Gluten-Free Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Muffins

Today's edition of the Crystal Balls VI League's weekly meeting of grown men yelling at multiple TVs while incessantly checking their fantasy teams on their phone was sponsored by the always wonderful hosts Danielle and Marshall. Instead of the normal theme of meat and beer, they decided to class things up with a brunch theme complete with mimosas and absurdly decadent creme brulee French toast. For my contribution, I thought I'd show my appreciation to host Danielle and her gluten allergy by stepping up my baking game and braving the world of gluten-free cooking.

Would my gluten-free Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake muffins hit the spot, or would brunch be ruined forever?

Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Muffins
Adapted from Sally's Baking Addiction
Servings: 12 muffins
Time: 60 minutes + cooling

Crumb goop!

Crumble Topping
1/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour (I used Bob's Red Mill)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup unsalted butter, melted

Pumpkin Spice Cheesecake Muffins
1 3/4 cups gluten-free all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp pumpkin pie spice

Spiced!

1/2 cup dark brown sugar
2 large eggs
1 cup pumpkin puree
1/2 cup canola oil
1/3 cup milk
1 tbsp vanilla extract

Cheesecake Filling
8 oz cream cheese, softened to room temp.
1 egg yolk
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 tbsp granulated sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 425 F. Line a muffin tin.
2. Make the crumble by mixing the brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon together. Then stir in the melted butter until crumbs form (Note: mine just kind of turned into super wet dough, making me wonder if gluten-free flour isn't up to this task. But, it's still butter and sugar, so it can only add flavor). Set aside.
3. Make the pumpkin muffins. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and pumpkin pie spice together in a large bowl.
4. Whisk the brown sugar and eggs together until smooth. Mix in the pumpkin puree, oil, milk, and vanilla until well combined.
5. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ones and whisk until just combined.
6. Make the cream cheese filling by beating the cream-cheese in an electric mixer until smooth. Add in the egg yolk, vanilla extract and sugar until well combined.
7. Layer the muffin and cheesecake as such: 1 tbsp muffin batter-> ~1/2-3/4 tbsp cream cheese filling-> 1 tbsp muffin batter. Note: this will fill up the muffin tins to very close to the top, which you want in this case. Top with the crumble.
8. Bake for 5 minutes at 425 F. Lower the temperature to 350 (keeping the muffins in) and bake for an additional 12-15 minutes or until the toothpick test comes out clean (or nearly clean as you might get some melty cream cheese).
9. Let the muffins cool in their tin for 10 minutes then transfer to wire racks and finish cooling.
10. Enjoy autumn in style.

Note: one person would attempt to put the Whataburger Honey Butter on top of the muffins because Texas!

These muffins hit all the right autumnal notes I was looking for. The incredibly moist cake had just the right, powerful amount of pumpkin and spice to make you think you were having your favorite fall Starbucks treat, while the layer of cheesecake added a velvety richness making these worthy of even the most critical brunch-goer's Sunday Funday. My only complaint was that the crumble didn't really live up to its name, but, hey, added butter and sugar never hurt anyone.... The muffins were a huge hit, and I managed to not cross-contaminate them in my gluten-bomb of a kitchen meaning Danielle and her equally gluten-averse sister (now that's good genes!) were able to enjoy them. Now that I've recovered from the most wonderful of full belly lazy Sunday afternoon naps, I'm just hoping I can get my hands on that creme brulee French toast recipe.

Danielle was very relieved that these muffins were gluten-free and that she had just gotten a fresh manicure.

Pumpkinocalypse 2013: The Bakering: Pumpkin Chai Muffins

Muffin Mondays used to be a cherished part of my work week because I got to eat healthy fake cupcakes while letting staff meeting fade away to the background of non-tasty noise. Due to some sort of weird plague or other act of god, my grocery store was all out of pumpkin on Sunday forcing me to postpone Pumpkinocalypse (and thus Muffin Monday) to Tuesday. I had come too far (and purchased all of the other necessary ingredients) to let that stop me. I would combine my two favorite lattes into one delicious (and way less fattening than a latte) muffin- the fabled Pumpkin Chai!

Pumpkin Chai Muffins
Adapted from Squidoo
Servings: 24 muffins
Time: 35 minutes

Now how do I froth it?

4 cups flour
2 tsp baking soda
4 tsp baking poder
2 tsp ground cloves
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp allspice
2 tsp cardamom
2 tsp ground ginger
1 1/2 tsp orange zest
1/2 tsp white pepper
4 tbsp instant tea powder (unsweetened)
1 cup butter
1 cup vanilla yogurt
2 tsp vanilla
4 eggs
1 1/2 cups pureed pumpkin
1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cloves, cinnamon, allspice, cardamom, ginger, orange zest, white pepper and instant tea together in a large bowl. Set aside.
3. Melt the butter and let cool.
4. Beat the vanilla yogurt, vanilla, eggs, pumpkin and sugar in with the melted butter until smooth.
5. Gradually mix in the dry ingredients using a stand mixer at low speed until just incorporated (be careful not to overmix).
6. Fill lined muffin tins 2/3 full with batter.
7. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until the toothpick test comes back clean.
8. Remove the muffins from the tin and let cool on wire racks. 
9. Eat with a very mellow, low on flavor drink to counteract being bombarded by amazing spices.

Must resist the urge to frost... Slowly get back into baking..

Now these muffins packed a powerful punch. Whereas my earlier Pumpkin Cookie Cake truly highlighted all that is good and pumpkin in the world, these muffins brought forth a whole lot of spicy punch. This felt like autumn in convenient bite-sized form. All the fantastic chai spices really hit you with a gentle backing from the moist pumpkin and an intriguing finish from the white pepper (seriously, the white pepper seems out of place, but it's awesome). I definitely recommend a nice glass of silk to balance out this super breakfast.

After making these delightfully tasty treats, I did think of a few possible ways to improve them (aside from saying "healthiness be damned" and making them a cupcake). Adding walnuts or golden raisins could definitely add another dimension and some texture to these. Similarly, the pop of biting into freshly chopped ginger would also help elevate things to a whole new level.

Oh, that's right. I forgot all this baking makes my kitchen really messy. Oh, well. That sounds like a problem for future Terry. He's a sucker.

It felt great to be back to destroying my kitchen (it really was freaky seeing it so clean). Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go feverishly apologize to my stand mixer for our rough patch.

Muffin Mondays: Dark Chocolate Cherry Muffins

Recently, I began celebrating the soon to be worldwide holiday known as Muffin Mondays. Delusions of grandeur filled my head as I decided to embark on a journey of two delicious muffiny treats to great my coworkers in the morning.  Unfortunately, my strawberry rhubarb yogurt muffins turned in to an unmitigated disaster, but, then, as if smiled upon by the baking gods, a Muffin Monday Miracle occurred. My Dark Chocolate Cherry Muffin recipe which was supposed to yield 2 dozen muffins entered some weird wormhole and produced 48 delicious breakfasty treats (I may have been a little suspicious given the insane amount of flour it called for, but I wasn't about to let something like math or numbers stop me!).

Screw you, strawberry rhubarb suckins!

Dark Chocolate Cherry Muffins
Adapted from All Recipes
Servings: 24 muffins (adjusted to actually be 24)
Time: 40+ minutes (how fast can you chop cherries?)

This might take a while...

2 1/3 cups  all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/3 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 cup sour cream
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp almond extract
1 1/2 cups fresh dark cherries, pitted and chopped
1 cup dark chocolate chips
Sliced almonds (optional)

Chocolate and fruit, what a novel idea that has certainly never been tried before!

1. Attempt to make strawberry rhubarb muffins. Fail miserably.
2. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
3. Whisk the flour, sugar, cooca powder, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl.
4. Mix the sour cream, milk, vegetable oil, eggs and almond extract in a bowl until well blended.
5. Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and stir until just incorporated.
6. Fold the cherries and dark chocolate chips into the batter.
7. Fill lined muffin tins 1/2- 2/3 full. Sprinkle on almond slices if desired.
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the toothpick test comes back clean (beware of false negatives from the melted chocolate chips).
9. Let the tins cool on wire racks for 5 minutes. Then remove the muffins and allow them to finish cooling on the racks.
10. Realize the second type of muffin isn't necessary because these are absurdly awesome.

Souped up almond model. Now if I can just figure out where the NOS goes...

Normally, I don't go for chocolate muffins (chocolate is for my unhealthy lattes and not my fruit-filled morning treats), so these combo fruit/chocolate muffins were the perfect way to help me ease into an exciting and scary new lifestyle. These were vaguely reminiscent of chocolate liqueur cherries thanks to the almond extract, but the real heart of this breakfast was the abundance of juicy cherries intermingling with the decadent dark chocolate that made all that chopping worth it. Venturing away from my normal muffin comfort zone proved to be the right choice, as these may have been the most deserving entry to Muffin Mondays yet.

The inner workings of a muffin are almost as complicated as those of the human body (at least I imagine mine is filled with chocolate and fruit).

Muffin Mondays: Lemon Ricotta Blackberry Muffins

Sunday was a day of marathons. Following The Office finale, I began a binge watching session of it on Netflix. It only seemed right to pair this with my favorite and most edible type of marathon- the bake-athon. A trifecta of treats was in order to provide my coworkers with delicious morsels to make it through our Monday meeting and to send Robin a proper care package (and inspiration for future baking/ bakery endeavors). Since I had to devote proper attention to my television duties (especially if I was going to make it through season 2), I decided that a combination of easy to make cookies and muffins would be the best route.

Lemon Ricotta Blackberry Muffins
Adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod
Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 24 muffins

Ridiculously thick batter

4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
2 cups granulated sugar
Zest of 4 lemons
1 cup unsalted butter, room temp
2 cups ricotta cheese
2 large eggs
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 cups blackberries
Sugar plus lemon zest for topping

I only broke half of the blackberries trying to get them into the batter, a new record!

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl. Set aside.
3. Mix the sugar and lemon zest together then cream them with the butter using a stand mixer until light and fluffy.
4. Add in the ricotta cheese and mix until smooth.
5. Stir in the egg, lemon juice and vanilla extract.
6. Gradually add in the dry ingredients until just blended.
7. Fill lined muffin tins halfway with batter. 
8. Place at least 3 blackberries into the batter (try to get it down in there without crushing the blackberries, which will be tricky since this is one thick batter).
9. Realize you snacked on the remaining blackberries, forcing you to stop at 3 berries per muffin.
10. Sprinkle the topping on each muffin.
11. Bake for 18-24 minutes until the tops slightly brown and the toothpick test comes back clean.
12. Cool the muffins on wire racks.

Sadly, all the blackberries rose to the top, leaving only delicious ricotta lemony bottoms.

Blackberries, while the most delicious of all berries, are also the most neglected when it comes to baking.  I decided I must remedy this post haste. I also wanted to keep up the delightfully refreshing citrusy theme of last week's Grapefruit Buttermilk Muffins, so these lemon ricotta blackberry muffins seemed perfect (and provided yet another opportunity to test my "cheese makes everything better" hypothesis).

Initial batter taste tests had me a little concerned due to their ricotta influenced thick texture, but these fears were quickly assuaged upon tasting the finished product. These muffins hit you with wonderful juicy blackberries, a refreshing lemon backend and an intriguingly awesome hint of cheesecake all wrapped up in one surprisingly moist package. Hopefully, the rousing success of these muffins will help catapult blackberries to their proper place in baking lore.

My table passed initial baking stress tests.

Stay tuned for the ensuing cookie mayhem featuring Reese's Pieces Cookies and Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Raisin Cookies.

Grapefruit Buttermilk Muffins

Turns out getting half a grapefruit to stand up and not look funny is quite difficult (especially when it was zested)

Grapefruit has been something that I have kind of always despised due to engrained hatred from my childhood following the tragic destruction of my village by renegade grapefruit rolling down the mountainside (or the fact I found them kind of super bitter for an overgrown, brightly colored orange). Recently, however, I have started to appreciate them thanks to their risotto flavoring abilities and the general awesomeness that is Shiner's Ruby Redbird summer seasonal. After seeing some particularly tasty looking ones at the farmer's market, I decided to find a way to incorporate them into some sort of baked good for my inaugural voyage with my apartment's oven.

Stop trying to fool us, fake oranges!

Grapefruit Muffins

Adapted from The Daring Gourmet

Time: 40 minutes

Servings: 24 muffins

Proceed to eating now!

1 cup butter, room temp

2 cups sugar

4 large eggs, separated

1 1/2 cups buttermilk

Grated zest of 2 grapefruits 

1 cup freshly squeezed grapefruit juice

1 tbsp vanilla extract

4 cups all-purpose flour

1 tbsp baking powder

2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

4 tsp grapefruit zest + 1/2 cup sugar for topping

Avoid drinking the batter because there's really nothing more embarrassing than an egg white mustache

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.
2. Cream the butter and sugar together in a mixer until light and fluffy.
3. Add in the egg yolks one at a time and beat until well mixed.
4. Mix in the grapefruit juice, zest and vanilla until combined. Note this will probably look pretty gross, but flour will fix this.
5. Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a large bowl.
6. Alternate adding the flour mixture and buttermilk to the grapefruit mix. Be careful not to overmix.
7. Take some time to shovel 1-50 spoonfuls of the world's most delicious batter. 
8. Stop yourself when you remember you promised people muffins.
9. Beat the egg whites into soft peaks. Fold them into the batter with a rubber spatula.
10. Fill lined or greased muffin tins 2/3-3/4 of the way full with batter.
11. Make the topping by stirring the grapefruit zest and sugar together.
12. Generously sprinkle the topping on to each cupcake muffin.
13. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the toothpick test comes back clean.
14. Let the muffin tins cool on a wire rack for five minutes then remove the muffins to allow cooling to finish.

This is not nearly enough sugary, grapefruity topping.

Normally, I rush right in to talking about the delicious baked goods I have just eaten ungodly amounts of while reassuring myself that it was for my blog to avoid the shame and night crying. Today, I find myself needing to devote some time to talking about the batter. Following the magical batter tasting (which I'm pretty sure was scored to "Take My Breath Away"), I found myself not content with a single tasting. Rather, I had to ensure that the stand mixer paddle attachment was completely clean (so it wouldn't mess up the dishwasher...). Prior to adding the egg whites (because that looks far less appetizing for tasting), this might have been the greatest batter I ever tasted thanks to the incredibly powerful and refreshing grapefruit punch. This base definitely needs to be incorporated in future treats.

Now to figure out a grapefruit icing because, let's not kid ourselves, this is essentially a cupcake

The end result was a fantastic citrusy breakfast muffin with a delightful cakeyness. Sadly, some of that great grapefruit power was weakened post baking, but that didn't stop these fresh treats from being devoured faster than any of my baking that I've ever brought to work. Fortunately, this can be easily remedied by buying extra grapefruit for zesting, so you can properly encase the tops in a sugary grave. 

The Scientific Dynamics of Muffin Topography in Greased vs. Lined Systems

T. Kennair, Science (awaiting acceptance and for the editor to stop laughing)

These muffins not only tasted amazing, but they also provided an important lesson in the baked sciences. I've had issues with muffins getting stuck to baking tins before, so I decided to fill half of them with liners in case thing went awry (plus, I still had some pretty sweet heart decorated cupcake liners from Valentine's Day). The naked muffins produced more of a traditional muffin top, while the lined ones were more of a super flabby love handle. Despite their physical shortcomings, the vertically challenged variety won the taste contest by proving more moist. 

Stay tuned as I contemplate how long I can go without posting following 3 entries in half a week (and as I regret forgetting to take out the trash from baking prior to leaving for three days)!

The Occasional (Very Lazy) Vegan: Carrot Spice Muffins

You may call it cheating that I've discovered muffins are an easy way to sneak in my self-imposed need for vegan cooking, but I call it smart breakfast eating (seriously these muffins have just 135 calories and 1 g of fat each, or so the site I got the recipe from claims). This carrot cake-like morning coffee companion seemed like the perfect healthy option to balance out my pistachio ice cream sandwiches and complete my Sunday of baking.

Vegan Carrot Spice Muffins
Adapted from FatFree Vegan Kitchen
Servings: 24 muffins
Time: 30 minutes (plus however fast you can shred carrots)

3 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp flax meal or ground flax seed
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp ginger
1/4 tsp cloves
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup agave nectar
2/3 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 cup soy yogurt
1/4 cup water
1 tbsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups shredded carrots
2/3-1 cup golden raisins

Yeah, that batter doesn't look like baby food gone wrong at all. 

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
2. Whisk the flour, granulated sugar, flax meal, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and salt together in a large bowl.
3. Mix the agave nectar, apple sauce, soy yogurt, water and vanilla together in a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment at medium speed.
4. Add in the dry ingredients and mix at low speed until just incorporated. 
5. Stir in the shredded carrots and golden raisins with a rubber spatula.
6. Fill up lined muffin tins 2/3 of the way with batter.
7. Bake for 15-20 minutes. Let cool on wire racks.

My army of loyal muffin minions are ready to take over the world (or at least breakfast).

These were a welcome addition to my ever-growing muffin stable. For something so healthy (and proper muffin looking) these tasted great. An abundance of raisins (I upped the amount considerably) mixing with all those fresh carrots highlighted these muffins and helped me forget all about carrot cakes usually being smothered in cream cheese. They probably could have used a little more spices for added kick and perhaps soy milk in the place of water to reach greater levels of tasty veganity. Minor quibbles aside, these were still a delightful way to start off your morning. 

The Occasional (Very Lazy) Vegan: Lemon Blueberry Muffins

Several weeks ago I had the shocking discovery that the glorious baking pans I make so many tasty cupcakes in are actually called "muffin tins". How did the muffin earn such notoriety that it could displace the world's most perfect dessert from its rightful place in culinary equipment nomenclature? Intrigued, I set about making the healthier cousin of my beloved cupcakes and discovered the many joys of a week's worth of fresh, non-super processed breakfasts. My affair with muffins (or breakfast cupcakes) continued with a vegan take on the classic lemon blueberry muffin that became an essential part of my daily routine.

Vegan Lemon Blueberry Muffins
Adapted from Eggless Cooking
Servings: 24+ muffins
Time: 45 minutes

4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
Zest of 6 small lemons
2 cups sugar
2 cups soy milk
2/3 cup canola oil
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
3 cups fresh blueberries

1. Preheat the oven to 375 F.
2. Whisk the flour, baking soda, salt and lemon zest together in a large bowl. Set aside.
3. Mix the sugar, soy milk, oil and vinegar together well in a stand mixer.
4. Add in the dry ingredients in several increments at low speed until just combined.
5. Fold the blueberries into the batter with a rubber spatula.
6. Grease muffin tins well and fill each 2/3 of the way with batter.
7. Bake for 16-22 minutes or until the toothpick test comes back clean.
8. Let cool in the muffin tins for 5 minutes then move to wire racks.

The poor one in the middle is the equivalent of a bald muffin. He was teased mercilessly by the other muffins but managed to find a good, loving home in my stomach.

The muffin itself was incredibly moist and fluffy, but the abundance of fresh blueberries and lemon flavor truly stole the show. The tart blueberries and sour lemon somehow balance each other out (as previously seen in the Blueberry Lemon Crepe) to complete a light yet fulfilling breakfast. If you desire a slightly more crunchy breakfast experience, sprinkling some brown sugar on top prior to baking could enhance your muffin top quite nicely (much like cupcakes enhance your natural muffin top).

The proper blueberry to muffin ratio expertly hand-modeled by Nancy.

Eggless Sunday: Strawberry Banana Quinoa Muffins

Recently, I've noticed that my breakfast routine was in serious need of some tinkering. When you walk into a Starbucks on your birthday and are greeted by all the baristas shouting "Happy Birthday, Terry" (and confusing the poor soul who walked in at the same time as you), you realize that you just might go there too often. As part of my Sunday of baking, I wanted to make a healthy scone/granola bar alternative that would go well with my morning life-breathing coffee (I may live in Texas, but I think coffee is by far the world's most important black liquid). In the end, I settled on these ambitious muffins to hopefully prevent my descent in to becoming Starbuck's "Norm".


Strawberry Banana Quinoa Muffins
Adapted from Chef In You
Servings: 24 muffins
Time: 90 minutes

Cooking before baking. Pure freaking anarchy.

1/2 cup quinoa
1 cup water
2 cups whole wheat flour
3 tsp baking powder
2 tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 cups packed brown sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 cup fat free Greek yogurt
1 tbsp vanilla extract
2 cups mashed banana
2 cups fresh strawberries, diced

Fortunately, this is one batter that's supposed to look lumpy. Fortunately that didn't stop baking partner Alex from devouring it.

1. Bring the quinoa and water to a boil in a saucepan. Then cover and reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and leave covered for 15 minutes. Fluff with a fork and let cool.
2. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
3. Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt and cinnamon together in a large bowl.
4. Stir in the quinoa until it's completely covered by the flour mixture.
5. Using a stand mixer, combine mix the sugar and oil together in a separate bowl.
6. Add the yogurt, vanilla and mashed banana to the oil mixture until well incorporated.
7. Drop the strawberries into the flour-quinoa mixture and stir well.
8. Combine the flour and oil mixtures by gently stirring with a rubber spatula until just blended.
9. Drop the batter into lined cupcake tins and bake for 20-30 minutes or until the toothpick test comes back clean.
10. Let cool on wire racks.
11. Shovel them down your gullet along with copious amounts of coffee. 
12. Realize the shaking your body is doing is simply its special way of telling you how much it loves coffee.

What do you mean I don't frost them after? Hogwash!

These were some absolutely killer muffins. I reduced the amount of banana from the original recipe so that the muffins wouldn't be too mushy (an unfortunate baking consequence of the banana) and the result was a structurally sound muffin that tasted like incredible banana bread with glorious juicy bites of strawberry. These two fruity delights were further complimented by the cinnamon and vanilla for muffins that had everyone coming back for more.  I just hope the good folks at Starbucks don't send out a search party to find me this week. 

The Occasional (Very Lazy) Vegan: Banana Oatmeal Muffins

The blurriness was likely a result of me eating something actually healthy and not loaded with sugar (perhaps I should consult a doctor)

An interesting thought occurred to me during my last Sunday bakeathon; I realized I might want to present a healthy option to go along with my cookies and cupcakes (although this would most certainly slow down my plan of getting promoted at work by giving everyone else health problems). As a result, I decided some vegan muffins would be the way to go. Would my coworkers embrace these healthy yet delicious breakfast treats, or would they stone me with them for my nutritious transgression?


Banana Oatmeal Muffins
Adapted from Food.com
Servings: 12-15 muffins
Time: 30 minutes

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar, unpacked
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
7/8 cup soy milk
1/3 cup applesauce
2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup mashed banana

1. Preheat the oven to 400 F.
2. Mix the flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt together in a bowl.
3. Combine the milk, applesauce and vanilla in a separate bowl.
4. Add the mashed banana to the wet ingredients until thoroughly incorporated.
5. Stir the dry ingredients in with the wet ingredients until just combined.
6. Fill lined cupcake tins 2/3 full with batter and bake for 20 minutes.
7. Resist the urge to cover them with butter and sugar packed frosting despite the mixed signals the cupcake liners are sending you.

Can you see the cupcakes calling to me in the top left corner? Fortunately, I kept a calm head and ate muffins for breakfast all week.

These muffins certainly did the trick in my search for a healthy breakfast. They tasted a lot like banana bread with the occasional oat coming through. My only real complaint is that I wished the tops had been just a tiny bit crispier (but that's a central failing of most banana based things thanks to their inherent mushiness). Also, I might consider adding a little cinnamon to have these pack some extra punch, but as they stood they went perfectly with my sugar-laden morning coffee to get my day started properly. In the end, these flew out of the work kitchen just as quickly as the lemon curd cookies and black and white cupcakes (stay tuned) I made, so I might just have to keep up the nutritious option tradition.

Alex happily prepares to eat a muffin that's devoid of her lifelong enemy- eggs. (Meanwhile, the boxes present behind her show how great my house is at moving. Only been 3 months!)