Fruit and Veggie Muffins

On my mission to add more vegetables to Evan’s breakfasts (and ours too), I went looking for muffin recipes that I could add veggies to. I came across this recipe on allrecipes.com. It has great reviews and sounded like something Evan would like. I particularly appreciated that many reviewers said they were moist. I have been making a lot of muffins lately and most of them have been pretty dry. I really enjoy a moist muffin, so I decided to give these a shot. I didn’t have several of the ingredients needed and didn’t want to make a run to the store, so I improvised.

One thing I don’t like about a lot of recipes is that they don’t list the prep work in the step by step instructions. I prefer them to be there because then I don’t underestimate how long it will take me to make the recipe. Yes, I could just go through each ingredient and think about what prep I will have to do for that item, but I never do and then I’m surprised when I have to shred the carrots or beat the eggs. Ha ha. 🙂

Here is my version of the recipe:

  • 1/4 cup butter, softened
  • 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • 2 large bananas, mashed
  • 1 jar/pouch (around 4 oz.) pureed baby food squash (or pumpkin)
  • 1/2 cup grated carrots
  • 2 eggs, beaten
  • 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 cup old fashioned oats
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1.5 teaspoons cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

 

1. Grate your baby (or regular) carrots until you have a 1/2 cup. Beat the eggs. Then soften your butter.

2. Preheat an oven to 375 degrees F.

3. In a mixing bowl, cream together the butter and brown sugar until smooth. Mix in the applesauce, mashed bananas, squash, carrots, and eggs. Pour in the flour, oat meal, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt and then stir. Don’t stir too much. Just mix until the ingredients are combined. Spoon batter into muffin cups, evenly. I like to use a cookie dough scoop. I use about 2 scoops per muffin.

4. Bake in the preheated oven for about 15-20 minutes.  A toothpick inserted into the center should come out clean. Cool in the pan before removing and then you can place on a wire rack to finish cooling.

According to the original recipe, this can be stored at room temp for 2 days. These also freeze very well. Just cool them completely and place in a freezer bag. I usually double bag. They last at least several weeks in the freezer.  To reheat, put frozen muffins in a toaster oven(or regular oven) at 350 degrees F for approximately 15-20 minutes.