Muffins, Muffins, Muffins!

[ADM]

Muffins are delicious and trendy, as well as retro. How do YOU serve muffins? As a part of a meal? As a snack? As a dessert? I have recently checked many recipes and the calories seem to range from about 160 to over 400, per muffin. Obviously, muffins are, sometimes, not a lite treat!

[susan_foster]

I love muffins. I eat them for breakfast all the time. Of course, they are all homemade, so they are smaller than the ones you get in a coffee shop, so they are usually between 150 and 200 calories, which works for me.

Susan

[stacy7272]

They are generally a dessert for me.

[honeygirl1971]

For breakfast only! But I never make any frosted muffins, or any that contain chocolate.

[Kathy B]

I eat them for breakfast or as a snack at work. Like honeygirl1971, I don't tend to make dessert-type muffins such as chocolate or those with icing. (Although I will add Chocolate chips to my oatmeal or EW Banana Bran muffins). I like to add nuts and chopped fruit or dried fruit for more flavor and nutrition, so I tend to look for recipes that do that.

I am currently working my way through a batch of Cranberry muffins from CL 11/05, and I think I may have to make another batch when these are gone. YUM!!! I keep them in the freezer and just pull one out and pop it in the microwave when I want one.

[tea4one]

For Breakfast and snacks.

[surfer376]

I eat muffins for breakfast , as a snack and dessert. These are awesome and very healthy!

Chocolate chocolate chip muffins
makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:

½ cup flaxseed meal
½ cup whole wheat flour
½ cup buckwheat flour
¼ cup wheat bran
¼ cup whole rolled oats
½ cup Splenda (granular)
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
2 eggs(or 1/2 cup egg beaters)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tablespoons canola oil
½ cup unsweetened applesauce (Musselmans made with splenda)
1 cup fat-free buttermilk (I used 1 cup water and 4 T Cultured buttermilk Blend)
2 tablespoons cocoa powder (Hershey's dark cocoa, Dutch processed)
½ cup semisweet or bittersweet mini chocolate chips
handful of chopped nuts optional
Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray a muffin pan with cooking spray. In a large bowl, blend the dry ingredients. In a medium bowl mix liquid ingredients. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients, mixing thoroughly. Spoon batter into muffin cups, filling each evenly. Bake until tops are golden brown and an inserted toothpick comes out clean, about 20 minutes. Let them cool for 5 minutes and then transfer them to a wire rack until completely cool. They should be stored in the fridge. They can also be frozen if desired.
Toss in microwave for 50-60 seconds on medium high from freezer.

The Chocolate Chocolate Chip muffins make a decent 9x9 cake too. You can frost it with some cream cheese icing for a special occassion. Just mix a package of low-fat cream cheese with a package of fat-free, sugar-free chocolate pudding mix. If it's too thick, add a bit of skim milk. Just make sure you refrigerate the cake, because of the cream cheese.
_________________
Enjoy Chari

[UnGourmetGal]

I love cornbread muffins with feta cheese and green onions, they are so tasty!

[heavy hedonist]

I make muffins for breakfast-- rarely with chocolate in them, never iced as for cupcakes (which doesn't mean they aren't sometimes pretty cakelike.)
I also make muffins, sweet, savory or in between, to go with various meals-- soups, chilis, stews, ragouts & other skillet dinners. We love them because they're quick, easy & can be made with anything on hand, and 'cause we can fill almost any "flavor slot" a meal needs with the right muffin. And portability doesn't hurt, either.

[imloulou]

I make muffins for a snack or school lunches. I dont put chocolate in and try to keep them healthy/low sugar but will occasionally "suprise" the kids with banana muffins with choc chips.

Here is the Eating Well recipe using dry buttermilk and half the sugar and no choc chips:

Banana-Bran Muffins -lower fat/cals

2 large eggs
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (2 medium)
4 tbs Buttermilk (Saco dried buttermilk)
1 cup water
1 cup unprocessed wheat bran (see Ingredient note)
1/4 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup whole-wheat flour
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/3 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat 12 muffin cups with cooking spray.2. Whisk eggs and brown sugar in a medium bowl until smooth. Whisk in bananas, buttermilk, bran, oil and vanilla.3. Whisk whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl. Add the wet ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Stir in chocolate chips, if using. Scoop the batter into the prepared muffin cups (they'll be quite full). Sprinkle with walnuts, if using.4. Bake the muffins until the tops are golden brown and spring back when touched lightly, 15 to 25 minutes. Loosen edges and turn muffins out onto a wire rack to cool slightly before serving.


Servings: 12

Nutrition Facts
Serving size: 1 serving
Percent daily values based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Nutrition information calculated from recipe ingredients.

Amount Per Serving
Calories 196.76
Calories From Fat (36%) 71.18
% Daily Value
Total Fat 8.21g 13%
Saturated Fat 0.92g 5%
Cholesterol 41.22mg 14%
Sodium 132.16mg 6%
Potassium 226.05mg 6%
Carbohydrates 28.48g 9%
Dietary Fiber 4.29g 17%
Sugar 9.49g
Sugar Alcohols 0.00g
Net Carbohydrates 24.19g
Protein 5.32g 11%

[NMG]

I love almost any muffin and eat them whenever I'm hungry - breakfast, lunch, snack, with dinner (cornbread type muffins only), as dessert, etc. - I guess it depends on the type of muffin! My favorite (which I've never made but want to try this weekend) is a lemon poppy seed muffin - yum!!! I also really liked the CL Nov05 Cranberry Orange muffins........hhhmmmm does anyone have a muffin recipe with strawberries in it or could I just substitute strawberries for blueberries in a Blueberry Muffin recipe???

[luvtocookrd]

I eat them usually as a snack at work midmorning. Or, if I am running late and miss breakfast I will grab a muffin, yogurt, and/or fruit to eat when I get to work for breakfast. I always make my own. The ones that you purchase seem more like a cake texture which I do not really care for. I also can never resist them fresh out of the oven, so I usually sample!
I also serve them with chili or soup sometimes.