While they may not be the prettiest muffins you’ve ever laid eyes on, they just might be the healthiest. These little gems are packed with banana, apple and flax seed goodness. For those of you who aren’t nutrition obsessed California dieters, flax seed are rich in fiber and Omega-3 fatty acids which helps protect against heart disease and cancer. In these muffins, flax seed meal (ground up flax seeds) replace butter and oil. How great is that!? No butter, no oil muffins! Just healthy fats in a yummy, moist, fruit muffin!
The fruit in this recipe help to keep the muffins deliciously moist. I used grated apples and mashed bananas, although the recipe calls for carrots instead of bananas. Really, use any reasonable fruit of veggie you like: zucchini, apple, carrot, banana, pear, pineapple. Go crazy!
And! This is also my entry into February’s Weekend Breakfast Blogging Event- created by Saffron Trail and hosted by Tasty Palettes. This month features Healthy Eats, and what could be healthier than fresh fruit and flax seed muffins? Serious Yum.
Gnarley Muffins
adapted from Bob’s Red Mill
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup flax seed meal (if you live near a Trader Joe’s, you can get flaxseed meal and oat bran there!)
3/4 cup oat bran
1 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 cups carrots, shredded
2 apples peeled and shredded
1/2 cup raisins (optional)
1 cup nuts, chopped (optional)
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1. Using a wooden spoon, mix together flour, flax seed meal, oat bran, brown sugar, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl.
2. Stir in carrots, apples, raisins and nuts.
3. Combine milk, eggs and vanilla. Pour liquid all at once into the dry/fruit mixture. Stir until ingredients are moistened. Do not overmix.
4. Fill muffin cups 3/4 full. Bake in a 350 degree F oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Yields 15 medium sized muffins.
Healthy trans fat free muffins. Your heart say ‘Thanks!’
Chelsea
I am following the paleo diet. Do you know how much almond or coconut flour I should use in this recipe?
leslie
just made a batch of these as a snack for my 20 month old and myself. we both gobbled ours in record time. yay for healthy treats!! thanks a mil for such a tasty recipe!
Courtney
I made these at midnight last night. I followed the recipe posted with the carrots instead of the bananas. The only substitute I made was almond milk in place of cows milk. I also generously sprinkled sugar on top before baking. I also added the optional raisins and walnuts. They are really good!!! Moist, hearty and a little sweet. I calculated the nutrionals and if you make 12 muffins they are each about 350 calories and 10 grams of goooood fat.
Charity
I just made these last night. I wasn’t too thrilled with them when they came out of the oven (tasted kind of boring) but I decided to let them “mature” overnight and they tasted much better this morning! I used grated pineapple, carrots, and an apple. (I left the peel on the apple, I never peel apples in baking.) I also didn’t feel like food processoring my rolled oats into oat bran, so I just used rolled oats and liked them in there.
I also added some cardamom, ginger, and cloves to up the spice factor a bit! (I want to replicate the spices from Ina Garten’s Carrot Cake which I love but is not the healthiest thing.) Yummy! My muffins sunk a bit after they came out of the oven. I am thinking that is because of the pineapple juice added when the pineapple was grated or the volume of baking soda/powder. (It seemed a bit high for me.)
But I love that these are healthy and taste yummy. Will definitely be making again. Thanks Joy!
Belisa
i’ve only made this recipe once, but it was a big hit with the whole family. even the toddler! one question: there’s a strong baking soda/baking powder taste still present. yes, i love these muffins so much that even the powdery taste doesn’t stop me from devouring them. have you ever had that happen? did i do something wrong?
joythebaker
You know Belisa, I don’t think you did anything wrong. I can totally see what you mean about the baking soda/powder taste. I think you might be able to get away with taking the baking soda down to 1 tsp instead of 2. Give that a try!
Thanks for saying hello!
Belisa
will do – and i’ll let you know the results!
btw, i also just made your zucchini and sweet potato bread for a family brunch this weekend and it was another huge hit with everyone. the toddler was actually obsessed with it and i think i’m going to have to make another loaf soon – she keeps asking for it!
Tami
These are GREAT muffins. My husband loves them, my kids love them (except for the picky tween) and I don’t feel guilty about serving them at all. Having a great time coming up with new flavor combinations!!
d
These are tushy
alice
Hiya!
Do you think I could reduce either the flour or oat bran and increase the flax? I am trying to find a way to make something that will get my boyfriend the 2 Tablespoons flax meal he is supposed to have every day into one muffin…
thanks!!!
joythebaker
ground flax becomes like a fat in this baked good… it’s not really a substitute for flour. i would suggest just adding up to 1/4 cup more flax to the recipe as it is… see how that goes.
ps… what a lovely girlfriend you are!
alice
thanks joy! and thanks for such a great blog!!
Kara
This is the EXACT recipe I use from the back of the Bob’s Red Mill Flaxseed package! Coincidence???
They are amazingly delicious, my 14 month old gobbles them down!
Fran
Try Smart & Final.
catherine
I’ll answer my own cupcake cup question. After an exhaustive search, I learned that the magic words are “paper souffle cup” and they are easily bought all over the internet… in orders of 500. Does anyone know if local grocery stores or kitchen stores (Sur la Table?) carry these rad cups?
stephanieee
I made these today (yes, I realize I’m 2 years late :) and they are AMAZING!! I used 1 cup zucchini and 1 mashed banana in place of the carrots, and because I didn’t have oat bran, I used 1/2 c. of oat flour and 1/4 c. of rolled oats. These are super moist and sooo tasty. Thanks for another awesome recipe!!
catherine
Does anyone know where I can get those cupcake cups? I’m going on vacation and would love to make breakfast muffins without having to worry about cupcake tins :). Thanks!
Nan
It’s a snowy day and I felt like baking. These were perfect–moist, hearty, and delicious! Thank you!
Macaire
Best good-for-you muffin recipe I have tried! I eat them like cake. :)
Allie Z
Like it, love it, gotta try them! I’ll be whipipng these up tonight for Thursday school breakfasts. YUM!!
Another winner Joy
Allie
Andrea
Oh my gosh, these were SOO good! I modified only slightly – instead of brown sugar, I used Fructevia and a Tbsp of molasses, and like Sandy who posted above, I ground up rolled oats for the oat bran. Other than that, I followed the recipe exactly. It made 36 tiny muffins, and they baked up kind of dark brown, so my family is calling them “meatball muffins!” But whatever they call them, they’re eating them up!
Thanks, Joy!
Maclean
Hi there,
I cannot wait to make these muffins this weekend, they look amazing! However, oat bran is not something I have used before. Typically I use wheat bran. Can I just use wheat bran? Should I grind up some oats with the wheat bran? Should I not experiment and buy oat bran?
If you can’t tell, I am a bit confused…
Thanks for any suggestions :)
Maclean
Okay! Made these muffins with wheat bran, a mix of shredded zuch, apple, and carrot and subbed coconut sugar because it was all. They turned out AMAZING and are so yummy! These are definitely my new go-to morning muffins.
Thank you so much, Joy!
kim
another wonderful recipe! thanks a million.
Vicki Davisson
Hi Joy,
Great looking recipe. I plan to try it with a few tweaks (read on).
Please don’t buy or recommend pre-ground flaxseeds. They can become rancid within a couple of days of being ground (unless they have a preservative… hmmm). Instead, grind your own whole flaxseeds in a coffee grinder until you have 3/4 cup. You likely wouldn’t need the eggs either, except for the taste, because ground flaxseeds become a binder once they are ground and mixed with a liquid.
It may not matter to you, but with a little tweaking this can become a vegan recipe, with almond or rice milk and agave nectar for sweetening (of course you’d use less water). For those who like honey, you could use that although it’s not strictly vegan.
I used ground flaxseeds and flaxseed oil earlier this year in a successful battle against Multiple Myeloma (if you’re interested, search for “Budwig Protocol” or email me back). I don’t think I’d use flaxseed oil for cooking; when heated, omega 3 oils lose their health advantages and become as bad as omega 6 oils. Plus it is pricey: it’s about $16 for a 12 oz bottle and must be kept refrigerated. If you want to use it, save it for your salad dressings and eat it fresh. You could use olive oil, though… I read your lemon-olive oil cookie recipe and was very intrigued. Olive oil lasts forever, from what I read.
Thanks for posting this interesting recipe!
Vicki
Sandy
Thanks for sharing this recipe Joy. I just finished making them and my 13 and 10 year old are all over them!!They taste really great. So moist.I substituted 1/2 the white flour for white/wheat flour and I had no oat bran so I ground up some rolled oats (also I didn’t have banana so I used the carrot!) I have been searching for a while for a healthy and MOIST muffin, with lots o flax! This is the first I have found that was moist. Tasted just like carrot cake. Thanks again. These are “gnarley dude”!
Holly
Because it’s you, I will try these, and because I need those good for me elements (fyi – they are also important for blood pressure and pregnancy).
Winnie
I have seen many bakers using these paper cups instead of more traditional pleated paper cups. They look like something you get a sample in from Costco. Any reason for using them?
joythebaker
Suganya- By flaxseed meal I do mean ground up flax seeds. I don’t grind my own flaxseeds, I’m sure you can, but I buy them already ground
Food Blogga- I haven’t used the flaxseed oil yet. I know I should, but I have in my head somewhere that it’s super expensive. I think I’m just being cheap and crazy. I love the breakfast smoothie idea! I’ll bust out the cash for that next time I’m at Whole Foods. Thanks for the suggestion!
Maezy
I just might have a fix for you. I use Trader Joe’s organic flaxseed oil preserved with Vitamin E — its about half the price of other brands. That being said, I don’t know about putting in muffins though. Tks for your recipe and your writing style too. ;-)
Susan from Food Blogga
This is so funny. I just spoke with my mom yesterday who also made muffins with flaxseed in it. She said, “Did you know that if you use flaxseed, you don’t have to add oil?” Then I come here and see your lovely muffins, so now I have two new delicious recipes! Thanks! I use flaxseed oil as well in breakfast smoothies and salad dressings. Have you tried that?
Suganya
Thats one mighty muffin. By flax meal you mean ground flax seeds? Thanks for the entry and the idea. Am certain I will try this out.
joythebaker
Ashley- Applesauce is a great alternative too! Thanks for the reminder!
Laurie- Morning cupcakes!… you would. I love it! :)
Doreen- The cupcakes are sweet (from the fruit) and not terribly dense. They have a texture akin to banana bread. If you try them for your daughter, let me know if she likes them!
Maezy
Applesauce?? I wouldn’t change a thing if I were you. I have been looking for a recipe that would duplicate some muffins I have seen in Whole Foods and elsewhere, and well this looks like a winner being as close as you can get with that lovely amount of flax seed meal (ground).
doreen
Interesting. Are they dense? Sweet? These would be a great, healthy alternative for my 18-month old daughter who has quite the affinity for cake, cupcakes and all other things sweet. And just the perfect size too.
laurie
Yum! I love muffins of any kind. I consider them morning cupcakes. ;)
Ashley
I don’t think I’ve seen a muffin recipe that uses that much flax! You can also replace the oil with applesauce. It’s always good to come across another healthy muffin recipe. :)