Banana Blueberry Muffins.

I tend to procrastinate a lot. For instance the fresh blueberries I had planned on using had already rotted by the time I got around to making this recipe. I used some frozen berries, but was disappointed to find out I had less than half a cup. I should probably rename this recipe banana muffins with a hint of blueberries, since there were on average two berries per muffin. I was afraid these muffins wouldn't turn out well since they lacked an egg and the batter was pretty dry when mixing together. They turned out fairly well, despite being a little dense which I'm positive is a direct result of over mixing on my part. The flavors were tasty, though I felt like they were missing something - maybe vanilla or cinnamon. Still they were quick & easy to make and great for relaxing with coffee and the Sunday paper.

E-Z Banana Blueberry Muffins with Crumb Topping

3 ripe bananas

2 1/2 c. flour

1 c. sugar
1/4 c. canola oil

3/4 c. unthawed frozen blueberries

1 c. brown sugar

1/4 c. butter

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1. In a medium bowl combine bananas, sugar and oil. Mash well. In another bowl combine flour, baking soda and salt. Add flour mixture to banana mixture. Stir together until just combined. Fold in blueberries. Pour into a greased muffin pan or muffin liners.

2. In a small bowl, combine butter and brown sugar until coarse crumbles are made. Sprinkle over muffins.

3. Bake in 350 oven for 20-30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in the center of the muffins comes out clean.

Yield: 12 muffins (I made 16)

Source: unknown

Berry Oatmeal Muffins.

I found this recipe in a magazine at the Grandparent's cabin while on vacation a few weeks ago and thought it not only sounded good, but was fairly healthy too. When thinking of what to take a friend who just had a beautiful little baby girl exactly one week ago, I thought these muffins would be a good idea. I'm thinking she's not going to have the time, or energy, to make breakfast and muffins are an easy and delicious grab and go breakfast. I told the husband I think these are my new go-to blueberry muffin recipe. I hope my friend and her husband enjoy the muffins and I can't wait to deliver them and visit with the new family!

Berry Oatmal Muffins

1 1/2 Tbs. + 1 c. old-fashioned or quick-cooking oats, divided

1 1/2 Tbs. + 1/2 c. packed brown sugar, divided

1 c. fresh or frozen blueberries

1 Tbs. + 1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour, divided

1 Tbs. baking powder

1/4 - 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon, to taste

1 c. fat-free raspberry yogurt

4 Tbs. melted butter

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 400. Coat a muffin pan with cooking spray or line it with paper baking cups.

2. Combine 1 1/2 Tbs. oats and 1 1/2 Tbs. sugar in a small bowl and set aside. In another small bowl, gently toss blueberries with 1 Tbs. flour and set aside.

3. In a large bowl, combine remaining oats, sugar, flour, baking powder, an cinnamon. In a medium bowl, combine yogurt, butter, egg, and vanilla extract. Gently stir yogurt mixture into flour mixture until dry ingredients are moistened, but batter is still lumpy. Gently fold in blueberries.

4. Fill muffin cups almost to the top. Sprinkle reserved oats and brown sugar over muffins. Bake 18-20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve muffins warm, or if they are cool, slice in half and toast.

Yield: 12 muffins

Nutritional information: 186 calories, 4g. protein, 31g. carbohydrates, 5g. fat, 3g. saturated fat, 29mg. choesterol, 2g. fiber, 62mg. sodium.

Recipe obtained from: Diane - The Curves Magazine (unknown publication date/issue)

My thoughts: I ended up getting 14 muffins out of this recipe, though I could have probably filled a few of the cups a little fuller. You could make these even healthier by using whole wheat flour instead of the all-purpose flour. Any berry would work in place of the blueberries.

Quick Breakfast = Muffins.

Today I decided it was time to make a few more batches of muffins to freeze for those hurried mornings when you need to eat on the run. There are some clever people, like my mother, who never eat on the run. My mother manages to sit down and eat a proper breakfast every morning and if you are like her, you can can enjoy these muffins on the weekend - without having to bake anything.

These muffins split 50-50. The banana blueberry muffins were heavenly and the husband and I nearly ate all of them on Sunday alone! I think the key was the pureed banana which gave the muffin a subtle flavor. Substituting blackberries or raspberries for the blueberries would also be good. The coffee cake muffins weren't bad, just not what I was hoping for. The muffins were more dense than I like them, which I admit could be a stirring error. Overall they just felt like they were lacking something, perhaps chopped nuts included in the batter and more spices would make them better.

Banana Blueberry Muffins

2 extra ripe, medium bananas
6 Tbs. margarine
6 Tbs. brown sugar
1 egg
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. grated lemon peel
1 c. frozen blueberries, rinsed & drained

1. Puree bananas in a blender (1 cup)

2. Beat margarine and sugar until light and fluffy. Mix in bananas and egg.

3. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and lemon peel. Blend into banana mixture just until moistened. Fold in blueberries.

4. Line 6 large muffin cups with paper liners. Coat lightly with vegetable spray. Divide batter evenly.

5. Bake in 375 oven for 20-25 minutes.

Yield: 6 muffins
Recipe obtained from: Favorite Brand Name Bake Sale Cookbook

What I did: I had enough batter to fill about 9 cups and I didn't use liners - just spray & fill. I also used fresh blueberries, because that's what I had and there was no issue.

Coffee Cake Muffins

3 Tbs. all-purpose flour
3 Tbs. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
2 Tbs. butter or margarine
3 Tbs. chopped walnuts or pecans
1 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1/2 c. granulated sugar
1 1/4 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. ground ginger
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 butter or margarine
1 beaten egg
1/2 c. buttermilk or sour milk

1. Grease twelve muffin cups or line with paper cups; set aside.

2. For topping, in a small bowl, stir together the 3 Tbs. flour, brown sugar, and the 1/4 tsp. cinnamon. Cut in the 2 Tbs. butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in nuts; set topping aside.

3. In a medium bowl stir together the 1 1/2 cups flour, granulated sugar, baking powder, the 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, ginger, baking soda and salt. Cut in the 1/4 cup butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

4. In another bowl combine egg and buttermilk. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy)

5. Spoon half of the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling each one-third full. Top with half of the topping, the remaining batter, and the remaining topping. Bake in a 400 oven for 15-18 minutes or until golden and a wooden toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in muffin cups on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Remove from muffin cups; serve warm.


Yield: 12 muffins
Recipe obtained from: Better Homes & Gardens

Nutritional Information (per muffin): 180 cal., 8 g. total fat (4 g. sat. fat), 34 mg. chol.,196 mg sodium, 25 g. carbo., 1 g. fiber, 3 g. pro.

What I did: I had less than 12 muffins and used walnuts.

Banana muffins.

There have been three banana's laying on the kitchen counter for about a week now. Each day I look at them and think I should make something. But I've been busy and am just now getting around to using them up. Initially, I was going to make some banana apple bread, but decided at the last minute to go with something else.

I wanted to make the Banana Crumb Muffins I found on All Recipes, mainly because I'm a sucker for streusel topping! I followed some of the suggestions posted and added cinnamon to the batter as well as using oil instead of butter. Other than those two items, I followed the original recipe exactly. The recipe turned out 10 beautifully delicious muffins, which were light and airy and had a nice combination of banana and cinnamon flavoring. The crispy streusel topping was delicious!

A Duo of Muffins.

I've been waiting most of the week to bake some muffins to freeze for those hurried mornings, that are likely going to start creeping up even more! I decided to make some healthy oat bran applesauce muffins and since I had a lot of very ripe bananas to use up, I went with the strawberry banana muffins from Annie's Eats. Both batches of muffins turned out well & tasted great, and will great to grab from the freezer when we don't have time for a proper breakfast.

Coming in with 6g each of fiber and protein, the oat bran muffins provide a big nutritional punch in the morning. These muffins were delicious and had just the right touch of sweetness. A spoonful of homemade apple butter on top made them even more delictable! I love finding new recipes that are both healthy & delicous! The recipe for the oat bran muffins is from Hodgson Mill Oat Bran Hot Cereal, and can be found on the back of the box. I'm going to reprint the recipe for those that may not have any oat bran on hand or at least not this brand.

The strawberry banana muffins could also be considered fairly healthy and could easily be played around with to make even healthier. I'm not generally a big fan of combining bananna and strawberries, so I did have some reservations about these muffins - thankfully, I was won over by this particular flavor combination! Like the previous muffins, these also had just the right touch of sweetness and had a delicate note of banana - nothing overwhelming like some bananna baked goods can be. I'll certainly be keeping both of these recipes in my muffin rotation.

Oat Bran Applesauce Muffins

1/2 c. Brown sugar, packed

1 1/2 c. Oat bran cereal

1 1/2 c. Unbleached white flour

1 1/2 tsp. Baking Powder

1 1/2 tsp. Baking soda

1/2 tsp. Salt
2 eggs or 4 egg whites

1 c. Applesauce, chilled

4 Tbs. Vegetable oil

1. Preheat oven to 400. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners or grease muffin cups.

2. Blen together dry ingredients. Add eggs, chipped applesauce and vegetable oil. Mix until well blended. Spoon batter into muffin cups. Let stand for 10 minutes.

3. Bake 15 inutes or utnil golden brown.

Yield: 12 muffins

Recipe obtained from: Hodgson Mill

What I did: I used 2 eggs, only because I was to lazy to seperate the whites out. I used natural applesauce & think using a flavored applesauce would also be good. I might even experiment with apple butter in place of the applesauce next time. I also thought about trying out different spice combinations - ginger, nutmeg, cinnamon, etc. or even some dried fruit or nuts. Lastly, I used canola oil in place of the vegetable oil with no problems.

Have berries, will bake.

I woke up early this morning to let Carson out and we were greeted with a dark, dreary, rainy Thursday. The kind of nasty morning that makes you want to crawl back into bed with a hot cup of coffee and a warm muffin. I had a pint of blackberries that were dying to be eaten, so I decided to make blackberry muffins. Knowing I had a very limited amount of flour and having no desire to leave the house for any ingredients, I needed to find a recipe making use of what I had. I found a few that looked delicious, but needed sour cream or something else I didn't have - I did save those for making later. Eventually I found a recipe on Recipe Zaar using exactly what I had on hand and a mere 25 minutes later I had wonderfully warm and delicious blackberry muffins!

These muffins use wheat flour and brown sugar, so they're not as sweet as a lot of muffins you get - but it's sort of what I was looking for this morning. I made up for my piece of buffalo chicken pizza I ate first thing this morning, with a muffin, some fruit and yogurt. I might have to go back for another muffin though........


Blackberry Muffins
1/2 c. milk
3/4 c. vegetable oil
1 egg, beaten
2/3 c. brown sugar
1 c. white flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1 c. frozen blackberries


1. Heat oven to 350.

2. Mix all dry ingredients together. Toss blackberries into dry mixture, coating berries.

3. Mix together wet ingredients.

4. Pour wet ingredients into dry mixture & mix until just moist.

5. Spoon batter into ungreased muffin pan.

6. Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until done.


Yield: 12 muffins
Recipe obtained from: Recipe Zaar


What I did: I used fresh, not frozen, blackberries, which worked fine. Next time I might chop them in half, just to have some more berries floating around in the muffins. Some walnuts would be a great addition too, maybe some lemon zest too.