These fluffy cranberry orange muffins will make your house smell like the holidays! I hope they become your new favorite holiday muffin recipe. They’re fluffy and moist and delicious—everything I want a muffin to be.

These muffins are bursting with fresh cranberry and orange flavor. This recipe calls for fresh cranberries, which are generally available in United States grocery stores from October or November through December. You can also use frozen cranberries, but I don’t recommend dried cranberries here.

These muffins are made with wholesome ingredients like whole wheat flour and Greek yogurt. They’re naturally sweetened with honey or maple syrup. You can keep those details to yourself, though—no one will guess that these muffins are healthier than most.

You can easily mix these together by hand. No mixer required. Serve them for breakfast or brunch, or bring them to your holiday parties!

It took me eight tries to get these muffins just right, but they were absolutely worth the effort. I’m sharing the recipe again because they’re just so wonderful this time of year.

Cranberry Orange Muffin Ingredients

Here’s what you’ll need to make these cranberry-studded beauties:

Flour

I like to use white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour to make these muffins a little healthier. White whole wheat flour (available in health food stores or well-stocked grocery stores) is made with white wheat berries instead of red, and has a more mild flavor as a result. As long as your whole wheat flour hasn’t been sitting on the shelf too long, your muffins will not have a strong “whole wheat” taste. In fact, if your flour smells rancid or your muffins taste bitter, your flour has gone bad.

You can also use all-purpose flour for the most traditional muffin flavor and fluff. To make these muffins gluten free, choose Bob’s Red Mill’s gluten-free all-purpose blend. No adjustment to quantity needed with either one.

Tip: The proper way to measure flour is to spoon flour into your measuring cup and level off the top with a knife. Do not scoop flour into your cups, or you could end up with way too much flour, and dry/tough muffins.

Baking powder and baking soda

These are leavening agents, which help the muffins rise so they are light and fluffy. These ingredients are not the same thing and are not interchangeable, so be careful with your measurements!

Coconut oil, extra-virgin olive oil or butter

Like all muffins, this recipe requires some fat to yield tender, rich and delicious results. I typically use virgin coconut oil and can hardly taste it. If you use olive oil, I recommend a mildly flavored one, like California Olive Ranch’s Everyday variety. You certainly can’t go wrong with unsalted butter.

Honey or maple syrup

Instead of sugar, these muffins are naturally sweetened with honey or maple syrup! These do impart some delicious flavor, so choose your favorite.

Eggs

Eggs also act as a leavener, helping the muffins rise while also imparting richness. If you have an egg allergy or you’re a vegan, you can substitute flax eggs (see recipe notes).

Greek yogurt

Yogurt replaces sour cream, but offers the same delicious richness and tang. Yum! Check the recipe notes for a buttermilk alternative (which can be made vegan).

Vanilla extract

You know, for some luscious vanilla flavor.

Orange zest

The zest of one orange to infuse these muffins with flavor. After you take the zest off the orange, you can slice it up and eat it. I do recommend buying on organic orange if you can find one, since pesticide residue sticks to the rind.

Fresh cranberries

One bag is more than enough. You’ll blitz these in the food processor before folding them into the batter. If you’re using frozen cranberries, do not thaw them before using. Blitz them in the food processor as directed and promptly fold them into the batter. If you have leftover cranberries, you can freeze them for up to one year.

Dried cranberries are not a good substitute for fresh cranberries, for reasons elaborated in the next section.

Turbinado (raw) sugar

This is optional, but I recommend it. Turbinado sugar is large crystal sugar that lends an irresistible sparkling, crunchy top to the muffins. I bet you could even take a tiny bag of raw sugar home from your local coffee shop!

Cranberry Orange Muffin Recipe Development

I thought this recipe was going to be so easy. Take my blueberry muffin recipe, substitute cranberries for the blueberries, add orange zest—done. Not so fast, Kate!

Problem: The fresh cranberries were so much bigger than blueberries and so tart that they left mouth-puckering polka dots in the muffins. Fortunately, I found a clue in America’s Test Kitchen’s cranberry muffin recipe.

Solution: Blitz the fresh cranberries in a food processor for a few seconds to break them up. That way, you get delicious little bits of cranberries in every bite. This also allowed me to double the amount of cranberries for maximum cranberry flavor.

Problem: The muffins were still far too tart, though (and I like tart).

Solution: To counteract the tartness of the cranberries, I added 1/4 cup more honey or maple syrup, which made these muffins perfectly sweet—not too much, not too little.

Problem: The extra moisture from the additional liquid sweetener made the muffins flatten out on the top. I wanted beautifully domed, fluffy muffins, so I tried decreasing the amount of yogurt, tweaking the baking powder and baking soda, and I was almost ready to give up…

Solution: I went back to the original formula and added 1/4 cup more flour. The muffins rose like a dream!

Eight tries later, I landed on perfect cranberry orange muffins! I hope you’ll make them while cranberries are still in season.

Watch How to Make Fluffy Cranberry Orange Muffins

Recommended Equipment

This section contains affiliate links.

USA-made muffin tin: This sturdy muffin tin bakes beautiful muffins and has a non-toxic, non-stick silicone coating. I never have to grease the cups!

11-cup food processor: This Cuisinart is not too big or too small, and blitzes the cranberries in five seconds.

Microplane: It’s so easy to remove the zest from citrus with this handy tool.

Love these muffins?

Here are more of my favorite naturally sweetened, whole-wheat muffin recipes!

• Healthy Apple Muffins
• Healthy Banana Muffins
• Healthy Blueberry Muffins
• Healthy Carrot Muffins
• Healthy Raspberry Muffins
• Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
• Healthy Zucchini Muffins

Please let me know how these muffins turn out for you in the comments! I love hearing from you, and hope the recipe is a big hit.

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Fresh Cranberry Orange Muffins

• Author: Cookie and Kate
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 35 minutes
• Yield: 12 muffins

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.8 from 221 reviews

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These cranberry muffins will be your family’s new favorite! Don’t tell them the recipe calls for healthy ingredients. These fluffy muffins are bursting with fresh cranberry and orange flavor, plus they’re whole grain and naturally sweetened! Recipe yields 12 muffins.

Ingredients

• 2 cups fresh or frozen cranberries
• 2 cups white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon fine salt
• ⅓ cup melted coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil or melted unsalted butter
• ¾ cup honey or maple syrup
• 2 eggs, preferably at room temperature
• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt*
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Zest from 1 medium orange (about 1 teaspoon), preferably organic
• 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar (also called raw sugar), for sprinkling on top

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease all 12 cups of your muffin tin or line them with papers, if necessary.
2. In a food processor, process the cranberries for about 5 seconds, until they are broken into little bits (but not puréed—see photos). Set aside.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Stir to combine.
4. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the oil and honey and beat together with a whisk. Add the eggs and whisk to combine, then add the yogurt, vanilla and orange zest. Mix well.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix with a big spoon, just until combined (a few lumps are ok). Gently fold the cranberry pieces into the batter.
6. Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups (they will be quite full). Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with turbinado sugar. Bake the muffins for 15 to 18 minutes, or until the muffins are golden on top and a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
7. Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack to cool. You might need to run a butter knife along the outer edge of the muffins to loosen them from the pan. If you have leftover muffins, store them, covered, at room temperature for 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Freeze leftover muffins for up to 3 months.

Notes

Recipe adapted from my healthy blueberry muffins. 

*Note on Greek yogurt: I’ve used a variety of fat percentages and the muffins have always turned out well. Higher fat yogurt will yield a somewhat more rich muffin. You can also substitute plain (not Greek) yogurt, but your muffins might not rise quite as high.

Make it vegan: You can replace the eggs with flax eggs. Replace the yogurt with a smaller amount of vegan buttermilk—just mix ⅔ cup non-dairy milk with 2 teaspoons vinegar. Let it rest for 5 minutes before adding it to the other liquid ingredients. Or, use 1 cup thick vegan yogurt.

Make it dairy free: See buttermilk option above.

Make it egg free: Substitute flax eggs for the regular eggs.

Make it gluten free: Substitute an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend for the whole wheat flour. Bob’s Red Mill makes a gluten-free blend that works well.

Nutrition

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.

• Category: Baked good
• Method: By hand
• Cuisine: American

The post Fresh Cranberry Orange Muffins appeared first on Cookie and Kate.

We caught our first cool fall breeze this week. Do you know what that means? It’s pumpkin muffin time.

I snapped some new photos of my favorite pumpkin muffin recipe as I satisfied my pumpkin craving. These pumpkin muffins are perfect for chilly fall mornings and afternoon snacks.

They’re healthier than most, since they’re made with whole wheat flour and oats, sweetened with real maple syrup or honey, and call for coconut oil or olive oil instead of butter. Believe it or not, this healthy pumpkin muffin recipe yields light and fluffy muffins.

These pumpkin muffins wouldn’t be complete without plenty of warming spices, including cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Most “pumpkin spice” flavor comes from the spice, not the pumpkin!

I love these muffins with a spread of almond butter, peanut butter or pecan butter on top. Nut butter adds some extra protein, which means that I’m not hungry before lunchtime. If you’re going pumpkin-crazy this time of year, enjoy your muffin with a homemade pumpkin chai latte.

These pumpkin treats have the magical power to convert “healthy muffin” skeptics into fans. Let’s make some!

The Best Pumpkin Muffins

Five reasons to love this pumpkin muffin recipe:

1. These muffins are easy to make with basic ingredients. Only one bowl required!
2. They’re made with 100% whole grains, yet they’re fluffy and delicious. No one will know the difference.
3. They’re also naturally sweetened with maple syrup or honey, rather than loaded with refined sugar. The maple syrup (or honey) offers a touch of extra flavor, which I love.
4. These muffins feature a few of your favorite warming spices so they taste like your favorite pumpkin latte.
5. They freeze well for later, too. Just defrost individual muffins in the microwave for 30 to 60 seconds, or until gently warmed through. You don’t want to overdo it.

Healthy Pumpkin Muffin Notes & Tips

Change it up. Add nuts, chocolate chips or chopped fruit cranberries or crystallized ginger. See recipe notes for details.

Simplify the recipe. Substitute 2 teaspoons store-bought pumpkin spice blend for the individual spices (cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg and allspice). Or, if your spice drawer is empty, simply use 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon and call it good.

Craving a sweet topping? Liz topped these muffins with my maple glaze from my pumpkin scones recipe, which sounds marvelous.

This muffin recipe is special diet-friendly. You can easily adjust this recipe to make it vegan, dairy free, egg free and/or gluten free. See the recipe notes for details.

Watch How to Make Healthy Pumpkin Muffins

Baking Tips for Success

How to Measure Flour

How you measure your flour is important. Why? If you measure incorrectly, you could end up with up to 50 percent extra flour, which will make your muffins dense, dry and flavorless. Use the spoon and swoop method:

1. Gently stir your flour to loosen any clumps.
2. Spoon your flour into the measuring cup with a big spoon or a flour scoop. Do not scoop up the flour directly into the measuring cup.
3. Level off the top of the cup with a knife. Repeat as necessary.

Use Baking Soda, Not Baking Powder

They are not the same thing. Both are leaveners that help your baked goods rise (baking powder contains some baking soda, but that’s a long story). For ideal results, always follow the recipe and measure carefully.

How to Stir Your Batter

This muffin batter is super simple to stir together by hand, and that’s how I recommend making these muffins. Why? Whipping your batter will make the flour’s gluten protein too strong, yielding tough muffins.

I know it can be tempting to use a stand mixer or hand mixer when it’s within reach. Please don’t! Follow the instructions below and you’ll end up with light, fluffy muffins.

More Pumpkin Treats & Fall Muffins

Craving more? You’re going to love these recipes:

• Healthy Pumpkin Bread (like these muffins, but in bread form)
• Pumpkin Pecan Scones with Maple Glaze
• Pumpkin Pancakes
• Perfect Roasted Pumpkin Seeds
• Healthy Banana Muffins
• Healthy Apple Muffins

Please let me know how these pumpkin muffins turn out for you in the comments. I love hearing from you, and hope these pumpkin muffins become your new favorite.

P.s. That beautiful mug in the photos above and below? That’s handmade by my friend Margaret.

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Healthy Pumpkin Muffins

• Author: Cookie and Kate
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 23 mins
• Total Time: 33 minutes
• Yield: 12 muffins

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.7 from 859 reviews

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Easy, one bowl, healthier pumpkin muffins made with whole wheat grains and naturally sweetened! These pumpkin muffins are as light, fluffy and delicious as their coffee shop counterparts. Recipe yields 12 muffins.

Ingredients

• ⅓ cup melted coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil*
• ½ cup maple syrup or honey
• 2 eggs, at room temperature
• 1 cup pumpkin purée
• ¼ cup milk of choice (I used almond milk)
• 2 teaspoons pumpkin spice blend (or 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon ground ginger, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, and ¼ teaspoon ground allspice or cloves)
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 ¾ cups whole wheat flour**
• ⅓ cup old-fashioned oats, plus more for sprinkling on top
• Optional: 2 teaspoons turbinado (raw) sugar for a sweet crunch

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (165 degrees Celsius). If necessary, grease all 12 cups of your muffin tin with butter or non-stick cooking spray (my pan is non-stick and didn’t require any grease).
2. In a large bowl, beat the oil and maple syrup or honey together with a whisk. Add the eggs, and beat well. Add the pumpkin purée, milk, pumpkin spice blend, baking soda, vanilla extract and salt.
3. Add the flour and oats to the bowl and mix with a large spoon, just until combined (a few lumps are ok). If you’d like to add any additional mix-ins***, like nuts, chocolate or dried fruit, fold them in now.
4. Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with about a tablespoon of oats, followed by a light sprinkle of raw sugar and/or pumpkin spice blend if you’d like. Bake muffins for 22 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
5. Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack to cool. These muffins are delicate until they cool down. You might need to run a butter knife along the outer edge of the muffins to loosen them from the pan.
6. These muffins taste even better after they have rested for a couple of hours! They’ll keep at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. They keep well in the freezer in a freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months (just defrost individual muffins as needed).

Notes

Recipe adapted from my honey-sweetened pumpkin bread.

*Oil options: I love coconut oil here. I used unrefined coconut oil and can hardly taste it in the final product. Olive oil might lend an herbal note to the muffins, if you’re into that (I tested with California Olive Ranch’s “Everyday” variety and couldn’t even taste it). Vegetable oil has a neutral flavor but the average vegetable/canola oil is highly processed, so I recommend using cold-pressed sunflower oil or grapeseed oil if possible.

**Flour alternatives: White whole wheat flour works great, if you can find it. Whole wheat pastry flour yields extra light and fluffy muffins that are delicate until cooled. All-purpose flour and gluten-free all-purpose flour blends work as well.

**Change it up: You could really go crazy with add-ins here. After stirring in the flour and oats, gently fold in up to ¾ cup chocolate chips, chopped nuts like pecans or walnuts, and/or some chopped dried cranberries or crystallized ginger.

Serving suggestions: These muffins are great on their own, with a pat of butter, or spread with almond butter. They would also be fantastic with homemade pecan butter or coconut butter.

Make it egg free: Readers report that these muffins turn out well with flax eggs!

Make it vegan: Use maple syrup, flax eggs and non-dairy milk.

Make it dairy free: Simply use your non-dairy milk of choice.

Make it gluten free: Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free all-purpose blend works well instead of the whole wheat flour. Or, use 2 ½ cups certified gluten-free oat flour instead.

Make it oat free: Simply omit the oats. No other changes necessary.

Make it lower in fat: I would argue that this bread contains a healthy amount of fat, but you can replace the oil with applesauce if you’re following a low-fat diet. Choosing olive oil instead of coconut oil will reduce the saturated fat content; total fat content will remain the same.

Update September 24, 2019: I removed white whole wheat flour as an option simply because I can’t find it in stores any more. I also upped the amount of spice from 1 ½ teaspoons to 2 teaspoons.

Nutrition

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.

• Category: Baked Good
• Method: Baked
• Cuisine: American

The post Healthy Pumpkin Muffins appeared first on Cookie and Kate.

Coconut lovers, this double-coconut banana muffin recipe is for you! I’m confident you’ll fall in love with the sweet, bright flavors and contrasting textures in these little treats.

These muffins taste familiar and comforting, given their fluffy, banana-infused insides. They’re also fun and tropical, thanks to the shredded coconut you’ll find on the inside and on the muffin tops. A little lemon zest brings all the flavors together.

Like my healthy banana muffins, these muffins are also made with whole wheat flour and naturally sweetened (this time, with honey).

These muffins are based on a different recipe, though, and yield smaller muffins that are perfect for satisfying your afternoon sweet tooth. You could also serve them for a grab-and-go breakfast this Memorial Day weekend.

Curious about how this recipe came to be? I can’t remember how I originally found Deb’s Double Coconut Muffins, but I was completely taken by her coconut-topped beauties.

In the original recipe, Deb gives a long list of suggested substitutions, including swapping mashed banana for the yogurt. I was out of my staple Greek yogurt so I reached into my freezer for the bag of ripe, frozen banana chunks to defrost.

This was a serendipitous substitution because the banana adds the sweetness that unsweetened coconut flakes lack. In my second batch, I traded 1/4 cup honey for the 1/3 cup sugar, and found that the dry coconut soaks up the extra moisture in the honey.

I’m three batches deep in this recipe and I can say with certainty that these muffins are best with banana, sweetened with honey and topped with a heavy sprinkle of coconut and some glittering raw sugar.

With my substitutions, if you try yogurt instead of mashed banana, your muffins won’t be sweet enough to delight.

Please let me know how your muffins turn out in the comments! I hope they’re a big hit.

Craving more banana goodness? Here are a few more of my favorite banana recipes:

• Healthy Banana Bread and Healthy Banana Muffins
• Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes and Banana Oat Pancakes
• Favorite Banana Cake
• Vegan Banana Nut Scones
• Banana Almond Smoothie

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Banana Coconut Muffins

• Author: Cookie and Kate
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins
• Total Time: 35 minutes
• Yield: 12 muffins

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.8 from 81 reviews

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These naturally sweetened banana coconut muffins are a real treat. I bet you can’t tell they’re made with 100% whole wheat flour! Recipe yields 1 dozen muffins.

Ingredients

• ¾ cup whole wheat pastry flour or white/regular whole wheat flour
• ½ cup white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
• ½ teaspoon lemon zest (the zest from about about ½ medium lemon)
• 1 cup mashed ripe banana (from about 3 bananas)
• ½ cup virgin coconut oil, melted
• ¼ cup honey
• 1 large egg, preferably at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¾ cup unsweetened shredded coconut, divided
• 1 tablespoon turbinado (raw) sugar

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. If necessary, grease all 12 cups of your muffin tin with butter or muffin liners (my pan is non-stick and didn’t require any grease).
2. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, salt and lemon zest. Stir in ½ cup of the shredded coconut.
3. In a separate, medium bowl, whisk together the mashed banana, coconut oil, honey, egg and vanilla.
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined. Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups (a scant ¼ cup batter each), then sprinkle the muffin tops with the remaining ¼ cup shredded coconut. Sprinkle the tops with the raw sugar.
5. Bake for about 17 to 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Transfer muffins to a cooling rack and let them cool.

Notes

Recipe adapted from Smitten Kitchen’s Double Coconut Muffins.

Make it vegan: All you’ll need to do is replace the egg with a flax egg. I haven’t tried this substitution myself, but it should work.

Make it gluten free: Based on similar recipes, Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free all-purpose blend should work well.

Freeze it: The muffins freeze well!
Serving suggestions: I like these muffins served warm for breakfast with a side of Greek yogurt, or with a little dollop of tart lemon curd for a sweet afternoon snack.

Nutrition

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.

• Category: Baked goods
• Method: Baked
• Cuisine: American

The post Banana Coconut Muffins appeared first on Cookie and Kate.

In the mood for some fall baking? Me, too! I’m cozying up with these apple carrot muffins and a cup of coffee. My dog, Cookie, is hoping for some crumbs.

My sweet publisher sent me a cookbook called Run Fast. Cook Fast. Eat Slow. a few months ago. The cookbook was co-written by Olympian/NYC Marathon champ Shalane Flanagan and chef/nutrition coach Elyse Kopecky.

I should confess that I hate running and only qualify for the “hangry” portion of the book’s subtitle, “Quick-Fix Recipes for Hangry Athletes.”

Nonetheless, the book is up my alley because it’s full of energizing, whole foods-based recipes. I haven’t been able to get this hybrid apple-carrot muffin recipe out of my mind. They didn’t disappoint!

The authors call these muffins “superhero” muffins because they are muffins that sustain. They offered three versions in the book, and I chose the muffins featuring grated fresh carrots and Granny Smith apples.

These muffins are very hearty and wholesome, which makes them perfect grab-and-go breakfasts or snacks. I think they would freeze well for several months, if you want to keep them on hand for hangry moments.

Bonus? These muffins are gluten free and naturally sweetened, and easy to mix up by hand. Apple carrot muffins for the win.

I have recipes for apple muffins and carrot muffins, but I love this combination of the two. Warming cinnamon brings the fruity apple and earthy carrot flavors together.

This recipe uses almond meal instead of whole wheat flour, which yields a nutritious and moist interior. These muffins are a little dense, in a good way, rather than light and lacking in substance.

Watch How to Make Apple & Carrot Muffins

You can easily change up the mix-ins, or leave them out if you’d rather. The authors suggest walnuts, raisins or chocolate chips, and note that Shalane likes to sweeten them up with chocolate chips. I opted for pecans in lieu of walnuts, and I think you could substitute any dried fruit for the raisins (chopped if large).

I easily grated the carrots and apple with this box grater (affiliate link). The authors suggested lining the muffin tin with paper liners, but I have full faith in the non-stick silicone finish on my muffin tin. It worked great.

The authors report that these muffins are a hit with kids, too. Please let me know how they turn out for you in the comments, and be sure to check out Run Fast. Cook Fast. Eat Slow. if it sounds like it’s up your alley.

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Apple & Carrot “Superhero” Muffins

• Author: Cookie and Kate
• Prep Time: 20 minutes
• Cook Time: 25 minutes
• Total Time: 45 minutes
• Yield: 12 muffins

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.9 from 280 reviews

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This apple carrot muffin recipe is naturally sweetened and gluten free! These hearty apple-carrot muffins make a great grab-and-go breakfast or snack. Recipe yields 12 muffins.

Ingredients

• 2 cups packed almond meal or almond flour (10 ounces)
• 1 ½ cups old-fashioned oats (certified gluten free if necessary)
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• Optional mix-ins: ½ cup chopped walnuts (I used pecans), or raisins or chocolate chips
• ½ cup honey or maple syrup
• 3 eggs
• 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup grated Granny Smith apple (about 1 ½ apples)
• 1 cup peeled and grated carrots (about 3 carrots)

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Line a 12-cup standard muffin tin with paper muffin cups (I didn’t because I have full faith in my muffin pan, but use them if you’re uncertain).
2. In a large bowl, combine the almond meal, oats, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and optional mix-ins, if using.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the honey, eggs and butter. Whisk in the grated apple and carrots. Pour the mixture into the dry ingredients, mixing until just combined.
4. Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, filling each to the brim. Bake until the muffins are nicely browned on top and a knife inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. Allow muffins to cool completely before storing.
5. Store leftover muffins in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer. If you like them warm, reheat them on low power in the microwave.

Notes

Recipe from the Run Fast. Cook Fast. Eat Slow. cookbook by Shalane Flanagan and Elyse Kopecky.

Make them nut free: (The muffins will no longer be gluten free with this variation, which was provided by the recipe author.) Whole wheat pastry flour or whole wheat flour can be used as an alternative to the almond meal. Increase the butter to 8 tablespoons (1 stick), since wheat flour is much drier, and reduce the oats to 1 cup.

Whole wheat flour option: See above!

Make them dairy free: I haven’t tried, but I’m confident that you could substitute coconut oil for the butter. Please report back if you give that a try!

Egg substitution note: I don’t think you can successfully replace the eggs with any substitutes here. I tried with a similar almond meal-based recipe, and it was an epic fail. However, you can use flax eggs in my carrot muffin recipe (and you could even use half grated apple, half carrots to make those muffins more similar to this recipe).

Nutrition

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.

• Category: Muffins
• Method: Baked
• Cuisine: Gluten free

The post Apple & Carrot “Superhero” Muffins appeared first on Cookie and Kate.

I’d take these strawberry muffins over strawberry shortcake any day! They’re fluffy and full of fresh strawberry flavor, with a delightfully sweet crunch on top.

I like these muffins more than the average muffin, since they’re made with 100 percent whole grains, including whole wheat flour and old fashioned oats. They’re also sweetened with maple syrup, which offers some extra flavor that complements the strawberries and oats.

Greek yogurt rounds them out with a light sour cream-like tang. What more could you want in a muffin?!

Watch How to Make Strawberry Muffins

The oats give the muffins a more hearty texture, while contributing to the total amount of whole grains featured in this recipe. I’m pleased to report that you can add up to 1/3 cup old fashioned oats to any of my muffin recipes. Sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of oats over the muffins before baking, too, if you’d like to add some polka dot-like visual interest (no sprinkles required).

Strawberry Muffin Tips

• If you get lucky and your strawberries are pink and flavorful through the center, no need to hull them. If their insides are white and flavorless, remove that part with a paring knife before dicing.
• Use Greek yogurt, not regular yogurt—it produces a higher rise and more domed top. Any fat percentage will work.
• Sprinkle raw sugar on top of your muffins for a sweet crunch. Just a light sprinkle really makes a difference, but you can omit the raw sugar if you don’t have it.

As always, please let me know how you like this recipe in the comments! I hope they become your favorite summertime muffins.

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Strawberry Oat Muffins

• Author: Cookie and Kate
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 25 minutes
• Total Time: 40 minutes
• Yield: 12 muffins

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.4 from 108 reviews

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These wholesome strawberry muffins are fluffy and full of fresh strawberry flavor! Plus, they’re made with whole grains. Recipe yields 12 muffins.

Ingredients

• 1 ¾ cups white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour
• ⅓ cup old-fashioned oats, plus 2 tablespoons for sprinkling on top
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
• ⅓ cup maple syrup
• 2 eggs, preferably at room temperature
• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt*
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 2 cups hulled and diced ripe strawberries (from 1 pound of strawberries, you may not need them all)
• 1 teaspoon turbinado sugar (also called raw sugar), for sprinkling on top (optional)

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. If necessary, grease all 12 cups on your muffin tin with butter or cooking spray (my pan is non-stick and doesn’t require any grease).
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, ⅓ cup oats, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Stir with a whisk to blend.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the oil, maple syrup and eggs. Beat together with a whisk. Add the yogurt and vanilla, and mix well. 
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix with a big spoon, just until combined (a few lumps are ok). Gently fold the strawberries into the batter. The mixture will be thick, but don’t worry.
5. Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups (I used an ice cream scoop with a wire level, which worked perfectly). They will be quite full!
6. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the remaining 2 tablespoons of oats, followed by the turbinado sugar. Bake the muffins for 19 to 22 minutes, or until the muffins are golden on top and a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
7. Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack to cool. You might need to run a butter knife along the outer edge of the muffins to loosen them from the pan.

Notes

Storage suggestions: Store leftover muffins at room temperature, covered, for 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Freeze leftover muffins for up to 3 months.

*Greek yogurt note: I’ve used a variety of fat percentages and the muffins have always turned out well. Higher fat yogurt will yield a somewhat richer muffin.

Make it vegan: You can replace the eggs with flax eggs. Replace the yogurt with a smaller amount of vegan buttermilk—just mix ⅔ cup non-dairy milk with 2 teaspoons vinegar. Let it rest for 5 minutes before adding it to the other liquid ingredients.

Make it dairy free: See vegan buttermilk option above.

Make it egg free: Substitute flax eggs for the regular eggs.

Make it gluten free: Substitute an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend for the whole wheat flour.

Nutrition

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.

• Category: Muffins
• Method: Baked
• Cuisine: American

The post Strawberry Oat Muffins appeared first on Cookie and Kate.

Would you look at those blueberry-studded beauties? These blueberry muffins are golden on top, and moist and fluffy on the inside.

Best of all, they’re bursting with jammy blueberry flavor. These are my favorite homemade blueberry muffins, and it’s about time you met them.

These healthy blueberry muffins are easy to make, too. Forget those box mixes! You can make these wholesome muffins from scratch with basic grocery store ingredients. No special equipment required.

What makes these blueberry muffins healthy?

These muffins are more healthy than your average blueberry muffins. They’re made with 100 percent whole wheat flour (I used white whole wheat flour, which you can hardly taste). Whole wheat flour offers redeeming whole grain nutrients and extra fiber.

The muffins are also naturally sweetened with honey or maple syrup, which lend subtle honey or maple flavor to the muffins. They’re lower in overall sugar content compared to coffee shop muffins.

Last but not least, I used Greek yogurt instead of sour cream, which lends the same irresistible tang but with more protein and less fat. I don’t think that yogurt passes for sour cream on tacos, but it totally works in muffin recipes.

Blueberry Muffin Recipe Tips

You can make these muffins with fresh or frozen blueberries. Do not defrost frozen blueberries before using; just stir the frozen blueberries into the batter as directed.

Tossing the blueberries with one teaspoon of flour prevents them from sinking to the bottom. This way, you can use a full cup of blueberries without risking the integrity of the muffins.

Sprinkling 1 tablespoon of raw sugar on top of the muffins before baking yields deliciously sweet, crackly muffin tops. You can buy raw sugar in the sugar aisle of most grocery stores these days, or just grab a few extra raw sugar packets from your go-to coffee shop (I won’t tell).

These muffins taste best after they’ve had time to cool completely. Or better yet, let them rest for a couple of hours at room temperature before serving. This is true for most baked goods!

Recommended Equipment

I love this sturdy, made-in-the-USA muffin pan (affiliate link). I don’t ever have to grease it, thanks to the silicone non-stick coating. Clean-up is a breeze, too. I’ve never had to soak or scrub on this pan.

Watch How to Make Blueberry Muffins

Love these muffins?

Here are more of my favorite naturally sweetened, whole-wheat muffin recipes!

• Healthy Apple Muffins
• Healthy Banana Muffins
• Healthy Carrot Muffins
• Healthy Raspberry Muffins
• Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
• Healthy Zucchini Muffins

Please let me know how these muffins turn out for you in the comments! I’m always so eager for your feedback.

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Healthy Blueberry Muffins

• Author: Cookie and Kate
• Prep Time: 13 minutes
• Cook Time: 22 minutes
• Total Time: 35 minutes
• Yield: 12 muffins

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.8 from 885 reviews

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These healthy blueberry muffins are golden, fluffy, moist and delicious! No one will guess this recipe is made with 100% whole wheat flour and naturally sweetened with honey or maple syrup. Recipe yields 12 muffins.

Ingredients

• 1 ¾ cups plus 1 teaspoon white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon (optional)
• ⅓ cup melted coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ cup honey or maple syrup
• 2 eggs, preferably at room temperature
• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt*
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup (6 ounces) blueberries, fresh or frozen
• 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar (also called raw sugar), for sprinkling on top

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. If necessary, grease all 12 cups on your muffin tin with butter, coconut oil or cooking spray (my pan is non-stick and doesn’t require any grease).
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine 1 ¾ cups of the flour with the baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Mix them together with a whisk.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the oil and honey or maple syrup and beat together with a whisk. Add the eggs and beat well, then add the yogurt and vanilla. Mix well. (If the coconut oil solidifies in contact with cold ingredients, gently warm the mixture in the microwave in 30 second bursts.)
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix with a big spoon, just until combined (a few lumps are ok). In a small bowl, toss the blueberries with the remaining 1 teaspoon flour (this helps prevent the blueberries from sinking to the bottom). Gently fold the blueberries into the batter. The mixture will be thick, but don’t worry.
5. Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups (I used an ice cream scoop with a wire level, which worked perfectly). Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with turbinado sugar. Bake the muffins for 16 to 19 minutes, or until the muffins are golden on top and a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
6. Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack to cool. You might need to run a butter knife along the outer edge of the muffins to loosen them from the pan. If you have leftover muffins, store them, covered, at room temperature for 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Freeze leftover muffins for up to 3 months.

Notes

Recipe adapted from my blueberry maple muffins (recipe available in my cookbook) and lemon raspberry muffins.

*Note on Greek yogurt: I’ve used a variety of fat percentages and the muffins have always turned out well. Higher fat yogurt will yield a somewhat more rich muffin. You can also substitute plain (not Greek) yogurt, but your muffins might not rise quite as high.

Make it vegan: You can replace the eggs with flax “eggs.” Replace the yogurt with a smaller amount of vegan buttermilk—just mix ⅔ cup non-dairy milk with 2 teaspoons vinegar. Let it rest for 5 minutes before adding it to the other liquid ingredients. Or, use 1 cup vegan yogurt.

Make it dairy free: See buttermilk option above.

Make it egg free: Substitute flax eggs for the regular eggs.

Make it gluten free: Substitute an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend for the whole wheat flour. Bob’s Red Mill makes a gluten-free blend that works well.

Lemon variation: For lemon blueberry muffins, whisk the zest of 1 medium lemon (about ½ teaspoon), preferably organic, into the liquid ingredients. You could even double that amount for extra-lemony muffins.

Change it up: You can substitute 1 cup of any other muffin-worthy fresh fruit for the blueberries. If you’re using strawberries or other large fruit (like peaches), chop them into small pieces first.

2/18/19 note: I’ve changed the baking temperature from 350 degrees Fahrenheit to 400, and reduced the baking time from 22 to 24 minutes to 16 to 19 minutes. These changes improve the muffin texture (less spongy in the center) and produce more irresistibly golden muffin tops.

Nutrition

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.

• Category: Muffin
• Method: Baked
• Cuisine: American

The post Healthy Blueberry Muffins appeared first on Cookie and Kate.

I thought I had this zucchini muffin recipe in the bag. Make my favorite zucchini bread batter, divide into muffin cups, bake for less time—nope. The increased surface area produced slightly dense and dry muffins, which were fine for “healthy” muffins. However, I wanted fluffy, moist and thoroughly delightful muffins that just-so-happened to be healthier.

So, I cross-referenced the zucchini bread recipe with my all-time favorite blueberry muffins in my cookbook. I adjusted the leavener, upped the amount of milk and switched to buttermilk for a more tender crumb. Success! These zucchini babes will make everyone happy.

Cookbook launch week has been a thrill. I’m overwhelmed, honestly. I’m so excited that you’re excited about the book, flattered by my fellow food bloggers’ kind words, and thankful for friends who took the time to say cheers. All that, and I’m still a little apprehensive about sending my book baby into the world. Is this what it feels like to send a child off on a school bus for the first time?

Thank you for your comments, notes and reviews; they mean so much. I hate to ask for more, but if you’ve had a chance to make recipes from the book already, would you mind leaving a review on Amazon to share your experience soon? That might seal the deal for people who aren’t familiar with my blog already.

If you haven’t gotten the book, I have more details about Love Real Food over here. I’d be glad to answer any questions you might have in the comments. Lastly, I promise I won’t go on and on about the book forever. ♥

What makes these zucchini muffins healthy?

Granted, “healthy” is a subjective term, but here are a few reasons why I consider these muffins to be more nutritionally redeeming than most:

• Unlike standard zucchini muffins made with refined all-purpose flour, these are made with white whole wheat flour. That means they’re made entirely with whole grains, but you can’t taste them because white whole wheat flour has such a mild flavor.
• Coconut oil or olive oil replace butter (olive oil is composed of more monounsaturated fat, and is considered to be more heart-healthy)
• Real maple syrup replaces refined sugar, so these muffins are naturally sweetened.
• Combined, you end up with hearty and delicious zucchini-flecked muffins.

These muffins are easily adapted to vegan and gluten-free diets, too! See my recipe notes for details.

Watch How to Make Zucchini Muffins

More Muffin Recipes to Enjoy

• Healthy Banana Muffins
• Healthy Blueberry Muffins
• Healthy Carrot Muffins
• Lemon Raspberry Muffins
• Strawberry Oat Muffins

Please let me know how these muffins turn out for you in the comments! I love hearing from you.

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Healthy Zucchini Muffins

• Author: Cookie and Kate
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 16 mins
• Total Time: 36 minutes
• Yield: 12 muffins

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.6 from 255 reviews

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These healthy zucchini muffins are naturally sweetened and made with whole wheat flour! They’re fluffy, moist and absolutely delicious, too. Recipe yields 1 dozen muffins.

Ingredients

• ¾ cup roughly chopped raw walnuts or pecans (optional)
• ⅓ cup melted coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil*
• ½ cup honey or maple syrup
• 2 eggs
• ⅔ cup buttermilk (or ⅔ cup milk of choice mixed with 2 teaspoons vinegar, allow to rest for 5 minutes before using)
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 ¾ cups white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon fine sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 ½ cups grated zucchini (you’ll need 1 small-to-medium zucchini, about 7 ounces—working in handfuls, gently squeeze out excess moisture from the grated zucchini over the sink)

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. If necessary, grease all 12 cups on your muffin tin with butter or cooking spray (my pan is non-stick and doesn’t require any grease).
2. Toast the nuts (if using): Once the oven has finished preheating, pour the chopped nuts onto a small, rimmed baking sheet. Bake until the nuts are fragrant and toasted, about 4 to 5 minutes, stirring halfway.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the coconut oil and honey. Beat them with a whisk until they are combined. Add the eggs and beat well. Add the buttermilk and vanilla. Whisk to combine, and set the bowl aside. (If your coconut oil solidifies on contact with cold ingredients, simply let the bowl rest in a warm place for a few minutes, like on top of your stove, or warm it for about 30 seconds in the microwave.)
4. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, salt and nutmeg. Using a big spoon, stir to combine.
5. Pour the liquid mixture into the dry and stir just until combined (a few lumps are ok!). Add the zucchini (be sure to squeeze excess moisture out of the zucchini first) and toasted nuts, if using. Gently fold the zucchini and nuts into the batter, being careful not to over-stir.
6. Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups. Bake muffins for 16 to 19 minutes, or until the muffins are golden on top and a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
7. Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack to cool. If you have leftover muffins, store them, covered, at room temperature for two days, or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Freeze leftover muffins for up to 3 months.

Notes

Recipe adapted from my zucchini bread and the blueberry maple muffins in my cookbook, Love Real Food.
*Oil options: I love coconut oil here. I used unrefined coconut oil and can hardly taste it in the final product. Olive oil might lend an herbal note to the muffins, if you’re into that (I tested with California Olive Ranch’s “Everyday” variety and couldn’t even taste it). Vegetable oil has a neutral flavor, but the average vegetable/canola oil is highly processed, so I recommend using cold-pressed sunflower oil or grapeseed oil if possible.

Change it up: Use chocolate chips or small/chopped dried fruit instead of the nuts.
Make it vegan: Use maple syrup instead of honey, replace the eggs with flax eggs and choose non-dairy milk, such as almond milk.
Make it dairy free: Choose non-dairy milk (I used almond milk).
Make it egg free: Replace the eggs with flax eggs.
Make it gluten free: Bob’s Red Mill’s all-purpose gluten-free mix works well.

Make it nut free: Just omit the nuts, and don’t use nut milk.
Make it lower in fat: I would argue that this bread contains a healthy amount of fat, but you can replace the oil with applesauce if you’re following a low-fat diet.
Update 9/23/20: I’ve modified the method slightly, to use two bowls instead of one. The recipe comes together more intuitively this way and bakes up a bit nicer.

Nutrition

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.

• Category: Baked good
• Method: Baked
• Cuisine: American

The post Healthy Zucchini Muffins appeared first on Cookie and Kate.

Last weekend, I drove home to Oklahoma for my baby brother’s college graduation. I remember when he was tiny, and I was terrified of dropping him. Now he’s all grown up, and a few inches taller than I am.

A couple of years ago, he developed an interest in videography out of nowhere. Now, he’s made a business of it. He’s going to come up to Kansas City soon and help me make some Cookie and Kate videos! We’re both stubborn perfectionists, and we’re both always right, so stay tuned for how that turns out.

My mom asked me to bring home some muffins to help with breakfast. I was already planning to make these with some frozen berries that Cascadian Farm sent to me, so it was perfect timing. Usually, when I bake muffins for the blog, I just freeze them for later. Watching my family enjoy them was way more fun.

These raspberry muffins are based on my carrot muffins and apple muffins. Like the others, they are marvelously fluffy and moist, but made with 100 percent whole grains, and naturally sweetened, too. I added some lemon zest, which infuses the muffins with light lemon flavor, in between bursts of jammy raspberries.

Raspberries won’t be in season for a couple more months, and strawberries are just beginning to ripen up, so frozen berries were the perfect solution. Since raspberries (also blueberries and blackberries) are so small, you can fold them right into muffin batters without defrosting them first.

Berries are are typically treated with pesticides on the field, so it’s best to buy organic when possible. In fact, strawberries are at the top of the Dirty Dozen list this year, so they are the most important fruit to buy organic.

Frozen organic fruit is a great year-round option, and it’s less expensive than buying fresh organic fruit. I love to use frozen fruits in baked goods and desserts, and savor fresh, in-season fruit in its delicious raw state. You can enjoy these muffins any time you’re craving a sweet, fruity breakfast treat!

Watch How to Make Lemony Raspberry Muffins

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Lemon Raspberry Muffins

• Author: Cookie and Kate
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 22 mins
• Total Time: 32 minutes
• Yield: 12 muffins

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.8 from 164 reviews

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These delicious raspberry muffins are moist and fluffy. They’re healthier than most, too, since they are made from whole wheat flour and naturally sweetened with honey. Recipe yields 1 dozen muffins.

Ingredients

• 1¾ cups white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon fine-grain sea salt
• ⅓ cup melted coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ cup honey or maple syrup
• 2 eggs, preferably at room temperature
• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt*
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• Zest of 1 medium lemon (about ½ teaspoon)
• 1½ cups Cascadian Farm Organic Frozen Raspberries (from one 10-ounce bag)
• 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar (also called raw sugar), for sprinkling on top

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. If necessary, grease all 12 cups on your muffin tin with butter, coconut oil or cooking spray (my pan is non-stick and doesn’t require any grease).
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Blend well with a whisk.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the oil and honey or maple syrup and beat together with a whisk. Add the eggs and beat well, then add the yogurt, vanilla and lemon zest. Mix well. (If the coconut oil solidifies in contact with cold ingredients, gently warm the mixture in the microwave in 30 second bursts.)
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix with a big spoon, just until combined (a few lumps are ok). Gently fold the raspberries into the batter. The mixture will be thick, but don’t worry.
5. Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups (I used an ice cream scoop with a wire level, which worked perfectly). Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with turbinado sugar. Bake the muffins for 22 to 24 minutes, or until the muffins are golden on top and a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
6. Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack to cool. You might need to run a butter knife along the outer edge of the muffins to loosen them from the pan. If you have leftover muffins, store them, covered, at room temperature for 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. Freeze leftover muffins for up to 3 months.

Notes

Recipe adapted from my carrot muffins.
Make it vegan: You can replace the eggs with flax eggs. Replace the yogurt with a smaller amount of vegan buttermilk—just mix ⅔ cup non-dairy milk with 2 teaspoons vinegar. Let it rest for 5 minutes before adding it to the other liquid ingredients. Or, use 1 cup vegan yogurt.

Make it dairy free: See buttermilk option above.

Make it egg free: Substitute flax eggs for the regular eggs.
Make it gluten free: Substitute an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend for the whole wheat flour. Bob’s Red Mill makes a GF blend that works well.
*Note on Greek yogurt: I’ve used a variety of fat percentages and the muffins have always turned out well. Higher fat yogurt will yield a somewhat more rich muffin. You can also substitute plain (not Greek) yogurt, but your muffins might not rise quite as high.

Nutrition

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.

• Category: Baked goods
• Method: Baked
• Cuisine: American

This post was created in partnership with Cascadian Farm and I received compensation for my participation. Opinions are my own, always. Thank you for supporting the sponsors who support C+K!

The post Lemon Raspberry Muffins appeared first on Cookie and Kate.

It’s apple muffin time! You all really seem to love my banana muffins, pumpkin muffins and carrot muffins and the blueberry muffins in my cookbook. Today, apple muffins are joining the club.

Like the others in the bunch, these muffins are made with 100 percent whole wheat flour and naturally sweetened with maple syrup or honey. They are nice and fluffy, with just enough sweetness to be irresistible.

Granted, I already have an apple oatmeal muffin recipe on the blog from four years ago, but I have significantly upped my muffin game since then. These muffins are the better of the two, by a long shot.

I based these healthy apple muffins off my carrot muffins, replacing grated carrots with fresh apple, and replacing half of the Greek yogurt with applesauce.

These muffins contain apple, three ways: freshly grated and chopped apple for the perfect texture, and applesauce for infused apple flavor. They’re the best apple muffins I’ve ever had.

Healthy Apple Muffin Notes

• These apple muffins taste even better after resting for a few hours, if they last that long.
• I particularly enjoy them with a spread of peanut butter.
• Check my recipe notes for how to use honey instead of maple syrup, and some ideas for how to make the muffins vegan.

I think it’s time for another! Please let me know how you like these muffins in the comments. I love hearing from you.

Baking Tips for Success

How to Measure Flour

How you measure your flour is important. Why? If you measure incorrectly, you could end up with up to 50 percent extra flour, which will make your muffins dense, dry and flavorless. Use the spoon and swoop method:

1. Gently stir your flour to loosen any clumps.
2. Spoon your flour into the measuring cup with a big spoon or a flour scoop. Do not scoop up the flour directly into the measuring cup.
3. Level off the top of the cup with a knife. Repeat as necessary.

Baking Powder & Baking Soda Are Not the Same Thing

…and they are not interchangeable. Both are leaveners that help your baked goods rise (baking powder contains some baking soda, but that’s a long story).

This recipe relies on a combination of baking powder and baking soda to produce light and fluffy muffins. For ideal results, always follow the recipe and measure carefully.

How to Stir Your Batter

This muffin batter is super simple to stir together by hand, and that’s how I recommend making these muffins. Why? Whipping your batter will make the flour’s gluten protein too strong, yielding tough muffins.

I know it can be tempting to use a stand mixer or hand mixer when it’s within reach. Please don’t! Follow the instructions below and you’ll end up with light, fluffy muffins.

Watch How to Make Apple Muffins

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Healthy Apple Muffins

• Author: Cookie and Kate
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 13 mins
• Total Time: 28 minutes
• Yield: 12 muffins

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.8 from 635 reviews

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Amazing, healthy apple muffins made with maple syrup and whole wheat flour! No one will guess that this simple cinnamon apple muffin recipe is good for you, too. Recipe yields 12 muffins.

Ingredients

• 1 ¾ cups white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup grated apple
• 1 cup apple diced into ¼” cubes
• ⅓ cup melted coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil
• ½ cup maple syrup or honey*
• 2 eggs, preferably at room temperature
• ½ cup plain Greek yogurt (I used full-fat but any variety should do)
• ½ cup applesauce
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar (also called raw sugar), for sprinkling on top

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. If necessary, grease all 12 cups on your muffin tin with butter or non-stick cooking spray (my pan is non-stick and doesn’t require any grease).
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda and salt. Blend well with a whisk. Add the grated apple (if it is dripping wet, gently squeeze it over the sink to release some extra moisture) and chopped apple. Stir to combine.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the oil and maple syrup and beat together with a whisk. Add the eggs and beat well, then add the yogurt, applesauce and vanilla and mix well. (If the coconut oil solidifies in contact with cold ingredients, gently warm the mixture in the microwave in 30 second bursts.)
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix with a big spoon, just until combined (a few lumps are ok). The batter will be thick, but don’t worry! Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with turbinado sugar. Bake muffins for 13 to 16 minutes, or until the muffins are golden on top and a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
5. Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack to cool. If you have leftover muffins, store them, covered, at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Freeze leftover muffins for up to 3 months.

Notes

Recipe adapted from my healthy carrot muffins.
*If you are baking with honey: Honey tends to brown quickly, so to avoid overdone muffins, bake muffins at 325 degrees Fahrenheit until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 23 to 25 minutes.
Make it vegan: Replace the eggs with flax eggs and replace the yogurt with vegan buttermilk—try mixing 1 ½ teaspoons vinegar with a scant ½ cup non-dairy milk. Let it rest for 5 minutes before adding it to the other liquid ingredients. (You could also try using more applesauce in place of the yogurt but I’m not sure it’s acidic enough to counteract the bitter taste of the baking soda.)

Make it dairy free: See “buttermilk” option above.

Make it egg free: Use flax eggs instead of regular eggs.
Make it gluten free: Bob’s Red Mill or King Arthur Flour make gluten-free all-purpose blends that work well.
If you love this recipe: You will also love my zucchini muffins, carrot muffins and banana muffins! Here are more apple recipes for you, too.

Nutrition

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.

• Category: Muffins
• Method: Baked
• Cuisine: American

The post Healthy Apple Muffins appeared first on Cookie and Kate.

My dog Cookie always comes running when I pull out the vegetable peeler. I swear, she can hear it slice through the air before it even touches a carrot. Then she starts jumping up and down for carrot scraps. She can be very demanding. I’ve created an entitled little carrot beast, and I’m not sorry in the slightest.

Cookie loved the development process for this carrot muffin recipe. It took me five tries to get them just right, so she got a lot of carrot scraps in the process. They’re based on one of my cookbook recipes (so good!!!).

These hearty muffins are packed with grated carrots, walnuts and raisins. They have lots of texture, yet they’re still light and fluffy.

Thanks to the nuts and whole grains, these muffins make a good grab-and-go breakfast! They also freeze and defrost well. I just microwave individual muffins for 30 to 60 seconds, until they’re gently warmed throughout.

Watch How to Make Carrot Muffins

What makes these carrot muffins healthy?

Granted, “healthy” is a subjective term, but here are a few reasons why I consider these muffins to be more nutritionally redeeming than most:

• Unlike standard carrot muffins made with refined all-purpose flour, these are made with white whole wheat flour. That means they’re made entirely with whole grains, but you can’t taste them because white whole wheat flour has such a mild flavor.
• Protein-rich Greek yogurt replaces sour cream.
• Coconut oil or olive oil replace butter (olive oil is composed of more monounsaturated fat, and is considered to be more heart-healthy)
• Real maple syrup replaces refined sugar, so these muffins are naturally sweetened.
• Combined, you end up with hearty muffins that taste like carrot cake. You can eat carrot cake for breakfast with these babies!

These muffins are easily adapted to vegan and gluten-free diets, too! See my recipe notes for details.

Please let me know how these muffins turn out for you in the comments! I’m always so eager for your feedback.

Craving more wholesome muffins? Here are a few more favorite muffin recipes on Cookie and Kate:

• Healthy Apple Muffins
• Healthy Banana Muffins
• Healthy Blueberry Muffins
• Healthy Raspberry Muffins
• Healthy Pumpkin Muffins
• Healthy Zucchini Muffins

If you’re baking for a special occasion, you’ll love my carrot cake with cream cheese frosting (it’s also naturally sweetened and made with whole wheat flour).

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Healthy Carrot Muffins

• Author: Cookie and Kate
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 13 mins
• Total Time: 28 minutes
• Yield: 12 muffins

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.7 from 519 reviews

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Healthy carrot muffins made with whole wheat flour, coconut oil and maple syrup! They taste fantastic, too, of course. These muffins make a great, quick breakfast! Recipe yields 12 muffins.

Ingredients

• 1 ¾ cups white whole wheat flour or regular whole wheat flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon ground ginger
• ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 2 cups peeled and grated carrots* (from ¾ pound carrots—about 3 large or up to 6 small/medium)
• ½ cup roughly chopped walnuts
• ½ cup raisins (I like golden raisins), tossed in 1 teaspoon flour
• ⅓ cup melted coconut oil or extra-virgin olive oil**
• ½ cup maple syrup or honey
• 2 eggs, preferably at room temperature
• 1 cup plain Greek yogurt***
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 tablespoon turbinado sugar (also called raw sugar), for sprinkling on top

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees Fahrenheit. If necessary, grease all 12 cups on your muffin tin with butter or non-stick cooking spray (my pan is non-stick and doesn’t require any grease).
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, ginger and nutmeg. Blend well with a whisk. In a separate, small bowl, toss the raisins with 1 teaspoon flour so they don’t stick together. Add the grated carrots, chopped walnuts and floured raisins to the other ingredients and stir to combine.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the oil and maple syrup and beat together with a whisk. Add the eggs and beat well, then add the yogurt and vanilla and mix well. (If the coconut oil solidifies in contact with cold ingredients, gently warm the mixture in the microwave in 30 second bursts.)
4. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry and mix with a big spoon, just until combined (a few lumps are ok). Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with turbinado sugar. Bake muffins for 13 to 16 minutes, or until the muffins are golden on top and a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
5. Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack to cool. If you have leftover muffins, store them, covered, at room temperature for two days, or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. Freeze leftover muffins for up to 3 months.

Notes

*Carrot grating tips: You can grate the carrots by hand, or for an easier option, use the grating attachment on your food processor.

**A note on oils: I love coconut oil here. I used unrefined coconut oil and can hardly taste it in the final product. Olive oil will lend an herbal note to the muffins, if you’re into that. Vegetable oil has a neutral flavor, but the average vegetable/canola oil is highly processed, so I recommend using cold-pressed sunflower oil or grapeseed oil if possible.

***Note on Greek yogurt: I’ve used a variety of fat percentages and the muffins have always turned out well. Higher fat yogurt will yield a somewhat more rich muffin. You can also substitute plain (not Greek) yogurt, but your muffins might not rise quite as high.

Make it vegan: You can replace the eggs with flax “eggs.” Replace the yogurt with a smaller amount of vegan buttermilk—just mix ⅔ cup non-dairy milk with 2 teaspoons vinegar. Let it rest for 5 minutes before adding it to the other liquid ingredients. Or, use 1 cup vegan yogurt.

Make it dairy free: See buttermilk option above.

Make it egg free: Substitute flax eggs for the regular eggs.
Make it gluten free: Substitute an all-purpose gluten-free flour blend for the whole wheat flour. Bob’s Red Mill makes a GF blend that works well.

Make it nut free: Skip the walnuts!

Make it lower in fat: I would argue that this bread contains a healthy amount of fat, but you can replace the oil with applesauce if you’re following a low-fat diet.

Nutrition

The information shown is an estimate provided by an online nutrition calculator. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice. See our full nutrition disclosure here.

• Category: Baked goods
• Method: By hand
• Cuisine: American

The post Healthy Carrot Muffins appeared first on Cookie and Kate.