proclaimed them as the best muffins they’ve had. I was tickled because no one would mistake me for a baker. They are “Vegan Banana Olive Oil Muffins” for those who can see NYT recipes: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/757448602-vegan-banana-muffins Love this post and comments! Thank you for all of your enthusiastic recs!
My kids love these almond flour banana muffins. I usually put mini chips on top of one half and sprinkles on the others. https://healthfulblondie.com/almond-flour-banana-muffins/
I’ve been making these lemon almond muffins since my now-college aged kids were little ones, and they are always a hit: https://giadzy.com/blogs/recipes/nonnas-lemon-almond-ricotta-muffins-giada-de-laurentiis?srsltid=AfmBOor1q50PNApT3NaqVRgDnUvXroiR5G00R2ZA5ezWJYP8O2aj3UMz