Monday, September 22, 2008

Muffin Mix

{pumpkin chocolate chip muffins}

Here is a recipe for muffins I make a lot. I created it from a simple banana bread recipe and made it a little healthier by adding some whole wheat flour, substituting some of the oil with applesauce, and reducing the sugar. It makes two dozen banana or pumpkin muffins. We eat some when they are freshly baked and then store the rest in the freezer.


Muffin Mix

To save a little time and a few dishes, measure the dry ingredients and store in reusable containers. For each mix, you'll need:

1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Banana Muffins

4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup applesauce
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups mashed overripe bananas
1 cup chopped walnuts (or other nuts, raisins, or chocolate chips, optional)
1 muffin mix

Mix the eggs, sugar, oil, applesauce, and vanilla until smooth. Add the bananas and mix well again. Mix in the muffin mix just until blended, being careful not to over mix. Fold in the walnuts (if using) with a spatula. Line 24 muffin cups with paper liners and use a 1/4 cup scoop to fill each liner.

Bake at 350 F. for 15-18 minutes.

When cool, freeze muffins in the muffin tins and then repackage into freezer containers when frozen solid. Store up to one month (ours never last that long). Warm individual muffins in the microwave for 30-40 seconds on high.

Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins

Substitute a 15 oz. can of pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling) for the bananas and add two teaspoons of cinnamon to the dry ingredients. Fold in 1/2 cup mini semi-sweet chocolate chips instead of the walnuts.

Tips
  • If you like sweeter muffins, use up to 1 1/2 cups of sugar.
  • The snack-size applesauce cups are usually 1/2 cup so those are a good deal if you won't eat the rest of the can of applesauce.
  • I like using the mini chocolate chips in muffins because they give a lot of chocolate flavor without actually using a ton of chocolate chips.
  • If you have overripe bananas and you're not ready to make muffins you can mash and freeze them. Just add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice per cup of mashed bananas to prevent discoloration and freeze them up to 3 months. You can also freeze bananas whole and the skins will go black but they will still be usable.
  • You could use the recipe above and experiment with other flavors, you would just need to substitute something for the banana or pumpkin that has about the same consistency.

22 comments:

Hannah said...

Yum!! I am going to try this! Thanks!

genuinelygreen said...

Thanks for this! I have been baking quite a bit (and way too much!). I can't resist it during the autumn months.

Anonymous said...

These look delicious
I love the simple but very practical idea of pre preparing all the dry ingredients!!
Thanks for posting..
xo

Lori said...

These look so so so good! I'm going to be hungry for Pumpkin Chocolate Chip muffins all day now.

Tracy said...

Thanks for sharing this. I love the idea of making up the dry ingredients in advance and I am so ready to try the pumpkin choc chip variety!

Lorie said...

I am going to have to post on my blog about this because those look SO YUMMY!!

Sara Christine said...

Oh wow - awesome recipes! I have been getting the itch to bake lately (I think it's a Fall thing), so I can't wait to try these out. :)

niartist said...

Hi! I posted to an older post you had (July 2007) about the armoire that your husband made for you. I absolutely love the finish and would just be so happy if you wouldn't mind sharing colors and finish techniques for the piece. It's gorgeous! Absolutely the most incredible finish for this 3part bookshelf that I am building. I could paint the inside a solid color, but the outside would look amazing if I could emulate what you and he have done. Great work on your blog too by the way. Love it's flow, and the posts are wonderful. Hope to hear from you soon!

jess said...

niartist...I responded to the other post!

Jennie said...

Genius!!! why have I not thought of putting all the dry ingredients together? muffins look yummy, I am about to jump on the band wagon of using more whole grains in my baking and less oil, so this is a great start.

Nicole Lilyquist said...

I will be trying these, yum!

Anonymous said...

i just made the pumpkin version + 2 extra batches of the dry ingredients. Yum!! I think I may add a tad more sugar next time to mine so the kids have no reason to resist. I just gave 4 to the neighbor and she was smiling!

jess said...

Tracy...so glad you liked them. I'll be the first to admit these aren't super sweet so definitely add more sugar if you want to!

Anonymous said...

Just made the chocolate chip pumpkin muffins and they are absolute perfection! Thank you!

Rachelle S said...

I just found your blog today, from your breadcrumb picture on google. I love your jewelry photos!

I'm going to have to try your recipe for these muffins, they sound wonderful!

Unknown said...

That's a great idea for keeping extra mix on hand. I'm going to give it a shot-- I think it must make you feel really organized. Just found your pretty blog. I live in Utah too!
Have a relaxing Sunday.

Unknown said...

This recipe is similar to mine but I like the way you use whole wheat flour and applesauce, I'll be trying it too! Thanks for sharing!

Stephanie said...

I made your pumpkin muffins, but I only had one egg so I used extra apple sauce and kept in some banana. No chocolate, my mother in law won't eat anything with chocolate and she gets sad when I use it. (I've never understood why anyone should dislike chocolate!) They are delicious! Thank you for the recipe!! I made some muffin mix to save for blueberry muffins, which my mother in law requested. :)

Rae said...

Just made the pumpkin muffins with out the chocolate chips! They are soooo tasty! I cant wait to try the banana chocolate chip muffins next! Thanks for this great recipe.

Candice said...

I made the pumpkin chocolate chip muffins today. The women (and kids) in my playgroup loved them! Thanks for the great recipe!!

jess said...

Thanks, everyone! I'm glad the people who have tried the recipe are having success with it...it really is one of my favorites and I love having frozen muffins on hand.

Dazy said...

These muffins are awfully mouth-watering! And would keep me busy in the kitchen, again. My friends are going to visit our place next week. I think this would be just perfect for them.