Healthier Homemade Muffins

Trying to eat more healthy in the new year is a common resolution. I’ve also added eating healthy as one of the things I’d like to keeping moving toward this year too. I’ve been on a slow journey for many months now, trying to incorporate more plant-based main dishes into our meals, as well as trying to make over some of my recipes to include more whole grains and natural sweeteners.

I decided the new year was a good time to go through my recipe box and start reorganizing it to include some of the new recipes I’ve been making that reflect this way of thinking, as well as eliminating some of the things I don’t make anymore.  BUT, in the course of sorting through old recipes, I came across a muffin recipe from many years back that I had forgotten about that I jotted down as “Banana Honey Muffins – No Sugar”, and it was definitely a recipe worth taking a look at again!

Now this recipe was a pretty good start as it already had a healthier vibe to it, and with a few more tweaks I was able to eliminate a couple other things too. I now have a recipe that I’m calling my Healthier Homemade Muffins as I still like to have this kind of an option around for mid-morning snacks and evening snacks.

Here are some of the tweaks I made, and these are ideas that could work to make over other recipes too.  Let’s take a look:

#1  Whole Wheat Pastry Flour/White Whole Wheat Flour
Update: The flour in the photo above has been discontinued by Bob’s Red Mill. I now use the King Arthur white whole wheat flour, currently sold as Golden Wheat Flour. It’s still a whole wheat flour but it’s made from white spring wheat rather than red wheat making it a nice whole grain option for baking.

#2 Applesauce
This recipe already included applesauce as an ingredient, and I have been successfully substituting applesauce for oil in some of my quick bread recipes too with good results. I can’t always use up a whole jar of applesauce fast enough so I’ve taken to buying the smaller size snack containers. The ½ cup of applesauce needed for this recipe is equal to one of these 4 oz snack containers. Easy!

#3 Flax Seed Egg Replacement
This is another strategy I’ve been using more and more in baked goods to replace eggs and I’ve been so happy that I can easily find milled flax seed at my local Aldi. To use this method you combine some flax seed with water and let it set for a few minutes to combine and get a little thicker. You can read my complete blog post on this method here: How to make a flax egg substitute

#4 Honey
And finally, this recipe already used honey in place of white sugar so I didn’t have to do that calculation. Honey is a less processed sweetener and therefore a better option.

Now these muffins might not be the most glamorous muffins out there, but the flavor is yummy and the add-ins of golden raisins and chopped walnuts add a little extra goodness that I really like too. And I like that this recipe makes an even dozen muffins, just the right amount!

If you’ve been looking for a few healthier recipes to start off the new year, this recipe is a good one to try as the replacement ingredients in this recipe are pretty easy to do and you’re still able to have a recipe for a bit of a sweet treat with your morning coffee. It’s a nice way to make your own muffins but just a bit healthier!