Applesauce Spice Muffins (Dairy-Free)

I put this recipe together this morning so that my visiting 20-month-old nephews, who are allergic to milk products, could have some. In addition to moisture and flavor, the applesauce adds sweetness, so that very little additional sugar is needed. I used some of the applesauce that I made and canned a few months ago from Clarkdale apples. If you like, you can substitute 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour for the all purpose and regular whole wheat.

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 Tbsp baking powder
1 egg, beaten
1/4 cup canola oil
1 1/4 cups applesauce

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and grease tins for 12 larger or 18 medium-sized muffins.

Combine the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and baking powder in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, combine the egg, oil, and applesauce. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until thoroughly combined. Spoon the batter into muffin tins, then bake for about 20 minutes, until the tops are golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Makes 12-18 muffins.

Maple Pumpkin Muffins

With this recipe, there will be no more winter squash or pumpkin until the fall - this marks the end of my supply. The maple and pumpkin flavors play well together here with neither dominating.

1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
1 Tbsp baking powder
Pinch of cinnamon (optional)
1 egg, beaten
3 Tbsp canola oil
1 cup pureed cooked pumpkin or winter squash
1/4 cup milk
1/4 cup maple syrup (preferably grade B)

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease tins for 12 standard or 18 smallish muffins.

Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, and cinnamon (if using) in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, combine the egg, oil, pumpkin or squash, milk, and maple syrup. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix well.

Spoon the batter into the muffin tins, filling each one about 2/3 full. Bake for 20-25 minutes, until muffins are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Makes 12-18 muffins.

Pumpkin (or Squash) Corn Muffins

I am down to one last package of pureed winter squash/pumpkin in the freezer, which is good because the warmer the weather gets the less desire I have to eat winter vegetables. My tolerance for them does extend a bit longer in desserts and baked goods, though. And these muffins were delicious! As written, the recipe is not too sweet; if you like sweeter muffins, just add more sugar, honey, or maple syrup.

1 1/4 cups cornmeal (preferably stone ground)
3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
3 Tbsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup pureed cooked pumpkin or winter squash
1/3 cup milk
2 Tbsp canola oil

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Grease tins for 12 large of 18 medium-sized muffins.

Whisk together the cornmeal, whole wheat pastry flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt in a large bowl.

In a small bowl, combine the eggs, squash, milk, and oil. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients.

Spoon the batter into muffin tins, filling them about two-thirds full.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until muffins are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of a few muffins comes out clean.

Makes 12-18 muffins.

Maple Cinnamon Rice Muffins

Rice is never going to be local in Western Massachusetts, but it's one of those items I'm not ready to give up (and probably won't ever be). But most of the other ingredients in these muffins can be local - from the whole wheat pastry flour to the milk, eggs, and maple syrup. This is a nice way to use up leftover rice, and these muffins work well both in the morning and with lunch or dinner--serve them in the same types of contexts in which you would serve cornbread.

1 cup cold cooked rice (white or brown)
1 cup milk
2 large eggs, beaten
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional but nice)
1/4 cup maple syrup (preferably grade B)
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cinnamon

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and grease tins for 18 medium or 12 large muffins.

Combine the rice and milk in a medium bowl and let sit for 5 minutes. Add the eggs, oil, vanilla extract, and maple syrup and mix well.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon. Stir the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.

Spoon the batter into muffin tins. Bake for 20-22 minutes, until the muffins are golden and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Makes 12 large or 18 medium muffins.

Pear Ginger Muffins

You can use either fresh or dried pears here (or frozen, I suppose, if you have some - though I haven't tried that). They are lovely with ginger, and the whole wheat keeps these in the realm of muffins rather than cake. Soft white winter wheat, which makes whole wheat pastry flour, is available from Four Star Farms - I bought some at Winter Fare, but Green Fields Market also carries it in the bulk section. Upinngil Farm also sells both hard and soft wheat. You can use regular whole wheat flour here, too, but I prefer the texture of the whole wheat pastry flour.

2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp allspice
1 tsp ground ginger
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup canola oil
1 1/2 cups milk
1 medium pear, peeled, cored, and chopped (or 1/2 cup chopped dried pear)
1/4 cup minced crystallized ginger (optional)

Preheat the over to 400˚. Grease muffin tins to make 12 large muffins or 18 medium-sized ones.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, nutmeg, allspice, and ginger.

In a large bowl, combine the egg, vanilla, brown sugar, oil, and milk, and stir until the brown sugar is largely dissolved.

Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, stirring just enough to combine and get rid of most of the lumps. Fold in the pear pieces. If desired, fold in the crystallized ginger with the pear, or save it to sprinkle on top after filling the muffin cups.

Spoon the batter into the muffin tins.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean.

Makes 12 large or 18 medium-sized muffins.

Lemon Blueberry Yogurt Muffins

And while I'm on the subject of blueberry muffins...this is another favorite recipe. Again, you can use fresh or frozen berries, but frozen actually work a bit better.

1 cup white flour
1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup white sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
2 Tbsp lemon juice
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup plain yogurt
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

Preheat the oven to 400°. Grease muffin tins to make 12 muffins.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the white flour, whole wheat pastry flour, sugar, poppy seeds, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Add the lemon juice, vegetable oil, and yogurt to the dry ingredients and combine thoroughly. Stir in the blueberries. Do not overmix. The batter will be fairly thick and slightly spongy.

Spoon the batter into the muffin tins. You can fill them fairly full.

Bake for about 14 minutes, until the muffins turn golden on top and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Makes 12 muffins.

Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

Blueberry season will be ending before long, but if you're like me, you have stockpiled berries in the freezer to use through the long winter. I find that frozen berries actually often work better than fresh in muffins and other baked goods, which is a happy coincidence since summer is not prime baking season. I love the blueberry cinnamon combination in these muffins, which also give you a good dose of whole grains. If you have fresh buttermilk available, you can use it in place of some or all of the milk.

1 generous cup rolled oats
1 generous cup milk
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
2 large eggs, well-beaten
1 tsp vanilla (optional)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
3 Tbsp brown sugar
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 Tbsp baking powder
2 Tbsp powdered buttermilk (optional)
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 400˚. Grease muffins tins to make 12 large or 18 medium muffins.

Mix the rolled oats and milk together in a large mixing bowl. Let stand for 5-10 minutes.

Stir the eggs, vanilla (if using), vegetable oil, and brown sugar into the oatmeal and milk mixture.

In another bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, powdered buttermilk (if using), cinnamon, and salt. Add to the oatmeal mixture and mix until well blended. If using fresh or frozen blueberries, stir them into the batter.

Spoon the batter into muffin tins, filling them about three-quarters of the way. Bake for about 20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the muffins comes out clean.

Makes about 12 large or 18 medium muffins.

Whole Wheat Apple Spice Muffins

Crabapple Farm is experimenting with growing wheat and a few other grains (oats and barley, I think). We bought some of their wheat berries at the farmers market a couple weeks back. This weekend I ground some into flour (okay, I'm a food nerd and have a flour mill) and made these muffins with apples from Clarkdale, milk from Mapleline, and Diemand Farm eggs. Despite using all whole wheat flour, these muffins are not at all heavy. With the freshly milled flour, they had a pleasantly crumbly texture.

2 cups whole wheat flour
2 tsp baking powder
½ tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp nutmeg
½ tsp allspice
½ tsp ground ginger
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp vanilla extract (optional)
¼ cup brown sugar
½ cup canola oil
1 ½ cups milk
1 medium apple, peeled, cored, and chopped

Preheat the over to 400˚. Grease muffin tins to make 12 large muffins or 18 medium-sized ones.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and ginger.

In a large bowl, combine the egg, vanilla, brown sugar, oil, and milk, and stir until the brown sugar is largely dissolved.

Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, stirring just enough to combine and get rid of most of the lumps. Fold in the apple pieces.

Spoon the batter into the muffin tins.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the middle of a muffin comes out clean.

Makes 12 large or 18 medium-sized muffins.