It’s almost a cliche already that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. If that’s true or not, I can’t say. What I can say is that a blueberry muffins breakfast is the most delicious meal of the day. Add some applesauce and you’ve got a healthy recipe that makes moist, mouth watering muffins, full of fruits and flavor. This is one of my mom’s blueberry muffins recipes which she used to bake for us a lot when we were children. Feel free to use it, if you find it appealing.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour (all-purpose is OK, whole wheat is healthier, therefore much better)
• 1 cup bran flakes
• 1/3 cup sugar (organic, brown sugar is best, but you can use whatever you have)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 cup applesauce (unsweetened is best)
• 1 cup low-fat buttermilk
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 egg, slightly beaten
• 1 cup blueberries (if you can find them fresh, it’s desirable, but frozen ones are also good)
• A pinch of salt

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Makes 12 muffins

Method:

Preheat the oven at 350 F. Take a muffin tin and grease it with a non stick cooking spray or with some olive oil. Another good idea to avoid muffins from sticking to the pan is to line it with paper cups, like the ones used for baking cupcakes. They are fairly inexpensive and they will make your muffins look more “festive”.

As in all muffin recipes, mix all dry ingredients together in a bowl, then add the blueberries to the mixture. Take another bowl and mix the wet ingredients separately, then combine them with the dry ones and stir well. Spoon the muffin batter into the tin cups, filling them only three quarters. Bake the muffins for 15-20 minutes. By the end of the interval, try them with a toothpick so see if they are done, especially if you notice they get brown before the 20 minutes lapse.

Bran muffins are a very good source of dietary fiber, therefore they make excellent and healthy breakfast meals. As they take a little bit more time to prepare than other types of muffins, you can make the batter and refrigerate it overnight, if you want to bake the muffins first thing in the morning, before your family wakes up. This is one of the favorite muffin recipes of many kids.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups wheat bran
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup raisins (you can also use dates or dried apricots, chopped)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 egg
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 2/3 cup sugar (brown is better than white; you can substitute the whole sugar amount or a part of it with honey or molasses)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Cooking method:

Preheat the oven to 375 F. Line the muffin tin cups with paper liners or grease it. Mix the wheat bran with the buttermilk and let it sit for 10 minutes. This is the additional step that makes the preparation time a bit longer, but you can’t skip it if you want to bake perfect bran muffins. Beat the egg, add the oil and the sugar, then pour the mix over the buttermilk with bran after the ten minutes have passed. Mix together the dry ingredients, then stir them into the buttermilk and blend well. Now add the dried fruits, raisins or whatever you decided you want to go into your muffins and spoon the batter in the muffin tin cups. Fill them only 3 quarters, so the muffins have enough room to expand during the baking process. Bake for 20 minutes, then stick one muffin with a toothpick. If it comes out clean, take them out of the oven and let them cool for a few minutes before taking them out of the pan.

Take any of the banana bread recipes you know, cut the baking time to 20 minutes and you’ve got a great banana muffin recipe. However, if you’re new to this kind of sweets, you can try our banana nut muffins easy recipe by following the instructions below. It’s easy to prepare and even easier to eat.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups flour (all purpose flour is good, whole-grain flour is even better)
• 2 tablespoons baking powder
• 3 bananas, mashed (pick really ripe bananas, the kind than nobody feels like eating them anymore)
• 1 cup nuts, chopped, raw or toasted (pecans or walnuts are also great)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sugar (if you want them sweeter, make it 3/4 cup)
• 2 eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 20-25 minutes

Makes 12 muffins

How to cook the banana nut muffins:

As usually when baking muffins, the dry ingredients need to be mixed together in a bowl and the wet ingredients in another one. Beat the eggs before mixing them with the rest of the stuff. Then gently add the wet ingredients mix to the dry mix, stirring carefully, until you get a thick and chunky batter. When ready, with a spoon or an ice scoop, fill the cups in the muffin tin, previously greased or lined with paper cups. Greasing the tin is fine, but paper cups ease very much your cleaning work after the cooking is done. Bake the muffins for 18-20 minutes, then try them with a toothpick to check if they are done. Let them cool a little before taking them out of the pan.

Gourmet muffins can make an excellent gift for many occasions such as anniversaries, holidays or other special events. Homemade gourmet gifts are even better, because of the psychological impact of knowing that somebody cooked them with you in mind. So, if you have someone special and want to give him a special present, try this muffin recipe or one of its variations mentioned below.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups flour (all purpose is just fine)
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 cup sugar (you can use brown sugar, it’s healthier)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 3/4 cup yogurt (fat-free yogurt is also an acceptable option)
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
• 1 can pumpkin puree
• 2 cups chocolate chips

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Cooking time: 20-25 minutes

Makes 12 muffins

Cooking procedure:

Mix the flour with salt and baking powder in a bowl. Separately beat the eggs with the yogurt and sugar, then add them to the dry mix together with the pumpkin and stir the batter well until it gets moistened. Then gently add in the chocolate chips. Grease a muffin tin and spoon the mix inside the cups, filling them only three thirds. You can use an ice cream scoop to fill in the cups. Since your muffins are meant to be a gift, it would be very nice if you bought some special occasion cupcake paper liners. Never ignore gift wrapping, as it sometimes can make a more powerful effect than the gift itself. This is why such inexpensive and easy to find accessories matter, so try to use them. Bake the muffins at 400 F for about 18-25 minutes and let them cool when ready.

Variations: blueberries, chopped almonds, ground nutmeg, poppy seeds or applesauce can also be used for making delicious and good looking gourmet muffins. For an exquisite taste, you can try using pineapple and macadamia nut instead of pumpkin and chocolate chips.

Such muffin recipes can help you satisfy your sweet cravings even when you’re on a low-carb diet. Basically, any muffin recipe can be turned into a low-carb one by replacing the sugar with a sweetener and the all purpose flour with whole-grain flour or with almond flour or soy flour. In this recipe we’ve used almond flour and ground flax seed.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 cups almond flour
• 1 cup ground flax seed
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/3 cup liquid sweetener (instead of sugar)
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 cup walnuts, chopped

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Makes 12 muffins

Cooking procedure:

Stir together in a bowl all dry ingredients, then make a well in the middle of the bowl. In another bowl, mix the eggs with the heavy cream and with the sugar substitute. Add about 1/3 cup of water or soda, then pour them over the dry mix and stir everything well. Prepare the muffin tin by greasing it with butter or by lining it with muffin paper cups. Fill the cups 2/3 with the muffin batter. Take care to spoon equal amounts in each cup, so they can get baked all in the same time. Bake them for about 20 minutes, then try one with a toothpick to see if they are ready. The toothpick should come out clear, that’s the sign you’re done. If you’re a long term low-carb dieter, you may welcome some variations of this recipe. Bananas, blackberries, pumpkin, apricots or sugar-free fruit jam would make great muffins, healthy and low on carbohydrates, perfect for breakfast or for snacks over the day.

Blueberry muffins are in top of many people’s preferences when it comes to muffin recipes. If you use high-quality ingredients and keep fats and sugar to a minimum, blueberry muffins can make a delicious and healthy breakfast. Blueberries have an excellent taste when cooked, that’s why they make such a nice addition to many sweets recipes. This recipe is tasty and very easy to make.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups whole-grain flour
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon, finely ground
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup mashed bananas (choose only ripe ones and mash them in a blender)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 cup milk (you can replace it with soy milk if you want)
• 1 cup blueberries (organic are best, but others can do as well)

Preparation time: 15 minutes

Cooking time: 20 minutes

Makes 12 muffins

Cooking Directions:

Grease the muffin pan or line it with paper cups. Preheat the oven at 350 degrees F. Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl: the flour, the baking powder, the salt, the sugar and the cinnamon. Stir them well and add the blueberries. Separately, mix the mashed banana with the milk, egg and vanilla extract, then combine the dry and wet mixtures to make the muffin batter. Then spoon it into the muffin cups, taking care not to fill them up to the top edge. Bake muffins for about 20 minutes. You can use a toothpick to test if they are ready: stick it into one muffin and if it comes out clean, it means you can take them out of the oven and let them cool for a while before taking them out of the pan. Serve them at room temperature.

Muffins are sweet, little breads that are baked in cupcake forms, but which have no frosting on them like cupcakes do and which usually contain less sugar. Because both muffins and cupcakes have the same shape, many people wonder what is the difference between a muffin and a cupcake, if any. Actually, the only thing they have in common is their shape. Other that that, muffins are mini-breads with various tastes. They are quick breads, because they don’t contain yeast like common bread, chemical leaveners like baking powder or sodium bicarbonate being used instead. As for the other ingredients contained in a muffin, they can be pretty much any goodie, from chocolate chip, blueberry, apple cinnamon, pumpkin, banana, nut, pecans, lemon, poppy seeds, cranberry, honey, flax seed, peach, orange, almond, carrot or cereals such as bran or oat. Most muffins are sweet, but there are also a few savory varieties. They are usually served for breakfast. English muffins, which are different in shape from American ones and which are yeast-leavened, are usually dusted with cornmeal and they are served toasted, with butter, for breakfast or for the tea time snack. Our muffin recipes website is about cupcake-shaped, American muffins, but we may also publish a few English muffin recipes every now and then.

How to Make Muffins

The main ingredient in muffins is flour. For healthy eating recipes of muffins, whole-wheat flour can be used. Whole-wheat flour is widely available in stores and it’s easy to spot because it’s clearly labeled and slightly more expensive than regular flour. The basic preparation process involves mixing all ingredients together, then spooning the mix into special muffin tins. As a general rule, dry ingredients are mixed separately from wet ingredients, then the two mixtures are combined by making a hole in the middle of the dry ingredients, adding the wet mixture inside and stirring well, until all flour clumps are gone. Muffin recipes are countless, as all quick bread recipes can be used to make muffins by simply reducing the baking time. Baking muffins can be tricky, because sometimes it happens that even a slight change in the recipe might lead to faulty, heavy muffins that nobody would want to eat. Trial and error is the best way to learn how to bake great muffins, so don’t be afraid to try. The worst that can happen is that you lose one hour of your time and some food ingredients. Nothing more.

Here are two helpful tips that will considerably increase your chances to make perfect muffins even from the first attempts:

• grease the muffin pans before pouring in the mix; if you don’t have high-quality muffing pans, you’d better consider using paper cups in order to avoid muffins to get stuck in the pan
• fill them only two-thirds, because muffins need to have enough room to leaven during the baking process

The baking itself takes about 20-30 minutes for regular muffins and about 10 minutes for mini-muffins, so if you’re quick with the preparations you can have them ready in as little as 40-50 minutes. Obviously, the preparation time depends on the added ingredients. For instance, if you want to make dried fruit muffins, you may need to soak the fruit in water for a longer time before making the muffin recipe mix.

Muffins, Calories and Healthy Eating

Are muffins a healthy meal? The answer depends on the ingredients you use. If you want muffins that are low-fat, low-calorie and high in fiber content, just use whole wheat flour and bran as dry ingredients and moisten it with low-fat yogurt and pumpkin puree or any other fruit or vegetable puree that’s rich in fiber. Knowing how to cook offers the edge of being able to better control the amounts of various nutrients, it gives you the freedom to choose what you want to be part of your diet and what you want to leave out, it lets you be in control of your daily calorie intake and on your carbs intake, should you be concerned with that. When calculating calories, carbs, fats or sugar in muffins, you need to know that, as in any other meals, these depend on the ingredients your muffins contain. This is why a blueberry muffin will be different than a oat bran muffin or than a chocolate chip muffin. Bakery muffins that you can find in shops may contain anywhere between 10 and 30 grams of fat, so if you are on a low-fat diet it would be wiser to buy only reduced-fat muffins or make your own. If you’re a vegan, that’s one more reason to cook at home. Even if there aren’t too many vegan muffin recipes available, you can always tweak some regular recipes into vegan ones by replacing eggs and milk with their vegetal versions.

Muffin Recipes

If you are in search of healthy easy recipes for muffins, then our website is the place to be. We aim to become the most thorough resource for muffin recipes, yes this can’t be done at once, therefore we can offer you our free early warning subscription which will allow you to get your new muffins recipes as soon as we publish them. We’d be glad to hear back from you, in case you decide to try some of our recipes. Feel free to use the comments section to give us your thoughts and your ideas for improvement, if you think some of these recipes here can be improved by tweaking ingredients or quantities. We basically try to keep things simple, as it often happens that simple recipes are also the best, whether you make muffins or any other meals.