The other morning I just couldn't bring myself to make pancakes or waffles for breakfast, even amid the pleas of my little ones. So, I began to scour the pantry for anything other than the typical speed method breakfast, such as cold cereal, which pretty much amounts to sugar high/sugar crash "cereal". My kiddos love muffins, but I don't often make them because yes, I do tend to believe they are basically a cupcake without the frosting.
While thrashing about, I came across a box of Hodgson Mill Multi Grain with Quinoa & Flax Hot Cereal. That's a really, really long name. Just sayin'. I had picked it up recently because I have YET to find a Quinoa anything that I like. I know, I should attempt to grow up at some point. Anyway, my first thought was, 'I'm going to waste my time making this for the kiddos'. Though they love oatmeal they are pretty picky about any other kind of hot cereal. But then I turned the box around and saw a recipe! I'm kind of a sucker for a new recipe. I knew it wouldn't be "fast" but it looked like it was going to pack a pretty good nutritious punch, so I may my choice! Muffins for breakfast, no frosting.
FIBER RICH MUFFINS
(yield 12 muffins)
1 cup Hodgson Mill Multi Grain Hot Cereal
1 cup Hodgson Mill White Flour, Unbleached (I think you could substitue whole wheat flour)
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup sugar (I'm going to try Agave Nector next time)
1 cup carrots, shredded
1 cup apples, peeled & chopped
1/2 cup skim milk
2 eggs (or 4 egg whites)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup pecans, chopped (I omitted this one)
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liner or grease muffin cups. Blend together dry ingredients. Add remaining ingredients and mix until blended. Batter will be thick; spoon into muffin cups. Bake 20-22 minutes or until golden brown.
I decided to plug all the ingredients into the recipe creator portion of the MyFitnessPal app and this is what it said:
Though the muffin technically has more calories, let's take a closer look at the nutrition levels. Look at the difference between the vanilla cupcake sodium (140 mg) vs the muffin (31.3 mg) and the potassium of the cupcake (10 mg) vs the muffin (53.4 mg). Let me be clear. I'm not claiming that this muffin should now be considered a superfood, but hey, if you're trying to decide between processed pancake mix, sugar cereal or this muffin recipe...I'd go ahead and choose the muffin. PLUS, the kids LOVED them and I have to admit that I have found a recipe that I can handle the texture of the quinoa in. Baby steps, right?
Have you tried this recipe? Did you like it? Do you have any suggestions other healthy non-cupcake like muffins?
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