Muffin Munchers

When I was very young, our family lived in Washington State.  My older sister bought me a series of books written and illustrated by Seattle based writer Stephen Cosgrove and illustrator Robin James. My favorite book is called, “The Muffin Muncher.”

It’s an endearing tale about a dragon who moves under the drawbridge of a castle and begins to exploit the muffin-baking king out of all his baked goods.  The king and his villagers run out of supplies as the dragon eats up all of their hard work.  In the end, the dragon decides to help the villagers and king by bringing the fire power to the ovens in exchange for a fair share in the muffins.

The last line of the book aptly describes my relationship to muffins –

WHILE HEATING UP THE OVENS

WITH A LOT OF STYLE AND GRACE,

THE MUFFIN MUNCHER SMILES A SMILE

WITH CRUMBS UPON HIS FACE.

Muffins tame the hungry beasts in our house, too, especially as a delicious after school snack.  My girls love them because they are easy to grab on the go.  I love them because you can sneak healthy ingredients into them so they can be yummy AND good for you.

The recipe I am going to share with you this week is just that sort of muffin.  It was originally a recipe from King Arthur Flour, which was shared by a friend.  I have taken a few small liberties and made it my own and it is now a family favorite.

So, what makes these yummy muffins healthy?  First of all, I use half unbleached whole wheat flour and half all purpose flour.  The recipe also uses flaxseed and ground flax meal.  I know, it’s a little like eating bird seed, but it is a heart healthy ingredient we have warmed to since our adventures in heart disease. (For more on that, read my About Me page). These magic seeds contain omega-3 fatty acids, lignans and fiber, and when mixed into these muffins, you hardly even notice them.  Using fresh fruit makes them even more nutritious.

Some kitchen confessions:

1. The recipe says to beat the butter and sugar, but they can just as easily be mixed with a fork and some elbow grease.  At heart, I am a lazy chef who would rather not wash a hand mixer if I don’t have to.  But if you have a marvelous kitchen mixer and love it, by all means, follow the proper instructions.
2. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can use plain yogurt.  This will make the batter thicker and the muffins a little denser, but still tasty.  I have made them with Greek Yogurt and it works well and bumps up the health factor even more.
3. As I was beginning to prep for my food photos, I realized with horror how nasty my muffin pan has become.  I ran out to grab a new one and was delighted to find some muffin pans at The Dollar Tree.  The best part is they are smaller, made for 6 muffins.  Why is this great?  I love it because I tend to make my muffins a tad smaller than some recipes and can generally get 16-18 muffins out of a 12 muffin recipe.  By using these fabulous pans, I can actually fit 3 across on my oven rack, baking them all at once.  And they were $1 each.  You can’t beat that.

One final note on storing your muffins – I live in the South, y’all, and it gets hot and humid.  Because these babies have buttermilk in them, they can go bad mighty quickly on the countertop.  I highly suggest storing them in the refrigerator.  Simply take them out a little before you want to eat them to warm up to room temperature or pop them in the microwave for 8-10 seconds.

Enjoy!

AuthorMelissa JoyDifficultyBeginner