Morning Glory Muffins (Low Calorie/Vegan) | Muffins and Quick Bread Recipes

My LO has taken a liking to muffins and quick-breads and I am making many varieties of muffin batches like this Very Berry Muffins and this recipe here. This muffin here uses less oil than the typical morning glory muffins and substitutes apple sauce instead. I have also used Agave syrup instead of regular sugar making it a teeny bit naturally sweetened. I store the batch in a freezer safe ziptop bag and pullout one whenever needed and microwave for half a minute. 

Ingredients:
Adapted from here
Makes 12 muffins
Whole Wheat flour - 2 cups (can use a mix of both whole wheat and all-purpose flour)
Cinnamon powder - 2 tsp
Ginger powder - 1 tsp
Baking powder - 2 tsp
Baking soda - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Grated carrots - 2 cups (about 4 medium sized carrots)
Dried fruits - 1/2 cup (I used a mix of cranberries, raisins and figs)
Unsweetened Applesauce - 1 cup (recipe follows)
Oil -1/2 cup (Canola/vegetable)
Agave nectar - 1/2 cup (can substitute honey/maple syrup)
Vanilla extract - 1 tbsp

Method:
Preheat the oven to 375 F/190 C. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with liners or grease with oil. Sieve the dry ingredients (first 6) together. Mix the grated carrots, dried fruits, applesauce, oil, agave and vanilla in a separate bowl with a fork. Pour over the flour mixture and mix until no streaks of flour remain. Set aside for 10-15 minutes (You could also preheat the oven at this time). Fill in muffin tin and bake for 25 minutes. When done, transfer to a cooling rack and cool for 30 minutes. Store in an airtight container for a few days or freeze in a ziptop bag for several weeks.
Note: Fan of nuts? Add 1/2 cup of chopped nuts in the batter before baking.

Very Berry Muffins | Muffins and Quick Bread Recipes

The market is brimming with fresh berries and I couldn't resist picking up a pack of bright strawberries from my farmer's market trip on Sunday. The berries were super fresh and tasted just out of this world. Fruits definitely taste best in their peak season.
I made this mixed berry muffins a couple of weeks ago with a mix of leftover berries from the fridge. These days I find myself baking muffins very frequently. Whenever I do, I bake and freeze half of the batch. Whenever I or my LO crave a snack, I just pull one muffin out from the freezer and warm it in the microwave oven for 30-60 seconds.

Ingredients:
Makes 10 standard sized muffins; 
Preparation time 15 mins; Baking time - 25 mins
All purpose flour / Maida - 2 cups
Baking powder - 2 tsp
Baking soda - 1/2 tsp
Salt  - 1/4 tsp
Sugar - 3/4 cup + 2 tbsp
Oil - 1/4 cup
Eggs - 2 (room temperature)
Buttermilk - 1/2 cup
Vanilla - 2 tsp
lemon zest/orange zest - 2 tsp
Mixed Berries - 1-1/2 cups (I used a mix of strawberries, blueberries and blackberries)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 400 F/200 C. Line a muffin tin with liners or grease with oil. Mix the first three ingredients in a bowl. In a large bowl, whisk the eggs with sugar. Add the oil, buttermilk, vanilla and citrus zest and whisk again. Add the dry ingredients slowly and mix until no streaks of flour remain. Do not beat or mix more than needed. Fold in the berries with a spatula. Fill in the muffin tin until full. Pop in the oven for 5 mins and reduce the heat to 350 F/180 C and bake for another 17-20 mins or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Allow to cool it a little and serve warm. This muffins can be stored in the refrigerator for a couple of days.
Note: Do not open the oven door after 5 minutes when you reduce the heat.

Banana Oatmeal Peanut Butter Muffins | Infant & Toddler Food Ideas

Planning for a make-ahead snack for my LO always seems to be challenge. The challenge does not lie in making something but making something he likes. He is turning to be more picky (ahem, guess like who??). It is easy to count the number of things he likes these days. This is one muffin which he actually liked, so I decided to post under Baby and Toddler Foods section. This muffin is butter-free. The peanut butter acts as a butter substitute and makes it super peanut-buttery. I can't talk enough on the good-for-you factors in these muffins. With Oatmeal, whole wheat flour, peanut butter, banana and cinnamon it talks for itself.

Ingredients:
Makes 12 regular sized muffins
Adapted from recipe here
Old fashioned / Rolled oats - 3/4 cup
All-purpose flour / Maida - 3/4 cup
Whole wheat flour - 1/2 cup (can substitute AP flour)
Cinnamon - 1 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Baking powder - 1 tbsp
Ripe Bananas - 2 (about 1 cup mashed)
Peanut butter - 1/3 cup
Brown sugar, packed - 2/3 cup (see notes below)
Egg - 1 (room temp)
Milk - 1-1/4 cups (room temp)
Vanilla extract -  1 tsp
Optional Cinnamon Sugar topping:
Sugar - 2 tbsp
Cinnamon - 1 tsp

Method:
Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line a muffin pan with liners. Whisk the flours, oats, cinnamon, salt and baking powder well. In a large mixing bowl, add the bananas and mash them with a fork. You may really do not want a hand mixer, a whisk even. All my mixing was done with the humble fork. Add the peanut butter and egg to the mashed bananas and mix well. Next add the sugar and mix until it dissolves. Add the milk, vanilla and mix again. Now add the flour mixture in 3 additions and mix until no trace of dry flour remains. Divide equally among the muffin cups and bake for about 18-20 minutes.
Sprinkle with the cinnamon sugar topping when still warm.
Notes: 
These muffins are not overly sweet and was just right. If you want sweeter muffins use 3/4 cup of brown sugar.

Zucchini Coconut Muffins

Baking is therapeutic they say. For me baking is blissful. I bet it is the aroma coming from the oven which makes me say so. When all your favorite ingredients go into the making you will sure enjoy the sweet smell, don't you? This is one such muffin. 
Coconut is an important part of Indian cooking. And it is really good for you, when taken is limited quantity. Hailing from South India, naturally I love coconut. But this is the first time I am using coconut in baking and it didn't fail me.

Ingredients:
Recipe adapted from here
Whole Wheat Flour - 3/4 cup
All purpose flour / Maida - 3/4 cup
Baking soda - 3/4 tsp
Baking powder - 1/2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp
Ground Cinnamon - 1/2 tsp
Ground Nutmeg - 1/4 tsp
Slivered almonds - 1/4 cup (optional)
Zucchini -1 - grated - approx 1-1/2 cups (no need to squeeze)
Sweetened shredded coconut - 3/4 cup - loosely packed
Sugar - 3/4 cup (Use brown sugar if you have)
Unrefined Coconut Oil - 1/3 cup (can substitute vegetable or any light tasting oil)
Egg - 1
Plain yogurt - 1/2 cup (regular/greek)
Pure Vanilla extract - 1 tsp

Method:
Preheat the oven to 350 F/175 C. Line a 12 count muffin tin. Whisk/Sieve the dry ingredients, flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and almonds. Whisk the sugar and yogurt until the sugar is dissolved. No need to use a hand mixer, even a spoon works good. Add the oil, egg and vanilla extract and mix again. Mix the zucchini and grated coconut. Now pour the mixed wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix a couple of times. Until it is just mixed and no dry flour is seen. Pour about 1/3 cup of the batter to each muffin liner. Bake for 20 minutes.
Notes:
Unsweetened shredded coconut can also be used. If you have brown sugar, go ahead and use it. I did not have any. I had organic unrefined coconut oil which I used. It really emphasised the coconut-ty aroma while I totally loved. Any other oil works fine too.

Oatmeal Breakfast Muffins (Eggless)

Are you searching for a healthy and tasty oatmeal muffin which is eggless, butter-less, and low in sugar? Here it is. I wanted to make something different for breakfast, but didn't really want to miss my regular oatmeal. So I whipped up this quick and easy muffins with my instant flavored oatmeal packets at hand. The whole batch was ready in 30 mins, this includes the preparation and baking time. This muffin is comparatively healthier than the regular muffins and definitely would not add on to your muffin top. Taken with a glass of Orange juice and fresh fruits it makes a complete and satisfying breakfast.

Ingredients:
For 6 regular muffins
Wheat flour/Atta flour - 1/2 cup
Baking powder - 1-1/2 tsp 
Salt - 1/8 tsp
Instant Oatmeal - Apple Cinnamon flavor - 2 packets - approx - 3/4 cup
Canola oil - 2 tbsp
Light brown sugar - 2 tbsp (firmly packed)
1 tbsp flax seed meal + 3 tbsp water (replace with 1 egg if using)
Milk - 1/2 cup (room temperature)

Method:
Preheat the oven to 375F/190 C. Mix the wheat flour, baking powder, oatmeal and salt well with a sieve or whisk. In a small bowl, mix the flax seed meal and water and set aside for 5 minutes. Add milk to flax meal mixture. Whisk oil and sugar together and add the milk mixture. Add the sieved in flour-oatmeal mixture slowly. Whisk until it is just mixed and do not over-mix. Pour into the lined muffin pans (until three-fourth) and fill in any empty muffin cups half-way with water. Reduce the oven's temperature to 350 F/175 C and bake for 18-20 mins until done. Serve warm or store in an air-tight box for a couple of days.
Tip: You could use 1 egg in the place of the flaxseed meal. Since I was trying to replace my breakfast oatmeal I did some healthy replacements. I used flaxseed meal because it has half the amount of calories in one egg and 8% of daily requirement of dietary fiber, most important for breakfast. I used oil for butter for it is low in saturated fat than butter. You could use skim milk instead of regular milk. I used the one with 2% milk fat.
If using unflavored oatmeal increase sugar to 4 tbsp.

Sending these super-easy light muffins to WWC-Spelt/Oats for Breakfast event by Sanjeeta guest hosted by Heather of Girlichef and to Nithu's Quick & Easy Recipe Mela and also to Let's Cook - Break Time Snacks event by Radhika.

Mocha Chocolate Muffins

I bookmarked this Mocha muffins from Sailusfood before a couple of weeks. She was baking those for the holidays. I immediately fell for the exquisite coffee flavor coupled with chocolate. Decided to try those last week since we were planning to visit our friends over the weekend.

Ingredients:
Makes - about 12 medium muffins
All Purpose Flour/Maida - 2 cups
Sugar - 1 cup + 2 tbsp
Butter - 1/2 cup
Instant Coffee powder (I used Bru) - 1 tbsp + 1 tsp
Cocoa powder - 2 tbsp
Eggs - 2 (room temperature)
Milk - 2% - 2/3 cup - approx 160 ml
Vanilla essence - 1 tsp
Chocolate chips - 1/2 cup
Baking powder - 2 tsp
Salt - 1/2 tsp

Method:

Place the oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven to 350 F.
Line the muffin tray with muffin liners. In a big bowl, mix the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt using a whisk. Take a microwave safe bowl and melt the butter in microwave oven for about 25-30 seconds. Whisk in the coffee powder and the cocoa powder in the melted butter and set aside. In another bowl, whisk the eggs for 2 mins. Add the milk and vanilla and mix for another minute.
Pour the eggs mixture and the butter mixture over the flour mixture and mix with a spatula until combined. Add the chocolate chips and fold to combine. Spoon the mix into muffin liners until about two-thirds full. Bake for about 22-25 minutes until a tooth-pick inserted comes clean.
Remove the pan and cool for 5 mins. Transfer the muffins to a wire rack and cool completely. If you like it warm you can try one after 30 mins.
We loved it warm.

I am sending this to 'Bookmarked recipes - Every Tuesday event' by Aipi of US Masala and Priya of Mharo rajasthan.
Check the original recipe here from Sailu's food.

Mocha Muffins