Social Kitchen

I always thought that I was one of those people who tries to put a twist on recipes to make them as healthy as possible.  Can I use applesauce instead of butter?  Bring it on!  Will this recipe taste the same if I make it eggless?  Why not?!  Can we avoid the sugar altogether?  Let’s give it a try!

This is exactly what attracted me to this recipe.  I wanted to make something healthy because, you know, it’s been one of those years…I mean, months…and this was the perfect wholesome recipe I was searching for.  I mean, people, I had started making my morning oatmeal with water instead of milk, and a sprinkle of ground flaxseed instead of a tablespoon of peanut butter.  It was necessary to find a tastier breakfast treat.  But it still had whole grains, and unrefined sugars and was basically tugging at my inner healthy girl’s heartstrings.  A perfect storm of a recipe, if you will.

Turns out that the watered down oatmeal left something to be desired.  The entire time I was making this virtuous recipe, I kept thinking, “why is there only a total of 1/4 cup of honey in this entire recipe?!”  And that, my friends, was the beginning of the end.  I looked at the rest of the recipe and decided that butter would be more delicious than tasteless oil, white flour would make this recipe lighter than its whole wheat counterpart, and heck, let’s just double the sugar.

What resulted was a most delicious muffin with the most healthy sounding name.  It made me believe that I was eating healthy!  I hope it does the same for you.

Granola Muffins (recipe adapted from New York Times)

Don’t worry – if you would like to be better than me, I have put the actual recipe below, with my “adjustments” in parentheses.  You can be good.  You can be half good!  You have options is what I’m saying.

1 cup granola (I whipped up a half batch of this recipe)

1/2 cup low-fat milk

1 cup whole wheat flour (I substituted with the same amount of all purpose flour)

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 tsp. cinnamon

2 large or extra large eggs (you could do flax seed eggs if you felt like it)

1/4 cup mild honey, such as clover (I substituted with half cup brown sugar)

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

1/4 cup canola oil (I substituted with 1/4 cup melted butter)

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Turbinado sugar, to sprinkle on top

Extra granola, to sprinkle on top

1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF with a rack in the middle. Spray 12 muffin cups with cooking spray. Combine the granola and milk in a bowl and let sit for 30 minutes.

2. Sift together whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

3. In medium bowl, beat together the eggs, honey, buttermilk or yogurt, canola oil and vanilla. Quickly whisk in the flour, then fold in the granola and raisins. Combine well

4. Spoon into muffin cups, filling each about 3/4 full. Sprinkle each muffin with extra granola and turbinado sugar.  Bake 23 to 25 minutes, until lightly browned. Cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then unmold and cool on a wire rack.  These muffins freeze really well.

This entry was posted on March 7, 2013 at 10:00 am and is filed under Uncategorized.