ORANGE BRAN FLAX MUFFINS

**Since I originally posted this, I noticed a mistake.  There should only be 1/2 c. flax and 1 1/2 c. flour. If you made it the other way - its ok - just not as light. It is now changed below.

My daughter reminded me of these muffins a few days ago. This recipe is from my good, dear friend Sandy! She's an angel on earth - really! These muffins are delicious and healthy (well sort of - if you discount the brown sugar and white flour - but the rest of the ingredients are).  I added and extra 1/2 cup of brown sugar to the original recipe (I like mine sweeter) and substituted coconut oil for canola oil.  I also experimented with diced apple or mashed banana added to them as well.  It's a forgiving recipe and you could add almost any fruit, I think.  Mangos, peaches, or even berries would be delicious. I don't add raisins - NO ONE in my family likes them. One of our family members (I won't say who) calls them "ticks". Ewwww! These freeze well. I buy the brans in the "buy the pound" bins at the grocery. Sprouts is a good source.

Preheat oven to 375. 

1 1/2 c. oat bran
1  1/2 c. flour
1/2 c. ground flax seed (make sure its ground - doesn't digest   well if it isn't and I'm told you lose the nutritional value)
1 c. wheat bran
1 T. baking powder
1/2 t. salt

Stir the above ingredients well in a large bowl. 

Add to blender and mix well:

2 whole oranges, peeled and quartered
1 c. buttermilk
2 eggs
1 1/2 c. brown sugar (I added the 1/2- omit if you want)
1/2 c. coconut oil (can use canola)
1 t. baking soda
1 c. chopped nuts - optional (we like pecans or walnuts)
**This is where I added the mashed banana or apple or other fruit. Don't blend the fruit - just stir it in. I added 1 whole mashed banana, or 1 peeled diced apple, etc.

Blend well and stir into dry ingredients, just until all ingredients are moistened.  Divide batter evenly into 24 regular size muffin pans.  Spray pans with cooking spray or use paper liners.  Bake for 18-20 minutes.  Cool 5 minutes before removing from pans.

Whole Wheat Banana Muffins

I made these muffins last week.  I love a hearty, whole wheat muffin.  And these were just that.  Easy to make and delicious to eat!  These were a perfect snack for our road trip the next day.

Whole Wheat Banana Muffins
recipe from:  Baking Bites

2 cups whole wheat flour (or white whole wheat)
1 1/4 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 brown sugar
1 large egg
3 tbsp vegetable oil
1 1/4 cups mashed banana (2-3 large bananas)
1/4 cup milk (any kind)
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup chopped pecans and/or walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners.
In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
In a large bowl, whisk together sugar and egg until well combined. Whisk in vegetable oil, mashed banana, milk and vanilla extract. Add flour mixture to wet ingredients and stir until batter just comes together and no streaks of dry ingredients remain. Gently fold in chopped nuts. Do not overmix.
Divide batter evenly into prepared muffin cups.
Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean and the tops spring back when lightly pressed.
Turn muffins out onto wire rack to cool completely.  Store in airtight container.

Cinnamon Muffins

Dessert for breakfast you ask? YES! Worth it? YES!
These sweet and delicious muffins are from my husband's family and have become a Conference tradition in our house. Get a big glass of milk or water ready before you eat them because they are super sweet and rich, but that cinnamon taste is soooo good. Don't forget the sauce- its the best part!!

Muffins...
1/2 Cup butter
3/4 Cup sugar
2 eggs
2 1/4 Cup flour
2 1/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp nutmeg
3/4 Cup milk

Sauce...
1/2 Cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 Cup milk
3 Tbsp light corn syrup
2 Tbsp butter

Cream butter, sugar, and eggs; combine dry ingredients and gently blend into creamed mixture. Stir in milk. Spoon into lightly greased or paper-lined muffin tin. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.
For sauce, combine sugar and cinnamon, then add all other ingredients. Cook on stove until thickened. Serve over top of warm muffins. Makes 1 dozen.
(I keep the burner on low or med-low. I don't let the sauce boil. Once you stir it on the stove for 5-10 minutes and take it off, the sauce will thicken as it cools)

Banana Crumb Muffins

Whenever I have brown bananas lying around, I always make banana bread.  But this time I decided to make muffins.  I know, I'm crazy like that!  I found this recipe on Allrecipes. It got 5 stars so I knew it would be a winner!  The muffins turned out sooo good.  Moist with lots of banana flavor.  And the crumb topping was the icing on the cake!  Or muffin.

Banana Crumb Muffins

1/3 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
3 bananas, mashed (I used 4)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1 1/2 cups flour

Crumb Topping

1/3 cup brown sugar
2 Tbs. flour
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbs. butter, softened

Cream butter, sugar and egg.  Add mashed bananas and dry ingredients.  Mix well and pour into greased or lined muffin pan.  (I use a cookie scoop to spoon the batter into the muffin cups.  So easy and less mess).  Mix brown sugar, flour and cinnamon together.  Cut in butter to make a crumbly mixture.  Sprinkle on top of muffins.  Bake at 375 for 15 - 18 minutes or until done.

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

Don't you just love berry season?

Just when I start to get tired of apples and oranges, the berries come out in full swing.  I love them all and I especially love when they are on sale!

My mother-in-law got a smokin' deal on a big case of blueberries a couple of weeks ago and sent me home one day with 6 boxes.  We kept two in the fridge to eat and I froze the rest for smoothies.

Then I found this recipe and was so excited to try it out.  It was really good and my frozen blueberries worked perfectly.

I made lemon drizzle as an option to put on top.

2 eggs
1 cup milk
1/2 cup canola oil
3 cups whole wheat flour
1 cup honey (I used brown sugar)
4 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. salt
2 cups blueberries

*Beat eggs.  Stir in milk and oil.  Mix in remaining ingredients, except blueberries, until moist.  Add blueberries and mix.  Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees.  Makes 24 muffins.

Lemon drizzle (not pictured):
fresh lemon juice
powdered sugar

*Squeeze a large lemon and then add powdered sugar, stirring constantly, until smooth and thick enough to drizzle.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins

 The other day I had a craving for something pumpkin.  No, I'm not pregnant.  Just cold and trying to deal with this frigid, winter weather.  And pumpkin always sounds good when you are cold!  I still have a few cans of pumpkin left over from all of my holiday baking, so I decided to try out these muffins.  They fulfilled my craving and are a pretty healthy snack.  My husband took some to work and everyone loved them.  I got the recipe here.  Love this website!  

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins

4 c whole wheat flour

1 tsp salt

2 tsp baking soda

2 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp nutmeg

2 c brown sugar (loosely packed)

1 can (15 oz) pumpkin (not pie filling)

1 ½ c milk

¼ c canola oil

4 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine all ingredients and mix until just combined. Bake in well greased muffin tins for 15 minutes or 10 minutes for mini-muffins. Makes about 2 ½ dozen regular sized muffins or lots of mini muffins.

Mexican Corn Chowder with Cornbread Muffins

I'm back!! After having a baby then moving across the country, I am finally getting back into my groove. I love my new kitchen! I have a gas stove that I have loved cooking on. Still getting used to the grocery stores around here. I want to give Rach a huge thanks for keeping Betty afloat during my absence!
Anyways, here are two recipes I tried tonight for dinner. It's already chilly here in New York so soup and cornbread sounded good. The soup was easy and delish! Just the right amount of spice and the perfect amount of creamy. The cornbread muffins were very simple and tasted great with the soup! Just what we needed for a cool, Fall night.

Mexican Corn Chowder:

1 lb. chicken tenderloins, diced
1/2 onion, diced
3 Tbs. butter
1 clove garlic, minced
1 cup hot water
2 chicken bouillon cubes
1 tsp. cumin
2 cups half and half
1 can cream style corn
1 can green chilies
1 can diced tomatoes or 1 tomato chopped
2 cups shredded monterey jack cheese

In a large saucepan, brown chicken, onion and garlic in butter until chicken is no longer pink. Dissolve the bouillon in hot water. Add to pan along with cumin; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, cover and simmer for 5 minutes. Add half and half, cheese, corn, chilies and can of tomatoes(if using canned). Cook and stir over low heat until cheese is melted. Stir in chopped tomato(if using fresh). Serve immediately.

Corn muffins:

2/3 cup cornmeal
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/4 cup flour
1 Tbs. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/3 cup oil
1 cup milk

Mix dry ingredients then add oil and milk until just moistened. Spoon into muffin tins sprayed with Pam. Bake for 15-17 minutes until golden brown. Makes 8 regular sized muffins and 24 mini-muffins.

Chocolate Chip Muffins

Emery had a friend over the other day and they asked me if they could "experiment" in the kitchen. Well, I was eleven a few years back and I know what happens when kids "experiment" in the kitchen. They throw lots of ingredients together to see what will happen and then it looks gross so they throw it away. So I suggested that they find a recipe and bake something. They pulled out our muffin cookbook and found a recipe for chocolate chip muffins and went to work. They were so cute mixing it all up and the end result was really yummy. Looks like we could have a little Betty on our hands.

1 1/2 cups flour

1 Tbs. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

3/4 cup sugar

3 eggs

6 Tbs. butter, melted

1 1/2 tsp. vanilla

1 cup chocolate chips

*Mix well and bake for 20 minutes at 375 degrees.

THREE GRAIN MUFFINS

I bought a little muffin cookbook at the check-out stand a few weeks ago (total impulse buy) and this recipe was in it. I made them this morning for breakfast and they were quite tasty. A little butter on them didn't hurt.

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 T. baking powder
heaping 1/2 c. firmly packed brown sugar
heaping 1/4 c. yellow cornmeal
1/4 t. salt
1 c. rolled oats
1 c. buttermilk
2 large eggs
6 T.oil
1 t. vanilla

Preheat oven to 400 and line a 12 cup muffin pan with liners. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a bowl.

In another bowl lightly beat the eggs and add the buttermilk, oil and vanilla. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the liquid ingredients. Stir gently until just combined; do not overmix.

spoon into prepared muffin pan. Bake for about 15-20 min. (I baked for only 15 as they seemed done enough).

**Next time I'm going to add a little orange zest and substitute a little of the buttermilk with orange juice. I think that sounds tasty. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Bran Muffins

Who doesn't love a good bran muffin? I know. Lots of people. But these are good. I promise! Even the hubby who is anti semi-healthy food liked these. Not that these are super healthy by any means, but they have a lot of fiber in them which does the body good. I got the recipe from my "Favorites" cookbook.

4 cups All-Bran cereal
2 cups boiling water
1 cup butter
2 1/2 cups sugar
4 eggs
1 quart buttermilk
5 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
5 cups flour
2 cups Bran flakes

Pour boiling water over All-Bran cereal and let sit. Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs then dry ingredients alternating with buttermilk. Mix in the water soaked All-Bran. Last, stir in Bran flakes. Batter will store in the fridge for up to 30 days. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes in greased or paper-lined muffin tins.

Note: I halved the recipe and it made 2 dozen muffins.

Buttermilk Blueberry Muffins

I found this recipe in a cookbook that my sister-in-law was getting rid of. It's a cookbook with 1001 recipes, all having to do with bread. I found this muffin recipe while looking for some way to use my blueberries that were getting soft. We really liked the way they turned out. 2 1/2 cups flour

2 1/2 tsp. baking powder

1/4 tsp. salt

1 cup sugar

1 1/2 cup fresh blueberries

1 cup buttermilk

2 eggs

1/4 cup butter, melted

*Blend flour, baking powder, and salt. In another bowl, beat eggs until foamy. Add sugar, buttermilk and melted butter. Mix until smooth. Fold in the blueberries. Add to the dry ingredients. Spoon batter into muffin cups and bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees.

Sour Cream Blueberry Muffins

I had some fresh blueberries and decided to make muffins. These were so good! They turned out moist and sweet. Perfect for a spring breakfast.

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup oil
1/2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. baking soda
2 cups flour
1 cup blueberries

Mix eggs, sugar, oil, vanilla and sour cream. Next, add salt, soda, flour. Gently fold in blueberries. Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. (I used a cookie scoop to scoop the batter and it worked really well).

Chocolate Banana Muffins

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups flour
3 Tbs. cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. vanilla
1 cup mashed banana
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup finely chopped walnuts
1 cup chocolate chips

*Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs. Add dry ingredients and mix well. Add vanilla, banana, sour cream, nuts and chocolate chips. Pour into muffin tins and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.

Pumpkin Muffins

My sister in law Missy told me about these... easiest muffins you'll ever make! And they are acutally quite tasty for how little effort is put into them.

Ingredients:

-1 Spice cake mix

(just the mix, DON'T add the egg, oil, etc.)

-15 oz. can of pumpkin

-chocolate chips (optional)

Mix and put in muffin tins, or bread tins, or whatever shape you want!

Bake at 400 for 20 minutes. More for the small bread pans.

Whole Wheat Pumpkin Muffins

This is another recipe from a relative of the Nielson family. Christian's sister, Alice, had this on her blog and since I am a lover of all pumpkin recipes...I had to try it.
4 cups whole wheat flour

1 tsp. salt

2 tsp. baking soda

2 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. nutmeg

2 cups brown sugar (loosely packed)

1 can (15 oz.) pumpkin

1 1/2 cups milk

1/2 cup butter, melted (or canola oil)

4 eggs

2 tsp. vanilla

*Mix dry ingredients together. Add the rest of the ingredients and mix just until combined. Bake in muffin tins for 15-17 minutes at 350. (8-10 minutes for mini muffins).
*I made some regular sized muffins and some mini muffins. My kids liked them, which is always a bonus. I added some semi-sweet chocolate chips to the last 6 muffins that I made and I probably don't have to tell you that those were my favorite.

Blueberry Muffins

1/2 cup butter, softened

3/4 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

2 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

2 cups flour

1 cup milk

2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries

*Cream butter and sugar. Add eggs and vanilla. Mix well. Add the rest of ingredients. Spoon into greased muffin tin and bake at 375 for 25 minutes.

*Helpful hint: Blueberries are only 99 cents right now at Superstition Ranch Market.