Veggie-Packed Muffin Recipes (and they're delicious!)

As I've said before, it always tickles me when people want my "recipes." If you could see what I use to cook, you'd quickly realize that there is absolutely no magic going on in my kitchen. Oh wait! You can see! Hold on.

See? Here you go. My magic tricks revealed. One sure-fire way to keep your food simple is to not use any recipes that cannot fit on a teeny tiny post-it and then taped to the inside of an altogether different cookbook that you rarely use.

But, I have become a bit of a muffin connoisseur over the past few months as I have discovered that my baby will eat just about anything as long as it comes in the form of a muffin. I'm not a huge fan of him eating so much flour, but I also hate throwing away food and picking it up from the floor all day so hey. Bring on the muffins.

I am a very lazy cook prone to just throwing everything in a bowl and mixing it up, but there are a few personal policies I like to follow: 1) Mix the dry and wet ingredients separately. I don't always do this but they come out better when I do. 2) Don't over-stir. Your muffins will be too dense and not fluffy. And 3) I bake everything for 20 minutes at 350 no matter what the recipe says. Seriously y'all. I am not a chef.

But here are the muffins I made this week. So far they are pretty popular! 

Zucchini Muffins
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp cinnamon
1 egg
1 egg white
1/2 cup oil
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup grated zucchini (about 1 medium)

Mix the dry and wet ingredients in separate bowls, except the zucchini. Combine the two bowls, stir in the zucchini. Pour into muffin tins and bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted and comes out clean.

Another variation of this is to take out the cinnamon, sugar, and vanilla and stir in shredded cheddar cheese, pepper, and cajun seasoning. Less sweet, more kicky.

Pizza Muffins
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 tsp salt
1 package dry active yeast (the quick rise kind)
1 cup hot water (110-120 degrees)
1 tbsp olive oil
tomato sauce
spinach
onion
Boar's Head pepperoni
mozzarella cheese
italian seasoning, garlic, that kind of thing

Combine the flour, salt, and yeast in a big bowl. Add the hot water. Stir by hand until it is all combined and let it rise in a warm oven for about 2 hours. Come back, punch it down, roll it around a little in your Italian seasoning and garlic and olive oil, and then break the dough into little balls. These balls are going to be your muffins. Spray a muffin pan and press each ball into the pan making a little bowl in the middle for your toppings. Chop the onion, spinach, and a few pieces of pepperoni until it is very fine. Mix it in with the tomato sauce, and spoon the mixture into the little dough bowl. Top with mozzarella cheese and bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until they are bubbly. These are great for school lunches!

Carrot Apple Muffins
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup old-fashioned oats
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup anise seeds (optional, leave this out if you don't like licorice)
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup lowfat milk
1/2 cup grated carrots
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup oil
1 egg
1/2 cup raisins

Mix the dry and wet ingredients in separate bowls. Combine the two bowls and mix just until blended. Pour into muffin tins and bake at 350 for 20 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted and comes out clean.

Banana Cauliflower Muffins
This recipe is adapted from the Banana Bread recipe in Deceptively Delicious.

3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup oil
2 large egg whites
3/4 cup mashed banana
3/4 cup pureed cauliflower
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup chopped walnuts if your kid is not allergic

Mix the dry and wet ingredients in separate bowls. Combine the two bowls and mix just until blended. Pour into muffin tins and bake at ...you guessed it...350 for 20 minutes or until a toothpick is inserted and comes out clean.

When I look for muffin recipes, I always follow the same scientific procedure: I Google "_____ muffin recipe" with the name of the food I want to make muffins with filling in the blank. Sometimes I type, "healthy ____ muffin recipe" if the search results pop up with too many pictures of Paula Deen. But really, any muffin recipe can be healthified by reducing the sugar and using half whole wheat flour. Using all whole wheat is admirable, but I think a half and half mix makes better muffins.

I'm not a great chef and you don't have to be either. Tinker with these recipes, try a few variations, and let me know what you come up with. Get out there out there and get healthy, even if your kid will only eat muffins.