Mini muffin Sunday

After a couple of weeks of dinner and breakfast muffins, I have come to a couple of conclusions. One is that trying to go super healthy (whole wheat flour only, no sweetener) isn't really practical for breakfast muffins for B, because they get too dry and crumbly and make a mess and also are too easy to choke on. I need to moisten it up. How about a more solid, pancake-like muffin? So I found this recipe for pancake muffins. I made them tonight and they're really good. I omitted the maple syrup and added 1/4 tsp cinnamon. I also used regular milk (although you can make a buttermilk of sorts by adding 1 tsp white vinegar to 1 cup milk).

Mini Banana-Maple Pancake Muffins

1 cup (5 oz./155 g.) all-purpose flour
2 Tbs. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. kosher salt
2/3 cup (5 fl. oz./160 ml.) buttermilk
1 large egg
2 Tbs. pure maple syrup, plus more for dipping
2 Tbs. unsalted butter, melted
1 very ripe, large banana, mashed

Position a rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C). Generously grease 24 mini muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray or grease with butter.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In another bowl, stir together the buttermilk, egg, 2 tablespoons maple syrup, and the butter until just combined. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until combined. Stir in the mashed banana.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups. Bake until the muffins are puffed and golden, 10-12 minutes. Let the muffins cool slightly in the pan on a wire rack, then unmold onto the rack. Serve right away with maple syrup for dipping. Makes 2 dozen mini muffins.

I also made dinner muffins off the cuff with ingredients I had in my fridge. It only made 19 muffins so if I were to make them again I would probably add an egg and a little more cornmeal to flesh it out a bit. Bumpus ate FOUR of these (he usually only eats 2-3, so they were definitely a hit!). Here's what I improvised:

1 cup chopped cooked broccoli
1/4 cup shred cheese
1 egg
1/2 cup flour
1/4 cup corn meal
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup milk
Dash garlic salt

Combine dry ingredients in one bowl and wet in another, then mix together and fold in broccoli. Bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes.

I also have taken to making myself a big pan of baked apples every week, and they're so great - sweet and delicious and guilt-free. I just core seven Granny Smith apples, fill the holes with a sprinkling of cinnamon and a little almond or peanut butter, then bake at 350 for about 45 minutes-1 hour. Dessert for the week! Bumpus likes them, too!