If you like a delicious warm muffin with your morning coffee as I do, you will love this muffin recipe. It is 100% whole grain, relatively low in sugar and has more fruit than many other recipes I have seen. One of these nutritious pastries will give you enough slow-release energy (thank you, whole grains) to handle hectic mornings or help you beat the afternoon slump.
Tricky whole grains
The recipe is a result of many trials and failures. Batters prepared with 100% whole wheat flour are often heavier and need more leavening agent (baking powder) so I had to tweak a few recipes from my favorite cookbooks to make sure the muffins are as fluffy and light as they can get.
Kids and portion distortion
Baking these muffins or pretty much anything is a great way to involve kids in the kitchen and my little ones love helping to measure, mix and stir. It is also a perfect opportunity to teach them about appropriate portions. These muffins are about half the size and caloric content of the oversized Starbucks muffins. This allows them to fit perfectly inside my kids’ lunchboxes and give a real-life example of what a serving of baked goods should look like.
In case you need to save time during the week, feel free to freeze these little guys in Ziploc bags. They are perfectly defrosted and warm in a matter of seconds in a microwave.
Hurray to variety
The best part is that you can use this basic recipe to create endless flavor combinations. Here are some of the suggestions:
- Apple, oats & cinnamon: substitute blueberries with 1 cup of apples cut in very small chunks, replace 1/2 cup flour with quick oats, use 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon instead of vanilla and sprinkle some oats on the top of each muffin before baking
- Banana Chocolate Chip: Substitute 1/2 oil with 1 cup mashed bananas and reduce the amount of buttermilk to 1/2 cup. Add a handful of chocolate chips instead of blueberries.
- Pumpkin cranberry: Substitute 1/2 oil with 1 cup pumpkin puree and reduce the amount of buttermilk to 1/2 cup. Add a cup of sweetened cranberries instead of blueberries.
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- ½ cup canola oil
- 2 cups fresh blueberries
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- Line 18 muffin cups with liners or use silicone cups (we used heart-shaped).
- Dry mixture: Combine flour with sugar, baking powder and salt.
- Wet mixture: Beat the eggs with buttermilk and vanilla.
- Stir in the oil.
- Pour the wet mixture over the dry mixture and mix quickly until just combined. Do not over mix, otherwise, the texture of the muffins will be rubbery.
- Stir in the blueberries.
- Spoon about ¼ cup of mixture into each muffin cup. I like to use an ice cream scoop for equal portions.
- Bake for about 15 minutes or until an inserted wooden skewer comes out dry.
- Enjoy!
Does it matter if you use red or white wheat flour? Trader Joe’s sells white wheat, which I use in my bread recipe and I think it’s lighter than red wheat flour. One day I will get my own wheat grinder and buy non GMO wheat berries to grind myself.
Lindsey, I am embarrassed to admit I do nto know what red wheat flour is :). I never baked with it. Is it heavier than regular whole wheat flour?
Thank you Lindsay. I would say white wheat may work better since it has less protein and will give a softer texture, something we look for in sweet treats like muffins. But I will try to experiment with both. I am curious!