Mommy Sabotage

I've learned a few things in my years of torturing...I mean making our baked goods more healthful.

1. Don't mess with substituting dry for wet ingredients. ie sugar for honey. 

2. Find a food blogger you love and just work from his/her recipes. My go to is Cookie and Kate. 

3. Buy a kitchen scale. 

4. Have the best neighbor ever who gives you tips and random ingredients for inspiration.

Throw-back to Val's cookie sandwich bar for my birthday.

Rrecently I've been making versions of these muffins from Cookie and Kate about every other week. The original recipe calls for a cup of mashed bananas. I have found that a cup of apple sauce, pureed carrots, pureed beets, and even a mix of nut butters and half nibbled toddler banana remnants yield excellent results. At the risk of jinxing it, these muffins are foolproof...even for me. 

One Cup of Whatever You Need to Use-up Muffins

• Author: Cookie and Kate
• Prep Time: 10 mins
• Cook Time: 30 mins
• Total Time: 40 minutes
• Yield: 11 muffins 1x
• Category: Baked goods
• Method: By hand
• Cuisine: American

Ingredients

• 76 grams of melted butter
• ½ cup maple syrup or honey or even sweetened jam you need to use up
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup of whatever puree you need to use up
• ¼ cup milk of choice or water
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon. I usually through in some cardamon, ginger, and nutmeg.
• 150 grams flour 
• 60 grams of protein powder, almond meal, or cacao to make them chocolate muffins 
• 35 grams of oatmeal (I skip this when I don't want them to "feel" healthy ie chocolate muffins)
• mix-ins of nuts and/or chocolate chips
• 1 teaspoon turbinado (raw) sugar or other granulated sugar or nuts or more chocolate chips for on top

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit (165 degrees Celsius). If necessary, grease all 12 cups of your muffin tin with butter or non-stick cooking spray. (In my case this means stealing Carmen's stackies when she isn't looking.)
2. In a large bowl, beat the melted butter and maple syrup together with a whisk. Add the eggs and beat well. Mix in the mashed fruit and milk, followed by the baking soda, vanilla extract, salt and cinnamon.
3. Add the flour and oats to the bowl and mix with a large spoon, just until combined. If you’d like to add any additional mix-ins**, like nuts, chocolate or dried fruit, fold them in now.
4. Divide the batter evenly between the muffin cups, filling each cup about two-thirds full. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with a small amount of oats (about 1 tablespoon in total), followed by a light sprinkling of sugar (about 1 teaspoon in total). Bake muffins for 22 to 30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into a muffin comes out clean.
5. Place the muffin tin on a cooling rack to cool. You might need to run a butter knife along the outer edge of the muffins to loosen them from the pan. These muffins will keep at room temperature for up to 2 days, or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. They keep well in the freezer in a freezer-safe bag for up to 3 months (just defrost individual muffins as needed).

Taste testers are standing by.