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.