Muffins galore!

Today I made muffins. We had pasta for dinner and I made garlic muffins to go with it.

Garlic Muffins

These tasty muffins are great with soups and stews, and I love to to serve them even when we grill. They are quick and easy to make when you want a nice side bread with dinner.

Ingredients:
2 cups flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
3 tablespoons melted butter or margarine
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium onion, diced
1 teaspoon fennel seed
1/3 cup Parmesan cheese

Directions:

Heat oven to 400°F. In a large bowl, mix flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. In a small bowl, mix together egg, milk, garlic and onion. Make a well in the center of dry ingredients and pour in the egg mixture and melted butter. Mix together using as few strokes as possible. The batter should have small lumps in it. Pour into 12 muffins tins coated with cooking spray, filling about 2/3 full. Bake 20 minutes or until muffins begin to turn golden on top. Test for doneness with a toothpick, which should come out clean. Remove from tins and cool slightly.

Then, for dessert I made blueberry muffins. I searched for healthy blueberry muffins and found a few different recipes. This one was based on a Biggest Loser recipe. I replaced the oil with yogurt, and they came out great! The original recipe was for 24 mini muffins.

Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups unprocessed wheat bran or oat bran
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
1 1/4 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup fat-free milk
1/3 cup applesauce
1 ripe medium banana
2 tablespoons yogurt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries or other berry

Instructions

Makes 12 Servings

Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F.  Lightly coat  nonstick muffin pans with cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, combine the bran, flour, flax seed, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt.  Set aside.  In another medium bowl or a blender, combine the milk, applesauce, banana, egg, yogurt, and vanilla extract until smooth.

Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in one third of the liquid mixture.  Using a spoon, stir until smooth.  Add the remaining liquid mixture and stir until well combined.  Add the blueberries and stir again, but don't over mix.

Spoon 4 tablespoons of batter into prepared muffin cups.  Bake for about 20 minutes, or until the tops spring back when pressed gently in the centers.  Do not over bake.  Cool the muffins int he pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes before removing from the cups.  Serve warm, or allow them to cool completely on the rack.