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.

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.