Coconut Banana Muffins

I have been on a baking kick lately and my friends are probably tired of my coming over with a bunch of baking experiments. I decided to make these muffins on a whim since I had all of the ingredients at home and wanted to try something other than my classic banana go to: Leonie's banana bread. Leonie's banana bread will probably always be one of my favorite classic banana bread/muffin recipes out there, but I wanted to try something a little new. I had a bunch of coconut flakes leftover from when I last made energy bites, so this was the perfect recipe to make a dent in that. There muffin taste great and look adorable with the shredded coconut on top. Wrap in an airtight container and snack on these for a few days in a row.

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Sugar Crusted Blueberry Muffins

I just got home from visiting my sister, where baking and cooking happens much more regularly than at my own home these days (though I probably shouldn't admit that). She has been making these blueberry muffins for a while and they were delicious. Moist and lemony, just the way I like them. If you want an extra lemon kick, you can use lemon yogurt instead of plain yogurt. 

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Vegan Cranberry Banana Muffins

Generally speaking, I am a very traditional baker. I use eggs, butter, milk, and all those traditional baking staples. I have family members that are vegan, so every now and then my mom or I will try out a new vegan recipe. This time around it's an autumn themed muffin. If you are not vegan but still want to try this, you could substitute regular milk for the almond milk. You could also use coconut milk or other various milk alternatives. The original recipe does not add cranberries, so feel free to skip that step if you don't have the time to make the cranberry mixture.

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Whole Wheat Apple Muffins

My sister's neighbors have an apple tree, which means there is a surplus of apples in her kitchen. In efforts to make a dent in the apple pile, we decided to tackle a variety of apple dishes. She had made these muffins before and loved them, so I started peeling and chopping apples without any questions. The apples we have are smaller, so I used 4 and it worked well.

These muffins turned out great and stayed fresh for 3 days stored in an airtight container. I love the effect the brown sugar has on the tops of the muffins. It adds a little crunch as well as a delicious caramel like flavor, so don't get lazy or too health conscious and skip that step. Even though these are made with whole wheat flour, that flavor does not dominate the muffin and you don't even realize it's been used.

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Zucchini and Carrot Muffins

When it comes to baking, I don't usually make an effort to use "healthy" ingredients (at most I'll mix in some whole wheat flour with my white flour). I stick with butter and sugar and am usually please with the results. Sometimes, though, I really want to have a breakfast muffin that doesn't make me feel guilty for having consumed something so unhealthy at 9 am (and lets face it, I usually have at least 2). I actually came across this recipe on accident and was really, really skeptical about the ingredients. I thought I would give it a try since, oddly enough, I had everything required at home. I was not expecting to like these. I was hoping that they would be good enough for an on-the-go type of snack or a quick breakfast option, but didn't think I would love them. I was so very wrong. Turns out these muffins were so good that the first batch of 20 were gone within 2 days and I made another batch a week later. I even made a third batch to put in the freezer so I could just snack on these when I wanted.

Now to clarify a few things. These muffins are probably not considered healthy by people who bake with alternative ingredients and count their calorie intake. They do contain sugar and white flour, but they require much less of both ingredients than many muffins do. There are also tons of healthy ingredients baked into the muffins, like zucchini, carrots, almonds, and apple. I also cut down the amount of oil required in half and added some apple sauce to the mix to keep things slightly healthier. They are unbelievably moist and stay that way even a few days after you bake them. I stored mine in an airtight container and they were still great on day 3.

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Banana Nut Muffins

When I feel like baking, but don't really know what to make, I like to check out Joy of Baking for inspiration. Most of the recipes I've tried from that website have been great and are fairly easy to execute. I wanted to make a banana something or other, that's all I knew. I had some bananas sitting the the fruit bowl and figured they were spotted enough to bake with (usually, the browner your bananas, the better they are for baking, until they are actually just rotten). After I read the recipe for these muffins I realized I had everything at home to make them and got started.

This is one of those easy recipes you can make without any fancy kitchen gadgets. What I love about these muffins is the subtle hint of cinnamon you taste with every bite. Be sure to toast the walnuts before baking, it brings out a richer flavor than just throwing raw nuts into the batter. Make sure the bananas are spotted and on their way to looking really unappealing. If you use a bright yellow banana these muffins will not be as sweet and they're more difficult to mash. In other words, don't make these if you don't have slightly overripe bananas.

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Tuscan Lemon Muffins

Lemon cakes and muffins have been a longtime favorite in my family. When my sister and I were little, we used to bake my dad his favorite lemon cake whenever my mom would let us make a mess in the kitchen. One day I will post that recipe on here as well, but I keep forgetting to take pictures of it. When I came across this muffin recipe in Cooking Light's Best Baking Recipes I wanted to give it a try. I'd never baked with ricotta cheese before, nor had I tried any sweet baked goods that asked for olive oil.

As I was reading this recipe in the magazine, it explained that olive oil and lemon are typical flavors used in Tuscan baking. Once again, the Italians are on to something. These muffins turned out really moist and slightly more dense than your typical muffin (but not in a bad way). The tasted amazing 3 days after I had baked them, but we ate them all by then, so I'm not sure how much longer you could keep them. The lemons you use for the zest and juice will affect the flavor of you muffin. If you can get your hands on some home grown lemons, these muffins (like all other lemon flavored sweets) will taste even better.

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Snickerdoodle Muffins

I realize cinnamon is not really a summer flavor, but I made these last week and loved them. I didn't feel like running out to buy ingredients and had all the ones in this recipe on hand, so I decided to give these muffins a try. Once these were baked, I ate three within 2 hours before realizing I needed to share the rest of them. They're easier to make than I initially thought and make a great, albeit not so balanced, breakfast.

These muffins are really delicate, so I would suggest using muffin liners. Since the tops are sprinkled with cinnamon sugar, it not only makes them a little heavier, but the sugar might spread and stick to your muffin tin. Be careful when removing the muffins and gently cut loose any part of the muffin that sticks to the tin. Also, they taste great for about 2 days, but don't last much longer than that.

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