Raspberry-Banana Oat Muffins

In my quest to get healthy in 2013, I've been seeking a healthy breakfast muffin that would provide enough energy for a good workout. This recipe is adapted from a Healthy magazine recipe, and still tastes delicious! I just made sure that I pulled the muffins from the oven as soon as the toothpick came out clean to keep them from being too dry. I find healthy muffins really lack taste and texture if they are over-baked. Bonus: The muffins are only 213 calories each!

Ingredients (makes 16 muffins):

2 cups flour
1 cup oats
1 cup brown sugar
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 egg
2 mashed bananas
1/4 cup canola oil
2 tbsp non-fat milk
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups raspberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a muffin pan with liners.
2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour through salt.
3. In a separate bowl, mix egg through vanilla extract until well combined. Add flour mixture to egg mixture, stir until just combined. Fold in raspberries. Fill muffin cups about 3/4 full.
4. Bake muffins in preheated oven 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let muffins cool in tin 10 minutes, remove to a cooling rack until completely cool.

Recipe adapted from Healthy magazine.

Orange Scented Muffins with Creamy Orange Glaze

I've had 3 lonely oranges in the fridge, practically since the day the hubby and I moved into the house. I had no idea what to do with them, but I knew I wanted them out of the fridge. I was also out of breakfast muffins, and needing another fix. I was set to make Cinnamon Roll Muffins, but since I've been doing so well watching what I'm eating... I decided to put those off to another day. They still sound delicious though...

Moving on.

Orange muffins, I thought, trying to get the idea of ooey, gooey cinnamon rolls out of my mind. The first recipe I came across for Orange Muffins, while sounding ferociously yummy, also called for a stick of butter. Better not, I finally concluded. So I came across this recipe which was much, much healthier.

Sigh.

It's hard being good. That being said, these muffins are a great healthy alternative. Do they taste like cake? No, but there is only half a cup of sugar in them. I put an orange glaze on them to give them even more of an orange-y taste. The outside turned out nice and crispy (I almost thought I over-baked them!), but the inside is soft and fluffy. So good! So if you are looking for a healthy breakfast muffin, I recommend giving these muffins a whirl.

Ingredients:
Muffins-
2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup orange juice
1/3 cup canola oil
1 egg
1 tbsp orange zest
1 tsp vanilla

Glaze-
1/2 cup powdered sugar
1 tbsp fat-free vanilla creamer
1 tbsp orange zest

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line a muffin tin with paper liners. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl combine flour through salt. Whisk to combine.
3. In a separate bowl, combine orange juice through vanilla. Whisk to combine.
4. Add juice mixture to flour mixture. Mix until just combined.
5. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full. Bake in oven for 15 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Let muffins cool completely.
6. In a small bowl, combine powdered sugar through orange zest. Add more liquid a little at a time until you reach a desired texture for drizzling. Divide the glaze among the muffins, and let set for 5-10 minutes, or until glaze has hardened.

Recipe adapted from All Recipes.

Banana Nut Muffins with Oatmeal Streusel

Same old story.

I had 3 very ripe bananas sitting on my counter, calling my name. I had to let them fulfill their banana destiny. And I wanted to make muffins. Let the girl eat her muffins :)

This is a marriage and adaptation between two different recipes, a muffin recipe from Simply Recipes and a streusel recipe from Cooking Light. The muffin recipe called for walnuts, which I didn't have. However, I did have a half bag of chopped macadamia nuts. Nice, little, salty chunks of macadamia nut. Perfect. The streusel recipe was created for a different muffin, but works very well on these muffins, if you ask me.

They were the perfect breakfast for a birthday girl. The birthday girl being me. Yes, it's my birthday. And yes, I'm old. I've officially left my twenties behind, and I'm not sure how I feel about that. I take that back. I do know how I feel, I'm not happy about it. 29 sounds so much younger than 30. Sigh. The hubby is taking me out for margaritas later to ease the pain.

In the meantime, another muffin may drown my sorrows :)

Ingredients:

Muffins (makes 12)-
3 ripe bananas, mashed
1/3 cup butter, melted
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup flour
1 cup macadamia nuts, chopped

Streusel-
6 tbsp oats
5 tbsp flour
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 tbsp butter, cold
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a cupcake pan with liners. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, mix mashed bananas with melted butter with a large mixing spoon. Add sugar, egg, and vanilla. Stir to combine. Sprinkle baking soda and salt over mixture, stir to mix. Add flour to the bowl, mix until just combined. Fold in macadamia nuts.
3. To make streusel, combine oats through cinnamon into a small bowl. Cut into mixture until it forms a coarse crumb.
4. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 way full, finely sprinkle each muffin with crumb mixture.
5. Bake in the oven 20-30 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in pan 10 minutes, remove to a cooling rack to cool completely.

Recipe adapted from Simply Recipes and Cooking Light.