These healthy whole wheat muffins are not my original recipe, although they are one of our family staples.  Like our standard whole wheat tortillas and one or two others, the core muffin recipe here is one we learned from the Bread Beckers many years ago.  (Thank you, Sue!  I’m a second-generation home-ground flour baker, teaching a third generation, thanks to you.)

It was in the little red recipe booklet you could get through their workshops.  Now I believe you can find it in The Essential Home-Ground Flour Cookbook.

I’ve never been one to have a zillion different recipes for every slightly different baked good, etc.  I’d rather have one basic recipe and then adapt from there.  So the muffin variations here were collated — and occasionally adapted — from a variety of sources.  Most came from an old “ABC Muffin” recipe I found somewhere online.

All of these have been tested and worked well with the core whole wheat muffin recipe here.  Most have also been tested and found to work well with my gluten-free muffins adaptation.  (Lemon muffins, for instance, are one I tested and rejected, because lemon is too delicate a flavor to work well with the whole grain.) 

I like to freeze gallon bags of muffins in the freezer, so I can pull one out and have a muffin with a smoothie for breakfast.

About Muffin Ingredients

Muffins are a pretty versatile and forgiving food — especially if you aren’t too fussy about whether they have perfect domed tops.  (This is not something I care about.)

The recipe here uses flour freshly ground from hard white wheat.  It’s no problem to substitute any other gluten-containing grain, although you might need to adjust the quantity a little because some absorb more liquid than others.  You’ll also want to be thoughtful about what flavors you’re combining, if you’re making a variation.  I love to make these with red wheat, for instance, when I’m making the millet variation.  Red wheat can be just fine with dominant flavors like chocolate, too.  But its stronger flavor might overpower something like mandarin oranges.

Many gluten-free flours will also work okay, since these contain egg and are baked in a muffin pan (which has small compartments); some just might not rise as high/be as fluffy.

The other ingredients can also be pretty flexible, as you’ll quickly discover when working with the variations.  A number of different dairy products can be swapped in for the milk, with slightly different results.  Alternative “dairy” products will typically work, too.

Bottom line: don’t be afraid to play around with these and experiment within reason, because they’re pretty forgiving.

How to Bake Extra Muffins

You’ll notice that some of the muffin variations, because of added ingredients, make more than a dozen muffins.  To bake the extras, fill however many extra muffin pan “holes” you have batter for, and then fill the remaining wells of the pan about halfway with water.  (And be careful not to slosh the water all over your muffins!)

If you only have a couple muffins’ worth of extra, I’ve also been known to use a ramekin or mini muffin pan.  These might take a little longer to bake, though, than the rest of your muffins.

Mini Muffins

You can easily bake these as mini muffins.  If baking in a mini muffin pan, bake for 10 minutes (or until done).

The Main Muffin Recipe

The main muffin recipe is only the basic muffins.  These are a little “boring,” but totally fine for eating on their own.  Everything else that follows — including the crunchy topping — is optional.

Whole Grain Muffins with Variations

Sue Becker, Rachel Ramey, & other

5 from 2 votes

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Servings 12

Ingredients

  

Muffins

• 2 1/4 cup freshly-ground flour from hard white wheat
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 cup milk
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup oil
• 1/2 cup honey

Crunchy Topping

• 1/2 c. rolled oats
• 1/2 c. flour
• 1/4 c. raw sugar
• 1 tsp. cinnamon
• 1/4 c. 4 Tbsp. softened butter

Instructions

 

Muffins

• Measure flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder into large mixing bowl. Add milk, egg, oil, and honey and mix just until blended. Spoon into greased muffin tins and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes.

(Optional) Crunchy Topping

• Mix oats, flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Cut in butter until crumbly. Sprinkle on muffins before baking. (NOTE: This makes about 1-1/2 - 2 times as much as necessary for a dozen muffins.)

Notes

FRUIT:

Add 1 c. fruit. See below for specific suggestions. (Many of these make pretty moist batters, so you might want to cook them an extra minute or two. Most that call for 1 c. of chopped fruit, or berries, make about 14 muffins.)

BLUEBERRY: Add 1 c. blueberries (fresh or frozen) to batter, after mixing all other ingredients. (-OR- Press blueberries into the batter once it's in the pan, to avoid discoloration.)

CHERRY: Add 1 c. fresh or dried (pitted!) cherries to batter, after mixing all other ingredients. (We don't really care for the dried ones.)

APPLE: Add 1 lg. apple, grated, to batter. Sprinkle muffins with cinnamon-sugar before baking. (Makes 15 muffins.)

PEAR: Add 1/2 lg. can (drained) or 1 c. fresh chopped pears. (This was not one of our favorites.)

PUMPKIN: Add 1 c. pumpkin puree with wet ingredients. Add 3/4 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. ginger, 1/8 tsp. ground cloves, and 1/8 tsp. nutmeg with dry ingredients. (Makes 16 muffins.)

BANANA: Add 1 mashed banana with the wet ingredients. (Makes 15-16 muffins.)

OTHER VARIATIONS:

SOUR CREAM: Replace half of milk (1/2 c.) with sour cream. Add a handful of nuts to batter, if desired.

MILLET: Add 1/4 c. whole millet to batter. (Best with red wheat or kamut flour)

PEANUTTY: Add 1 c. peanut butter chips and 1/4 c. chopped peanuts. (Makes 14 muffins.)

PEANUT BUTTER: Reduce oil to 2 Tbsp. and add 1/2 c. natural peanut butter plus one extra egg. To mix, combine dry ingredients, cut in oil and peanut butter, then stir in remaining ingredients. Makes 15-18 muffins.

PEANUT BUTTER-BANANA: Add 1/2 c. peanut butter, 1/4 c. chopped peanuts, and 1-1/2 mashed bananas. (Makes 19 muffins.)

HIDDEN KISS: Add 3/4 c. cocoa with dry ingredients. Increase honey to 3/4 c. After filling muffin cups 3/4 full, press a Hershey's Kiss into the center of each, pressing down until it's covered or nearly covered. Reduce oven temperature to 375 and bake for 17 minutes.. Makes 16 muffins.

DOUBLE CHOCOLATE: Add 3/4 c. cocoa to dry ingredients. Add additional 1/4 c. honey to wet ingredients, for a total of 3/4 c. Stir in chocolate chips. Reduce oven temperature a tad. Makes 18 muffins.

MANDARIN-CARROT: Reduce milk to 1/2 c. Add 1/2 (11 oz.) can of mandarin oranges, chopped, with liquid, with wet ingredients. Stir in 3/4 c. grated carrot (2 carrots). Makes 15 muffins.

ORANGE: Add 1 (11 oz.) can mandarin oranges, drained, and 1 c. sour cream. Bake for an extra minute. Makes 21 muffins.

OATMEAL: Reduce flour to 2 c. Add 1/2 c. oats.

JAM: Add 3/4 c. jam to batter. This makes a very moist dough, so bake it an extra minute or two. (Makes 17 muffins.)

MAPLE: Reduce milk to 3/4 c. and add 3 Tbsp. maple syrup.

CREAM CHEESE-TOPPED: Mix together 8 oz. of softened cream cheese, 3 Tbsp. honey, and an egg. Drop this mixture by tablespoon onto muffins before baking. Bake for about an extra 3 minutes. (There will be extra cream cheese mixture.)

YOGURT: Reduce milk to 3/4 c. and add 8 oz. plain or flavored yogurt. (Makes 16 muffins. NOTE: Yogurt makes very light muffins. The flavor of flavored yogurt doesn't really come through, though.)

HERBED: Add 1-1/2 tsp. basil, 1/2 tsp. ea. marjoram, thyme, rosemary, savory, and oregano, and 1/2 c. parmesan cheese.