A few months ago, I found a recipe for “morning glory muffins” in Cooking Light (July 2007). Packed with fruit, fiber, and healthy goodness, these hearty muffins are fantastic fuel for an early morning workout or an action-packed day.

I started making them weekly but soon grew tired of the same breakfast day after day. Even when I halved the recipe it was just too much of the same old thing. So we broke up.

Okay, okay, “broke up” is a harsh term. We took a break.

Last night I decided to rekindle our relationship, but I added a new twist to spice it up. I split the basic batter in half and made two different flavors: dried cherry and blueberry. Ah, variety. It’s a beautiful thing.

Tip: To avoid getting bored of your food, make the basic part of the recipe, split it in halves or thirds, then add the flavor ingredients, like fruits, veggies, and spices. When baking, make the basic batter then add the fruit, nuts, and/or spices. I often use this trick with chicken salad. I boil the chicken breasts, cut them into bite-sized pieces, then separate the chicken into two bowls before I add the dressing and any other ingredients. I’ll make a classic version and an Asian version.

Recipe: Morning Glory Muffins (adapted from Cooking Light, July 2007)
Makes four mega muffins or about eight regular muffins

1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup ground flax seed
1/2 cup regular oats
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 Tbsp wheat bran or wheat germ
1 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp salt
1/2 cup plain fat-free yogurt
1 cup mashed ripe banana or applesauce
1 egg
1 Tbsp honey
1/2 cup chopped pitted dates
1/3 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup dried cherries, cranberries, apricots, or other dried fruit
1/4 cup blueberries (fresh or frozen)
Sugar and ground cinnamon for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Either line muffin cups with liners or spray with cooking spray.

In a large mixing bowl, combine flours, flax seed, oats, brown sugar, wheat bran or germ, baking soda, and salt with a whisk. In a small mixing bowl, stir together yogurt, banana or applesauce, egg, and honey. Add to flour mixture, stirring just until moist. Fold in dates and walnuts.

Pour half of batter back into the small mixing bowl. Add dried fruit to one bowl and blueberries to the other, folding in until combined. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle each with sugar and sprinkle blueberry muffins with cinnamon, too.

If making mega muffins, bake at 350 degrees for 30 to 35 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in the center. If making regular-sized muffins, bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove muffins from pan immediately, and cool on a wire rack.

You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.