Whole-Grain Fruit and Veggie Muffins

These muffins are by far our family's FAVORITE snack...hands down! We have made these beauties a hundred times, and we never get tired of them. They have a ton of flavor, and our kids love them.  They are packed with yummy fruit, fiber and veggies, and are the perfect snack or breakfast treat. They can be eaten alone, or spread some low-fat cream cheese, peanut butter, almond butter or honey on them. 

They are a little bit of work, because of all the ingredients and chopping you have to do, but it IS WORTH IT!! Plus, they make a double batch, so why not freeze half of them? Place the muffins on a baking pan, stick them in the freezer until frozen through, and then place them in a large freezer-ziploc bag. Just reheat in the microwave or defrost in the fridge overnight. Each muffin is only 114 calories...need I say more? Just make them already! :)

*This recipe has been adapted from a Cooking Light recipe. You can see the original here.

 

Muffin Recipe

Printable Recipe  

Yield: 24 muffins--give or take a few 

 

  1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 3/4 cup oat bran (I just put old-fashioned oats in a food processor and blend them until they are a powder)
1/2 cup agave syrup
1/3 cup nonfat dry milk powder
  1/4 cup flax seed meal
4 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
2 cups carrot, shredded (about 2 large carrots)
2 cups Granny Smith apple, chopped (about 2 large apples)
1 cup dried cranberries 
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
1 cup soy milk
1/4 cup olive oil, light in flavor
2 tsp vanilla extract
3 large egg whites
1 thin-skinned orange, unpeeled and quartered

1. Preheat oven to 375* Fahrenheit. Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups, level with knife. Combine flours and next 8 ingredients in a large bowl. Whisk well. Stir in carrot, apple, and cranberries or raisins. Make a well in center of flour mixture

2. In a blender, place milk, oil, vanilla, egg whites and orange. Process until smooth. Add milk mixture to flour mixture, stir just until moist.

3. Spray muffin pan with cooking spray. Use a 1/4 cup to pour batter into muffin tin.
4. Bake at 375* for 20 minutes or until muffins are browned. Remove muffins from pans immediately. Place on a wire rack.

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Who likes to change it up? 

 ~Try wheat germ/bran instead of oat bran.
~Add chopped pecans, almonds or hazelnuts to batter.
~Instead of dried cranberries try mini chocolate chips or raisins. 
~Use a different sweetener like brown sugar, maple syrup or honey.
~Shred up some zucchini instead of carrot, just make sure to squeeze out any excess water out before adding it to them mixture.  
~Feel free to use regular cow's milk instead of soy, or use a funky milk like almond, coconut, or hemp.