Healthy Muffin/sweet Bread Recipes

Your question made me think of a muffin recipe I found a while ago that I used to make all the time---Peanut Butter and Banana Muffins. I chose to put carrot puree in them, and they are also made with whole wheat flour, so they're pretty nutritious, and they truly taste so so good.

1 cup firmly packed brown sugar 1 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup peanut butter 1 tsp baking soda
1/2 cup carrot puree 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup banana puree
1 large egg white
1 cup whole wheat flour

preheat to 350......coat muffin tin with spray or use paper cups.....in lg mixing bowl, mix brown sugar, peanut butter, carrot and banana, and egg white. put dry ingredients in big plastic bag and shake to mix, then add that to the p.b. mixture and stir. bake them for 15 to 20 minutes.

Makes me wanna go make 'em right now!

From AllRecipes.com website, I just made these yesterday for the first time and they were really very good. I didn't have Oat Flour, so I just just Quick Oats and I exchanged 1/2 C of the all-puropse flour with 1/2 C milled flax seed.

Zucchini Yogurt Multigrain Muffins

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup oat flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
2 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
3 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup plain yogurt
1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup honey
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 cup shredded zucchini
1 cup shredded carrots
1/2 cup chopped pecans (optional)
1/2 cup raisins (optional)

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Lightly grease 24 muffin cups.
In a bowl, sift together the all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, oat flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In a separate bowl, beat together eggs, vegetable oil, applesauce, yogurt, sugar, honey, and vanilla. Mix the flour mixture into the egg mixture. Fold in the zucchini, carrots, pecans, and raisins. Scoop into the prepared muffin cups.
Bake 18 to 20 minutes in the preheated oven, until a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes before transferring to wire racks to cool completely.

I enhance recipes I like by substituting whole wheat flour for maybe 1/4 of the regular flour required. You could do the same with about 1/4 cup of the wheat germ too. I've added a pureed raw zuchinni (applesauce consistency, can also grate) to a devil's food cake which made it very moist (I later read that you can substitute zuch for the fat in a recipe) and I also added about 1/2 cup of pureed steamed broccoli (would probably have to be chocolate muffins to mask the flavor.

Happy baking -- can't wait to read other recipe responses.

http://www.deceptivelydelicious.com/site/

THis is a great book that incorporates healthy veggie/fruit purees.

Have you tried Irish oatmeal? It has more sturdy texture and more nutrition than quick-oatmeal. You can pay up for "Irish Oatmeal" in the grocery store, or, you can buy steel-cut oats (the same thing) in bulk or bags. Takes about 20 minutes to cook. You can vary it by adding: honey, chopped dates, bananas or other sweet fruit, vanilla, cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, soy milk, maple syrup, coconut butter, ghee (clarified butter)....well, you get the picture. This is very filling, nutritious and slow-digesting. Oats are also a demulcent, meaning that they soothe the digestive tract. If you want more crunch, how about home-made granola, i.e., without cane sugar.
C.

Jessica Seinfeld's book, Deceptively Delicious, is filled with all kinds of recipes like this. I recommend grabbing it from your local library or bookstore and checking it out.