These zucchini muffins fall perfectly within those parameters. Zucchini bread is a classic summer treat, whether your zucchini is the result of a homegrown bumper crop or simply the rock-bottom prices on squash this time of year. It’s something I dearly love to eat, and healthy-ing it up a bit means I get to eat it more often. I win!

I love adding chocolate chips to my zucchini muffins and bread (and most other things), but Ryan’s less chocolate obsessed and prefers add-ins like dried fruit and nuts, which gave me the idea to go two different ways with this batch. I divided the batter in half, adding chocolate and unsweetened coconut to one half, and dried cranberries and sunflower seeds to the other half.

I can’t decide which version of these muffins I like more! Both are sweet and moist and, against my better judgement, I kind of love the nutty earthiness of the cranberry-sunflower seed variety. Make some of each kind or pick the one that suits your fancy — you can’t go wrong with these.

Zucchini Muffins
Adapted from Simple Bites

Makes 20-22 muffins (or 10 giant ones)

Because I wanted to make some of each variety of muffins, I divided the batter in half and used 1/4 cup of each add-in. Feel free to go this route or add in other tasty things — use what you’ve got! If you prefer a loaf, use a 9″ x 5″ loaf pan and six muffin cups, and bake the loaf for about 50 minutes.

For the muffin batter:
2 cups whole-wheat pastry flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup canola oil
3/4 cup plain yogurt*
1/3 cup buttermilk**
1 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
2 1/2 cups finely grated zucchini

For the add-ins:
1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips and 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut flakes, or
1/2 cup dried cranberries and 1/2 cup sunflower seeds

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line 2 muffin tins with papers and lightly spray the papers.

In a medium bowl, sift together flours, cinnamon, nutmeg, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In a large bowl, beat eggs until foamy; beat in eggs, yogurt, buttermilk, oil, sugar, and vanilla. Combine well. Stir in grated zucchini. Fold flour mixture into the wet ingredients and stir until combined. Stir in add-ins.

Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling about 3/4 full. Bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool about 5 minutes in the pans. Remove muffins from pans and cool completely on a wire rack.

*I used vanilla yogurt and omitted the vanilla extract.

**I used soy milk, but you could also use regular milk with a splash of vinegar or lemon juice added.

It’s Monday afternoon, my brain is basically fried, and I’m listening to Katy Perry (guilty pleasure) on repeat. Can you relate? Go make yourself some muffins!

These muffins taste like cherry pie in the best way. They’re sweet and flavorful while still being light and fluffy. And yes, I’m leaning towards the healthy these days (so that I can justify things like Chinese takeout on the weekends) — but you’d never know it on this one.

Cherry Coffeecake Muffins
Adapted from America’s Test Kitchen Family Baking Book

Makes about 16 muffins

scant 2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
4 tablespoons unsalted butter or margarine, softened
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
3/4 low-fat or fat-free vanilla yogurt
2 cups pitted, coarsely chopped cherries

Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease or line muffin tins and set aside.

Whisk together 2 cups flour, 1/2 cup brown sugar, salt, baking powder, and baking soda in a medium bowl. Transfer 1/4 cup of the flour mixture to a small bowl and mix in the remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar and cinnamon. Melt 1 tablespoon of the butter, and add to the cinnamon mixture. Toss gently with a fork until the butter is evenly distributed (mixture will look like large pea-shaped crumbs) and set aside.

In a medium bowl, beat remaining 3 tablespoons softened butter and granulated sugar together with an electric mixer on medium-high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 6 minutes. Add the eggs, one at a time, until combined, about 30 seconds.

Reduce the mixer speed to low and beat in one-third of the flour mixture followed by half of the yogurt. Repeat with half of the remaining flour mixture and the remaining yogurt. Beat in the remaining flour mixture until just incorporated.

In a small  bowl, (the last one, I promise!) combine cherries and the remaining 2 tablespoons flour. Fold floured cherries into batter gently.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin tins, filling about 2/3 full. Sprinkle the crumb mixture evenly over the batter. Bake about 20-25 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking, or until the crumb topping is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of the cake comes out with a few crumbs attached. Cool for a few minutes in the pan before transferring muffins to a wire rack to cool completely. Enjoy!

In the midst of a rather ridiculous streak of checking-things-off-the-list, I stopped for a few minutes to mix up these muffins. They are a lovely blend of whole wheat, carrots, apples, coconut, and peanuts (I know, weird). They’re hearty and delicious, and not too sweet for breakfast (not that there is such a thing).

Let’s all start the week on a bright note, shall we? Here, have a muffin and some coffee.

Morning Glory Muffins
Barely adapted from Marci Gilbert

1 1/3 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1/3 cup canola oil
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 medium apple, peeled, cored and diced
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup carrots, shredded
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped*
1/4 cup plus 2 T sweetened coconut

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a muffin pan with papers or spray lightly.

In a small bowl, combine eggs, oil, applesauce, and vanilla, and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine flour, sugars, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Add egg mixture and stir just until combined. Fold in apple, raisins, carrots, walnuts, and 1/4 cup coconut.

Spoon batter into muffin tin, filling each muffin cup 3/4 full. Top batter with remaining coconut.

Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Let muffins cool in the tin for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container.

*I didn’t have any walnuts in the house, but I did have about eight zillion dry-roasted peanuts, so I chopped some up and threw them in the bowl. I know, it sounds weird, but it worked!

I haven’t been able to get Jenna’s peanut butter bread off my mind all week – and then I had the ridiculous (but awesome) idea of adding in some peanut flour. I still have a bag and some change of that stuff sitting in my pantry and seldom does a recipe seem worthy of the precious peanut flour. But this time around, I just couldn’t resist. I almost chopped up some peanuts and threw them in there as well, but I was kind of tired.

If you are a peanut butter lover like me, these are like little doughy mouthfuls of peanut butter heaven. Now we’ll see how long I can resist topping one with jelly or chocolate.

Double Peanut Butter Muffins
Adapted from Eat, Live, Run

I made the blessed bread in muffin form because for me muffins are always more conducive to portion control and they’re infinitely more portable. We have a fair amount of travel coming up and I’m envisioning freezing a few of these to grab and defrost on the go. As an added bonus, they bake faster!

3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
1/2 cup sugar
1 3/4 cups milk
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup peanut flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder

Preheat oven to 350°F and line or grease a muffin tin.

Cream together the peanut butter and sugar until well combined. In another bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Set aside.

With the mixer running on low, slowly alternate between adding the milk and the dry ingredients. Mix until smooth.

Spoon batter into muffin tin and bake for about 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes before transferring to a wire rack and cooling completely. Store in an airtight container.

Through bits and bites from my friends and family, I believe I have now tried all of their muffins, but I always order the carrot raisin nut one. It is so moist and flavorful, full of spices, fruit, and nuts. Yum! Last weekend I really wanted to recreate the muffins, and had no problem finding copycat recipes online. I decided to healthy mine up a little and it still came out wonderfully delicious. And yes, they are flat. I do not claim to be a high-altitude muffin expert, but I’m working on it.

Carrot Raisin Walnut Muffins

Makes about 12 muffins

3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of ginger
pinch of nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup canola oil
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/4 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup shredded carrot
1/2 cup golden raisins
1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or spray with cooking spray. In a medium bowl, combine flour, spices, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk eggs gently. Add oil, applesauce, sugar, and vanilla, and whisk until combined. Fold in dry ingredients, followed by carrot, raisins, and walnuts.

Fill muffin cups 2/3 full and bake for 25-30 minutes, until a tester inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool completely on a wire rack. Store leftover muffins in an airtight container for up to a week.

At any rate, oatmeal does have some good flavors going for it. I love cinnamon and nuts and dried fruit – so I put them in a muffin. With oatmeal. And guess what? It’s not mushy. And I’d venture to say that it’s healthier than a lot of oatmeal you’ve probably eaten.

These are certainly not the prettiest muffins I’ve ever made, but they are so tasty that I wanted to share the recipe anyway! If you’re wondering why the funny shapes – I used individual silicone cups (star- and flower-shaped) on a cookie sheet rather than a muffin pan. They’re extremely non-stick and I like to use them when I’m just baking for the two of us.

Oatmeal Muffins
Adapted from Simply Recipes

Makes 12 muffins

1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup finely chopped walnuts, toasted
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/3 cup chopped dates
1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted and cooled
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup plain yogurt
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 egg, lightly beaten

Preheat the oven to 400°F and grease a twelve-slot muffin tin or line the slots with paper baking cups.

Mix together the rolled oats, flour, brown sugar, salt, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, walnuts, dates, and raisins. In a separate bowl mix together the yogurt, egg, vanilla extract, butter, and applesauce.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry mixture and stir together. Be sure not to over-stir as that will cause the muffins to develop too many gluten bonds. It should be thick and gloppy. About 10 seconds of stirring should do; just enough to barely bring the ingredients together. Scoop into prepared muffin tray and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the tray for a minute or two before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

High-Altitude Notes: Bake at 425°F for 15-18 minutes.

The original version of this recipe comes from Maria, another local blogger here in Salt Lake. It looked so delicious and fulfilled my need to make something relatively simple in an afternoon whose agenda also included cleaning house, doing three loads of laundry, writing, and packing for the weekend. I also figured Ryan could use a breakfast treat, since he’s been working around the clock. And it turned out that these are in the running for the best muffins I’ve ever had. Everybody wins!

Pumpkin Streusel Muffins
Adapted from Two Peas and Their Pod

I decided to skip Maria’s brown sugar filling, partly because I had a good feeling about the muffins even without it and partly because, hi, I work in a cupcake shop surrounded by sugar all day. And guess what? Still, quite possibly, the best muffins I’ve ever had. Victory!

Makes about 18 muffins

1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 tablespoon cinnamon
1 1/2 teaspoons nutmeg
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup canola oil
1/4 cup apple cider*
1 cup canned pumpkin
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Streusel Topping:

1 1/4 cup oats
1 tablespoon flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
Dash of nutmeg
6 tablespoons cold butter, cut into chunks

Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line two muffin tins with paper liners or spray with cooking spray. Set aside.

In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Set aside.

In a large bowl, whisk together sugar, agave nectar, oil, cider, pumpkin, eggs, and vanilla extract. Whisk until smooth and combined. Slowly stir in the flour mixture. Mix until ingredients are combined.

For the streusel topping: in a small bowl mix together the oats, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Mix in the butter with your hands (or a pastry blender) until the mixture is crumbly.

Fill muffin cups about 2/3 full and sprinkle streusel on top. Bake for 17-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Remove pans from oven and cool on a wire rack.

*The original recipe calls for water here, but I figured cider would be even better. Feel free to use water if you like!

In the meantime, this is a wonderful cornbread addition to many things you’re probably eating these days, namely soups, stews, chilis, and the like. It’s that time of year, right? The days are shorter and crisper and although I’m usually decidedly anti-soup (a bowl of liquid for dinner, really?), I find myself making exceptions. Admittedly, I’m a lot more interested when things like this are involved. Plus it gives me an excuse to play with chile peppers and an open burner.

Green Chile Cornbread
Simply Recipes

One of my favorite things about this recipe is that frozen corn (which I always have on hand) works perfectly – there’s no need to mess with fresh corn if you don’t feel like it. You can also swap out canned chiles for fresh-roasted ones if you don’t share our fire-handling proclivities. And if all of that wasn’t good enough, when made in muffin form it freezes beautifully. Pop in the microwave for just a few seconds and they’re good as new.

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons cornmeal
1 cup all purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) softened unsalted butter or margarine
1/2 cup sour cream
2 eggs
1 3/4 cups milk
2 cups of chopped, roasted green chiles (Anaheim or Hatch) (2 7-ounce cans of whole green chiles, drained, chopped)
1 cup corn (frozen is fine)
1 cup shredded cheddar or Monterey Jack cheese (4 ounces)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease a 8×12 inch baking dish or two muffins pans.

In a large bowl mix the cornmeal, flour, salt, baking powder and baking soda. In a separate bowl, beat the softened butter and sugar. Beat the sour cream and eggs to the butter sugar mixture. Add the milk and the dry ingredients, a third at a time and alternating wet/dry. Mix in the green chiles, corn, and shredded cheese. Pour mixture into prepared baking dish.

Bake for 35 minutes, until top is browned, the center springs back when pressed down, and a skewer inserted into the center comes out clean (for muffins, it should only take about 20 minutes). Let cool almost completely before serving.

Makes about 12 serving pieces or 12-16 muffins.

High-Altitude Notes: Bake at 425°F.

I made these muffins one night last week when it seemed that fall had happened overnight. Do you know the sort of change I mean? Suddenly it’s dark before seven at night and venturing out early in the morning requires a fleece jacket. Naturally, I find myself making things like pumpkin cornbread.

Pumpkin Cornbread
MomAdvice

Makes 12 muffins

Please don’t let the thought of pumpkin cornbread scare you away! These are by far the most moist and delicious cornbread muffins I’ve ever had, with a hint of sweetness and spice. They’re equally good spread with peanut butter or plain alongside a bowl of roasted vegetables.

1 1/4 cups flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
2/3 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup canned pumpkin puree
3/4 cup buttermilk (I substituted with regular milk and a teaspoon of lemon juice to sour)
1/4 cup butter, melted
2 eggs, room temperature
2 tablespoons honey or agave nectar

Preheat oven to 350°F. Line a muffin tin with muffin liners and spray liners, if desired. In a bowl, toss together flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon. In another mixing bowl, mix with a wooden spoon, the pumpkin puree, buttermilk , butter, eggs and honey, until well combined. Add the pumpkin mixture to the flour mixture just until combined. Transfer to the prepared muffin tin. Bake for about 20 to 25 minutes, or until edges just begin to color. Cool to room temperature.

High-Altitude Notes: Bake at 375°F for 18 to 20 minutes.

Every year about this time, I get the itch to light cinnamon candles and bake apple everything, and these are always at the top of my list. It’s nice to know that some things never change, I guess. The fact that they’re full of whole wheat flour and apples makes them hearty enough for a pretty decent weekday breakfast. Add a hot cup of chai tea and you’re set, particularly for 2-3 religion and/or sociology classes. At least that’s what Amanda and I always thought.

Whole Wheat Apple Muffins
Slightly adapted from Smitten Kitchen

Feel free to use whatever kind of apples you’d like here. Granny Smiths are my favorite, but this time around I used whatever the CSA sent me from Farmer Jimmy (or your equivalent imaginary local farmer). As with many apple recipes, this is also a great use for those less-than-perfect apples – just cut out the bruised or bad spots and you’re good to go. Also, please don’t overbake these! They’ll dry out quickly if you do.

Makes 16 to 18 muffins

1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
1/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup agave nectar*
1/2 cup brown sugar, divided
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup plain or vanilla fat-free yogurt
2 large (or 3 small) apples, peeled, cored, and coarsely chopped

Preheat the oven to 450°F. Grease and flour 18 muffin cups and set aside.

Mix together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, and set aside. In a separate bowl, cream the butter and add the granulated sugar, agave nectar and 1/4 cup of the brown sugar. Beat until fluffy. Add the egg and mix well; stop once to scrape the sides and bottom of the bowl.Mix in the yogurt gently. Stir in the dry ingredients and fold in the apple chunks.

Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, sprinkling the remaining 1/4 cup brown sugar on top. Bake for 10 minutes, turn the heat down to 400°F, and bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool the muffins for 5 minutes in the tin, then turn them out onto a wire rack to cool completely. Keep tightly wrapped for 3 to 4 days.

*If you don’t have or can’t find agave nectar, use a total of 1/2 cup granulated sugar instead. I like to substitute agave for part of the sugar when I can, but you certainly don’t have to.

High-Altitude Notes: Reduce baking powder and soda slightly – use about 3/4 teaspoon each.