Did You Know ~ Healthy Muffins

Healthy Muffins

Did you know that you can bake super healthy muffins that are really easy to prepare? Many muffins that you can buy at the store are filled with sugar and fat and don’t have many nutrients. However, you can bake muffins yourself, so you know everything that goes in them. My tot loves them, and I love the fact that he gets many nutrients through fruit, veggies, and whole grains. These muffins are a great and well-balanced breakfast or snack as they pack fruit, veggies, whole grains and protein.

Here is the recipe. I do it a little bit different each time. The nice thing is that you can be very creative and adjust it to the ingredients you have on hand, or what your tot likes best any given week.
INGREDIENTS:

• 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour
• ¾ cup ground flax seed (can be substituted with whole wheat flour)
• ¾ cup oat bran (you can simply ground oatmeal in the blender)
• ¾ cup brown sugar (OPTIONAL- I typically don’t use it. You don’t need it if you add enough fruit)
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• ¾ cup skim milk
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil (optional)
• 2 cups shredded carrots
• 2 apples, diced

You can add any other type of fruit in addition to the apples, I like to add blueberries and banana as well, but you can add whatever suits your tot’s taste. You could also add ½ cup raisins and 1 cup nuts if you would like.

What is important is that you add enough watery fruit, such as apples and blueberries so the muffins turn out moist.

DIRECTIONS:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease muffin pan or line with muffin liners
2. In a large bowl, mix together flour, flax seeds, oat bran, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.
3. Add the milk, eggs, vanilla and oil. Mix until just blended.
4. Stir in the carrots, apples, and rest of the fruit (blueberries, banana…). Add optional ingredients, such as raisins or nuts. Fill prepared muffin cups 2/3 full with batter
5. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

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