Muffins For School Mornings! Healthy Muffins For Picky Eaters
Discover > Texas Mom Blog > Muffins For School Mornings! Healthy Muffins For Picky Eaters
The kids going back school after almost half a year, is definitely a challenge for both parents and students. But with a little practice, planning and patience, most school mornings can pan out like a well-directed skit. Well balanced, healthy, and a good variety of food for breakfast and lunch boxes is a major part of a school morning routine. The little ones want something fun, the older ones need more nutrition, and you need something that can be had on-the-go. Enter, Healthy Muffins. The amount of nutrition and flavor these little cakes can hold is mind boggling. And don't even get me started about the ingredient combinations. They can be made well before time, stored conveniently, stay fresh for a good while and are so easy to eat.
Some children can be severe in their pickiness for having breakfast. Getting such kids to gulp down a healthy rich smoothie early in the morning can be quite the task. With muffins and a cup of milk, the chances of them actually eating it are considerably higher. Muffins don't always have to be a sugary, buttered blob of white flour (how long does flour last?). With these savory and semi-sweet muffins, you can pack in vegetables, greens, fruits and even protein.
Healthy Spinach Banana Muffins
These bright green muffins are a mood up lifter and a life saver. Delicious, soft, and moist. And guess what, they are made from an entire pack of fresh green spinach! Most children love these muffins, mine definitely devour them.
These spinach muffins are super simple to whip up, all the dry components go together, and all the wet ones go into the blender. Yes, blend them up. Next step is to just combine the wet and dry ingredients together and Voila!
What You Will Need
3 to 4 cups raw baby spinach
1 large, soft banana
½ cup honey or raw Maple syrup (how long does maple syrup last?)
1 large egg
¾ milk
½ cup butter, unsalted
2 cups whole wheat flour (how long does whole wheat flour last?)
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon baking soda (how long does baking soda last?)
2 teaspoon baking powder (how long does baking powder last?)
¼ teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
What You Have To Do
Combine all dry components in a large bowl
Blend together raw spinach, banana, egg, honey, milk, vanilla, and melted butter until well pureed.
Add the puree to the dry mix and fold until just combined, without any dry flour pockets. Avoid over whisking or mixing.
Line muffin tray with paper liners. Spoon batter into each cup.
In a pre-heated oven at 350 F, bake for about 20 minutes or until the muffins look done. Don’t let them turn brown.
Cool before serving or storing.
Healthy Fruit And Veggie Muffin
This fruit and veggie muffin has carrots (how long do carrots last?), apple and bananas (how long do bananas last?). It's a nutrient dense muffin that is moist with a nice chew to it-credits to the carrots. My kids love grated carrots, so I didn’t puree them here. Grate with a fine grate and you can barely notice them in the final baked product.
What You Will Need
1 cup whole wheat flour
Half cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 large eggs
1 ½ carrot, medium
1 banana, medium
Half apple, medium
2 tablespoon Apple juice
1/4 Cup unsweetened applesauce
1/3 Cup sugar (how long does sugar last?)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Half teaspoon cinnamon
Quarter teaspoon nutmeg (how long does nutmeg last?)
What You Have To Do
In a large mixing bowl, mix flour, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and baking soda and set aside
Soften the butter
In another mixing bowl, beat together sugar, eggs, butter, apple sauce, apple juice, and vanilla
Finely shred the carrots and add them to the wet mixture
Add the dry ingredients too and mix until well combined
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit
In an oil sprayed muffin tray, scoop the mixture and fill to 3/4th
Regular science muffins bacon at 350 degrees Fahrenheit oven for about 22 to 24 minutes
Check for doneness with a toothpick and cool before serving.
Healthy Bran Muffins
Bran is mainly the outer covering of a grain. Plentiful in fiber, Omega fats, and vitamins, the Bran is lost when grains are processed. Bran makes for an amazing baking medium. Bran muffins give that much needed dose of fiber that is lacking from our modern-day diets. It helps prevent constipation in young ones.
Healthy Bran muffins go perfectly with fruit and yogurt or a cup of warm milk.
The secret to the batter is the Bran cereal (how long does bran cereal last?). There is no expensive and extravagant bran flour or bran meal being used here. It's the plain bran cereal that most of us have lying in our pantry.
Just crush the cereal in a food processor or you can also do it the original ‘zip lock bag and rolling pin’ way. At the end of it, the cereal should be finely crushed.
It is best to prepare batter for the bran muffins at least five hours prior. The cereal takes time to soak and absorb moisture.
Batter Seems Really Thick?
After the batter has had four to five hours to rest, it is going to look quite thick. Worry not! Go ahead and fill those muffin cups up. As the muffins big, they puff up and build a nice crackly texture on top.
Add Ins
While you can follow this recipe as it is, feel free to play with the ingredients and give these healthy muffins your personal touch. Better yet, have the kids pick one they would like to add. Some amazing options are:
Raisins (how long do raisins last?)
Pumpkin seeds (how long do pumpkin seeds last?)
Chocolate chips (how long do chocolate chips last?)
Blueberries, apples or raspberries
This recipe makes ample so you can freeze the extras in an airtight container. Just reheat before you serve, and they are as fresh as the first day you made them.
What You Will Need
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
3 cups bran cereal, finely crushed
2/3 cup brown sugar
half teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 Cup buttermilk
1/3 Cup vegetable oil (how long does vegetable oil last?)
Half teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 large egg
1 teaspoon Vanilla extract
3 tablespoons sugar for sprinkling
What You Have To Do
Combine the flower and cereal, brown sugar, salt, baking soda and cinnamon powder into a large mixing bowl and whisk. Set aside
In another large mixing bowl, combined together the buttermilk, egg, oil and vanilla. Bring the wet and dry mixes together and stir well.
Cover the bowl tightly with clingfilm and refrigerate for 4-6 hours.
Prepare your muffin tin with 10 paper liners and set aside
Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
Divide the batter evenly among the liners. Fill them almost completely. Sprinkle with sugar.
Bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes or until toothpick test comes out clean.
Allow the muffins to cool completely on a wire rack.
