The links below may be affiliate links, meaning I earn a small compensation at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure policy here. 

Last month I was looking for a master muffin recipe to use in my Baking Basics class at our co-op. I had plans to develop one based on the countless muffins I’ve baked over the years, but did not have time to put it together before class.

Instead, I grabbed a master muffin recipe from a popular, trustworthy baking site and grabbed all the ingredients we would need to bake. The muffins were delicious, it’s true. But they were much more like cupcakes than the muffins I usually bake. They were loaded with butter and sugar, where my preference is to sweeten with natural sweeteners as much as possible, and often to use healthy subs and ingredients like applesauce, yogurt, etc.

I promised my class I would add to their recipe notebooks with another muffin option the following week. (You know, in case a group of kids wanted a less-cupcake-like version).

We eat muffins regularly for breakfast, lunch, and snacks because they’re so portable, easy, and the variations are endless. This master muffin recipe makes it even easier to play around with different flavor combinations and allows you to use the ingredients you have on hand.

Naturally Sweetened Master Muffin Recipe

The base of this recipe is a mix of flour and old-fashioned oats. You could also substitute a 1:1 gluten-free flour to make the muffins gluten-free.

After the dry base of the muffin mix, you have a few different options. Each option will yield a slightly different taste to your muffins, so have fun and try several variations. 

For the “fat”, you can use butter, coconut oil, applesauce, or Greek yogurt. Pick honey or maple syrup as a liquid natural sweetener. Keep the vanilla extract for a traditional flavor, or substitute another extract like almond, lemon, orange, etc.

Once your batter is mixed together, you can gently stir in your additions. I provide several ideas in the recipe like nuts, seeds, dried fruit, chocolate, and more. You can even divide the batter at this point and make a few different combinations in one pan! 

A personal favorite muffin combination of mine is orange, sliced almonds, and almond extract. So good.

I also highly recommend parchment muffin liners for the easiest clean up ever. I try to always have them on hand, and miss them whenever I’m out and have to wash my muffin pans out.

More Like This :: 

• 50+ Lunch Tray Ideas
• 12 Easy Homemade Bread Recipes
• From Scratch Breakfast Biscuits

Naturally Sweetened Master Muffin Recipe

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 5 from 1 review

• Author: Lisa @ This Pilgrim Life
• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 18 minutes
• Total Time: 28 minutes
• Yield: 12 muffins

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Description

A naturally sweetened muffin recipe with endless options! Use this one recipe to make all kinds of muffins, with easy, healthy ingredients. Choose from butter, coconut oil, or applesauce for your “fat”, then sweeten the muffins with honey or maple syrup. Finish with any combination of add-ins you’re in the mood for!

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Ingredients

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 2 eggs
• 1/4 cup unsalted butter/coconut oil/applesauce/Greek yogurt (pick one)
• 1/3 cup honey or maple syrup
• 1 cup milk or whey
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract*
• 1 1/2 cup add-ins**

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the dry ingredients (flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and sea salt). Stir to incorporate. In a large liquid measuring cup or another mixing bowl, stir together the wet ingredients until well-blended.
3. Pour the wet mixture into the dry mixture and stir until almost no streaks of flour remain. Dump in whatever add-ins you are using, then stir until everything is evenly distributed and no streaks of flour remain. (If the mixture is too wet, you can add 2-4 tablespoons of flour to the batter. You want the batter to be wetter than bread dough, but not runny).
4. Grease a standard 12-cup muffin pan, or add parchment muffin cups. Fill each muffin cup with the batter, until each cup has the same amount. (Optional) Top the muffins with turbinado or demerera sugar before baking.
5. Bake in preheated oven for 18 minutes, or until the muffin tops spring back when gently pressed, and a toothpick inserted in the middle of the muffin comes out clean.

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Notes

*vanilla extract is the most all-purpose extract to use in baked goods, but you can also sub for a different extract to try other flavor combinations

**Add-In Ideas:

• nuts & seeds (chopped walnuts or pecans, sliced almonds, sunflower seeds, etc)
• dried fruit (raisins, dried blueberries, dates, etc)
• fresh fruit (chopped apples, mashed banana, blueberries, diced strawberries, etc)
• chocolate (dark, semi-sweet, white)

Favorite Combos:

• banana & walnut (w/ honey and coconut oil)
• blueberry & white chocolate (w/ maple syrup and applesauce)
• mandarin orange & almond (w/ almond extract, orange zest, butter, and maple syrup)

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The post Naturally Sweetened Master Muffin Recipe appeared first on This Pilgrim Life.

The links below may be affiliate links, meaning I earn a small compensation at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure policy here.

Today I’m sprucing up an older recipe for carrot raisin muffins from the blog because after years of enjoying them (the recipe has been on the blog for 7 years!), they are still a go-to all during the spring and summer for picnics and adventure days.

Muffins in general tend to be one of my favorite picnic foods, especially with kids, because they’re so easy to make in the morning and so easy to eat out of the house. If I don’t already have bread or another plan for lunch, I can easily make some muffins with what I have on hand– whether that’s carrots, bananas, zucchini… whatever. (I am also a big fan of making lunch muffins more filling and less dessert-like. We are having lunch, not a cupcake party).

I bake a big batch and put them in one of our reusable Grove bags before we head out. Paired with cheese sticks, apples, and maybe some salami or veggie straws, and we have a very simple grab-and-go picnic lunch.

Pro-tip: bake mini muffins when you know you’ll be on the go, at the beach, or the kids will likely be more interested in playing than eating. They can pop one in their mouth and be off again. Mini muffins are perfect for the beach too because anything you can handle less with sandy hands is a winner. 

Carrot Raisin Muffins

These carrot raisin muffins are really easy to make– once you shred the carrots. That’s honestly the step that takes the longest, but there are definitely ways of speeding up the process.

My favorite way to shred carrots quickly is with my food processor. Literally, less than 5 minutes and I have more than enough shredded carrots to use. It is incredibly efficient, not to mention the carrot is perfectly shredded.

If you don’t have a food processor, a box grater works great too. (pun intended) If I don’t feel like getting the food processor out, I use the box grater. (Though, to be sure, I’m not actually saving any energy there).

Or… another easy solution is to simply buy shredded carrots.

If I didn’t scare you off with all that talk about carrot shredding, the rest is completely downhill. Stir together flour, oats, raisins, shredded carrots, and leaveners in a bowl. Mix together a mashed banana, maple syrup, egg, oil, and milk in a measuring cup. Then combine.

As with all muffins, take care not to overmix so that you do not end up with tough muffins.

Pro-tip: USE PARCHMENT MUFFIN LINERS. Just do it. Don’t bother with paper muffin cups that stick to the muffin and just tear up when you’re trying to get them off. And definitely don’t bother with cleaning a muffin pan. Tedious! These are the best. Go ahead and get the pack of 4 to last you all season. 

These muffins truly are a must for spring and summer! The last time I made them for a hike with friends, we ate all 2 dozen between us and a few of our friends– who (unashamedly tooting my horn here) said that they were some of the best muffins they’d ever eaten. Now, that could have been in part because the hike was over and we were all rather famished and tired.

But, I do like to think that it’s also because these carrot raisin muffins are, in fact, quite delicious. 

More Like This ::

• Super Awesome List of Healthy Snack Ideas
• Grab & Go Picnic Foods
• Nutty Blueberry Muffins
• Raisin, Date, Walnut Muffins
• Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

If you are an adventuring family like us, be sure to check out my adventuring posts (find them all in one convenient place here). We looooove spring and summer adventure season, and share regularly about what we’re up to and what’s working well on Instagram.

Carrot Raisin Muffins

5 Stars 4 Stars 3 Stars 2 Stars 1 Star 4.5 from 4 reviews

• Author: Lisa @ This Pilgrim Life
• Prep Time: 15 minutes
• Cook Time: 15 minutes
• Total Time: 30 minutes
• Yield: 12 muffins

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Description

These carrot raisin muffins are naturally sweetened and full of wholesome ingredients. They’re quick and easy– a perfect healthy picnic or afternoon snack!

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Ingredients

• 1 1/2 C flour
• 1 C oats
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3 cups shredded carrots, about 3 large or 4 small/medium carrots
• 1/2 C raisins
• 1 mashed banana
• 1 egg
• 1/2 C milk
• 1/3 C maple syrup
• 1/4 C melted coconut oil

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Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400°.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the flour through the baking soda. Stir together. Add the shredded carrots and raisins to the flour mixture and stir until the carrots and raisins are well incorporated into the flour mixture.

3. In a liquid measuring cup, mash one ripe banana. Add the egg and mix well, then pour in the milk, syrup, and oil. Pour the mixture into the bowl of dry ingredients and stir just until all the ingredients are blended with no streaks of flour remaining.

4. Grease your muffin pan or place in parchment muffin liners. Evenly distribute the muffin batter in the pan. Optional: sprinkle the tops of the muffins with turbinado sugar. Bake in preheated oven for 15-18 minutes or until the tops are golden and the muffins feel springy to the touch. Let the muffins cool in the pan for five minutes before removing them.

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The post Carrot Raisin Muffins appeared first on This Pilgrim Life.

The links below may be affiliate links, meaning I earn a small compensation at no extra cost to you. See my full disclosure policy here. 

It’s that time again! Time to look back at 2020 and remember all the new recipes of the year, and take stock of what were the most popular recipes on the blog.

This is always a fun exercise because even though I am the one testing and publishing the new recipes, I’m still amazed when I look back and remember recipes that have slipped my mind.

I’ve organized the new recipes (all thirty-nine of them) into categories so you can easily scroll through and find something new to try this year. I also looked back through which recipes were visited the most frequently in 2020, and compiled a list of those, too, at the end of the post. 

Thank you so much for trusting me with your meal times and trying so many new recipes with me this year! (I’d love to hear in the comments which were your favorites!) Your support and enthusiasm keep me going and mean so much!

Scroll through the list, check out which new recipes you missed this year, and save this post so you can come back for quick and easy links! 

New Recipes in 2020

MAIN DISH

1. Garlic Orzo with Bacon & Greens in the Instant Pot
2. Pan Fried Chicken Strips
3. Instant Pot Whole Chicken
4. Garden Fresh Pasta Primavera
5. Venison French Dips in the Instant Pot & Easy Sub Rolls
6. Herb Chicken and Rice in the Instant Pot
7. 5-Ingredient Easy Alfredo Sauce
8. Super Simple Summer Pasta Salad
9. French Dip Empanadas

SOUPS

1. Instant Pot French Onion Soup
2. Instant Pot Chicken & Wild Rice Soup
3. Loaded Cauliflower Soup in the Instant Pot
4. Potlikker Gumbo in the Instant Pot

SIDES

1. Maple Brussel Sprouts and Bacon
2. Roasted Carrot Fries
3. Blistered Garlic Green Beans
4. Crispy Potato Cakes
5. Instant Pot Corn on the Cob
6. Roasted Zucchini Spears with “Secret Sauce”
7. Sauteed Garlicky Greens
8. Rosemary & Parmesan Squash Casserole
9. Roasted Okra Fries

SNACKS & TREATS

1. How to Make Stovetop Popcorn
2. Simple Honey Cake
3. Quick Cinnamon Sweet Breads: Cinnamon Raisin Swirl & Dark Chocolate Chunk
4. Monster Cookies
5. Spiced Apple Butter in the Instant Pot
6. Russian Tea Cakes
7. Italian Icebox Cookies
8. Homemade Apple Cider in the Vitamix
9. Oat & Nut Bread

BREAKFAST

1. Stone Ground Grits in the Instant Pot
2. Strawberry Muffins with Sweet Cream Surprise
3. Easy Sourdough Pancakes with Discard
4. Healthy Chocolate Cereal
5. Easy Pumpkin Cinnamon Rolls
6. Easy Chia Seed Jam
7. Gluten-Free Cinnamon Raisin Biscuits

16 Most Popular Recipes in 2020

1. Pan Fried Chicken Strips
2. Instant Pot Cinnamon Apples
3. One-Hour Focaccia Bread
4. One-Hour French Bread
5. Best Old Fashioned Pound Cake
6. Instant Pot Shepherd’s Pie
7. Instant Pot Ramen Noodles
8. Simple Thin Crust Pizza Dough
9. London Broil on a Cast Iron Griddle
10. Instant Pot Creamy Tomato Soup
11. How to Make Box Mac’n’Cheese in the Instant Pot
12. Instant Pot Chocolate Pudding Cake
13. Simple Honey Cake
14. Cauliflower Au Gratin in the Instant Pot
15. Amazing Thirty Minute Cinnamon Rolls
16. Easy Instant Pot Chicken Breasts

Don’t forget to come back and let me know how you enjoyed a recipe after you try it by leaving a comment and/or a rating! It helps a ton and I love to hear your thoughts. I also LOVE to see your dishes when you share on social media, so be sure to tag me @thispilgrimlife!

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The post New & Most Popular Recipes from 2020 appeared first on This Pilgrim Life.