It's often difficult to get kids to eat healthy these days. However, show me a kid who doesn't like a muffin, even a healthy muffin at that. Kids love them but more often than not, they are sickly sweet and packed with far too much sugar than what is good for them. They don't have to be, and our healthy muffin recipes disguise all sorts of healthy foods your kids may not eat normally. You can disguise quite a lot in a muffin and the kids won't suspect a thing. Even the dreaded pumpkin to some can be turned into delicious pumpkin muffins topped with roasted pumpkin or sunflower seeds.
Carrot cake and walnut muffins are always a winner. You can swap out the carrots and replace them with courgettes. Beetroot is another vegetable that gets the thumbs up in cakes and muffins, especially when you pair it with a little bit of cocoa powder. Using beetroot will give you deliciously moist muffins. Let's not forget the humble apple and banana either. In the links below this article you can find additional recipes for both apple, carrot and banana muffins.
Healthy muffins are great for the the kids' school lunch boxes, taking on hiking trails, camping, or even for picnic food.
What Makes Our Healthy Muffin Recipes Healthy?
You look at some so-called healthy muffin recipes and then see them packed with loads of white sugar, white flour, and little else that would even come close to calling it wholesome. All our healthy muffin recipes are without white sugar and without white flour. We use almond flour in place of white flour, honey instead of sugar and where we can we use whole wheat flour. When you take a nutritious batter mix and add to it organic fruit, nuts, berries or raisins, you have indeed got yourself a healthy muffin.
Almond flour is also used in Paleo, soy-free, and gluten-free muffin recipes. It gives your muffins a nutty, creamy texture and when looking at the nutritional value almond flour is high in protein (21% by weight), manganese, vitamin E and monounsaturated fats, low in carbohydrates, and contains fiber.
What is the difference between Almond Meal and Almond Flour?
You may come across almond meal, rather than almond flour. They can be used interchangeably when making muffins and there isn't a lot of difference in the consistency between the two.
Almond flour is made from blanched almonds that have had their skins removed, whereas almond meal hasn't and is a little coarser. You can also make your own almond flour in a Thermomix or an ordinary blender. However, take care that you don't end up making almond butter instead.
I love my Thermomix. In our house it has been named "Chef Claus" and Claus has performed many miracles in my kitchen. One of them is making almond flour.
Homemade Recipes for Almond Flour using a Thermomix
Take 250g of blanched almonds and blitz on speed 7 for 10 seconds. If you have more of an almond meal consistency, blend for a second at at time to check if you have your flour. Be really careful not to over blend as you will end up with the nuts releasing oils and giving you almond butter.
If you are new to the world of muffin making or have made them for years but would like to read about some good baking tips on how to make good muffins then click on the link to take you there. We have 5 solid tips on how to make muffins.
So have a look at our healthy muffin recipes below and give them a go. Follow the links below for more healthy muffin recipes.