I've had a nice, quiet day. I woke up this morning to a brand new KitchenAid mixing bowl. Does my husband know me or does my husband know me? Or was it just an attempt to get me to make more goodies?? So, I of course had to test run it as soon as I got home from my zumba class.
So I made some muffins, as it's been quite awhile since I've made any and Logan has been asking for them lately. Remember here when I said that I had found a delicious, new, healthy recipe for muffins? I think I love these ones here even more. I got this recipe from Katie when we were in Vancouver. These muffins are packed with vegetables, which as any mom of a toddler knows, are almost impossible to get into most kids. Logan has no idea that he's eating anything good for him here.
I would usually leave the cranberries and pumpkin seeds out, as Logan doesn't like to mix textures of food together. But he has recently fallen in love with dried cranberries and cherries - I've convinced him to eat them by telling him they are candy. I have no idea how he even knows what candy is, as I've certainly never given him any (daycare???), but it was enough to make him try (and love!) these. We also tried to sell him on some soup by calling it ketchup, but he was a bit too smart for that one ;)
I left the dried cranberries and pumpkin seeds in and it seems to be a success, as he ate one and a half of these huge muffins within a few minutes of them coming out of the oven.
Before I get on with the recipe, I wanted to share a few of my favourite moments from this week:
- Logan turning to wave to our family doctor as we were leaving his office and saying "bye Soucie".
- how Chloé has started pulling at her hair and her ear when she is falling asleep.
- watching how Chloé watches Logan's every move, wherever he goes. She cranes her neck at insane angles to not lose sight of him and he eats it up. It's so special to get to watch such a bond develop between the two of them. I think of how close I am with my siblings and realize that it likely started way back in the beginning.
- seeing how excited Logan was when Jérôme took him for his first ride of the season in the bike trailer. He kept begging "vélo, vélo" (bike) even after returning from an hour long ride. And refused to take off his helmet for at least an hour afterwards. In true Logan style ;)
- the sound of Chloé starting to babble (what S-LP wouldn't love that??).
- how when I kissed Logan good night tonight to go put Chloé to bed (unsuccessfully), Logan smiled and said "dance". I usually only kiss him goodnight before he's in pyjamas on the night I go to zumba. So much better than the tears we used to get at my departure.
Enjoy your muffins. And your Mother's Day. I hope you have something special planned for dinner.
Beat together with a fork:
1 egg
1/2 C brown sugar
1/3 C plain yogurt
3 tbsp. canola oil
I used plain Greek yogurt, as this is all that I had in my fridge.
Whisk together in another bowl:
1 1/2 C flour (I used whole-wheat)
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon
Mix wet and dry mixtures until just combined and then add:
1/2 C grated carrot (Katie mentioned she usually puts in a fair amount more, so so did I)
1/2 C shredded zucchini
3-4 lumps of frozen spinach, defrosted and well drained (pat with a paper towel to dry well)
1/2 C grated apple (I left the skin on for extra nutrients and fiber)
1/4 C cranberries (I used dried cranberries)
1/4 C pumpkin seeds or walnuts
1/4 C shredded unsweetened coconut
I doubled the recipe, and it took me almost an entire bag of mini carrots to get 1 C grated (didn't have any regular carrots in the fridge), about 1 and a half tiny zucchinis and about an apple and a half. Just to give you an idea on how much to buy. And it was maybe total 1/4 C of spinach that I put in.
Next time, I'll also throw in some combination of the following: wheat germ, ground flax seed, hemp seed, and/or chia seed.
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| defrosted spinach |
Mix until just combined. Do not overmix (lumps are fine).
Pour into well-greased muffin tins and bake for 16-20 minutes at 350 degrees Farenheit.
The recipe says that it makes 6 large muffins, but I got 18 large muffins after doubling the recipe. Katie always doubles it and makes them in a mini-muffin pan, yielding close to 2 dozen mini muffins.
Difficulty level: easy to moderate
10 comments:
Can't wait to try these!!
About how much spinach did you put in the muffins in all?
mmmm... maybe about 1/4 C for the double batch.
I made them tonight. I substituted chia seed for the egg, and I used goat yogurt instead of dairy yogurt. Delicious!!!!
"I want to try making this recipe but I've only got one flour and you usually need a combo to make good gluten-free muffins!
Can you use just fresh spinach, instead of frozen? I always seem to have a bag for salads and stuff and I was just wondering if it would make a difference. As long as I put it in a food processor or chop it extremely fine, wouldn't it work the same way?
Hi Katie :) I haven't tried it with fresh spinach, but I think that it would work out ok. I assume it would cook a bit as the muffins cook, the same way apple chunks do in muffins. Let me know if it works if you try it. But yes, I'd be sure to chop it fine beforehand.
Lovely recipe, how much chia seeds/wheat germ/hemp seed/ground glax seed did you put in?
hmmm... it's been awhile since I've made them since my kids can't eat gluten anymore. But what I usually do is just decrease the flour by what I add in. I wouldn't do more than 1/3 C total substitution the first time around though, and you can test it from there.
Sometimes with recipes though, I do just add in a bit - I just made my peanut butter apple crisp and added in maybe 1/4 C of hemp to it and it turned out well. Good luck :)
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