November 17, 2015
updated
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Muffins are a save-the-day kind of breakfast for extremely busy mornings and these Healthy Muffin Recipes will help you and your kids start the day out right.
Healthy muffins provide fuel for the rest of the day so that you and your kids will have enough energy to get through work and school feeling your best.
Each of these healthy recipes has been chosen because they’re filled highly nutritious, lower in sugar, and kid-approved.
Muffins are often a kid-favorite because they’re easy to grab and go, but store bought muffins tend to leave a lot to be desired. A lot of muffins are more like cupcakes with refined flour and sugar instead of quality ingredients you can feel good about eating.
Can muffins be healthy?
There are several ways you can make your favorite muffin recipe healthier without sacrificing flavor or moisture. The three tips below are tried and true throughout all the muffin recipes in this post.
Use Oat Flour
Oat flour is an excellent choice for making soft muffins with a hearty flavor. It also creates a lower glycemic index, which can help save you from the energy crash an hour later that we usually experience from a coffee shop muffin.
Half the Fat
A favorite trick of mine is to cut the amount of added fat (oils and butter) with something like mashed banana, pumpkin pureé, or Greek yogurt. Not only does it add ample moisture, but it makes the muffin lighter.
Add the Good Stuff
I know we all love chocolate chips in a muffin, but you can also add items like dried, unsweetened cranberries, blueberries, chopped nuts, and even pumpkin seeds. They all pack nutritional benefits and add great flavors and texture to muffins.
You can even add an extra swirl of flavor like I did in my Coffee Cake Muffins. OMG. A must-try
Do you like finding ways to recreate your family’s favorite baked goods and desserts into healthier versions? It’s something I’ve been doing for years, and I even created an entire cookbook dedicated to healthy desserts made with clean ingredients, the Clean Treats Cookbook!
Eating cleaner doesn’t mean giving up your favorite foods, like muffins; you can still enjoy them, but in a better way.
Healthy Substitutions for Muffins
Here are a few ingredient substitutions you can put to the test to make your next batch of muffins delicious as ever and better for you!
Instead of Regular Flour:
- Oat flour- substitute it 1:1 for all-purpose flour
- 1:1 All-Purpose Gluten-Free Flour
- Almond Flour– substitute it 1:1 for all-purpose flour
You can use other flour alternatives for baking, but I’ve found that these 3 flours yield the best results through trial and error.
Instead of Refined Sugar
- Honey- use ¾ cup for every 1 cup sugar. Reduce all liquids by ½ cup for every 1 cup of honey added.
- Maple syrup- use ¾ cup pure maple syrup for 1 cup of granulated sugar and reduce the dominant liquid in the recipe by 3 tablespoons for each cup of maple syrup used.
- Coconut sugar- substitute 1:1 for regular white sugar
I have an entire post on exchanging white sugar for a healthier alternative in recipes, but these 3 are the most popular go-to’s for most people.
Now that you have breakfast covered, let me help with lunch and dinner. I’d love to send you a sample of my lunch & dinner meal plans filled with healthy recipes, your shopping list, and even a meal prep guide which will save you hours in the kitchen.
Get a Free Meal Plan Sample here. By the way, there’s no credit card required, this no-risk trial is my gift to you.
Healthy Breakfast Muffin Recipes
Make a big batch of one of these healthy muffin recipes at the beginning of the week (you can even freeze some!) and you’ll have breakfast ready with no fuss. Hooray for easy mornings!
How to Pre-Ahead Muffins for Easier Mornings
Making muffin batter the night before gives you more time to bake the muffins the next morning. Prepare the muffin batter as directed by the recipe, cover the bowl with plastic wrap or add the batter to the muffin tin, and refrigerate overnight.
In the morning, all you have to do is pop them in the oven and bake until golden brown, and a toothpick comes out clean when inserted in the center.
You can even freeze muffin batter in paper cups, then store them in the freezer for up to 2 months. When you’re ready to bake, remove them from the freezer, place them into the tin, and bake. It’s that easy!
Healthy Muffin Recipes for Breakfast
Ingredients
- ½ cup flax meal
- ¼ cup walnuts
- 1 tablespoon coconut flour
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ cup raisins
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons coconut oil, melted
- ¼ cup grated carrot, about 1 large carrot
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F and line 8 muffin cups with paper liners.
- In a food processor, combine flax meal, walnuts, and coconut flour until it resembles coarse sand. Add baking soda, salt, and cinnamon; pulse a few times to combine.
- Add raisins and pulse, until they are chopped and incorporated into mixture (you are not trying to make a paste, just a coarse dough of sorts).
- Add eggs and melted coconut oil and pulse a few times to incorporate. Fold in grated carrot just to combine.
- Spoon in about ¼ cup of muffin batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake 22 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Allow muffins to cool for 45 minutes prior to eating.
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