Muffins are versatile multi- taskers in the menu rotation. Here’s a quick listing of reasons I love muffins.

• quick to mix and bake
• nicely portioned
• whole wheat friendly, exchange half (or more) white flour for whole wheat
• can be sweetened with maple, honey or molasses if you think that’s healthier
• not as rich as cake, more substantial than a cookie
• adapt to your menu needs, whether pastry, bread or cake
• fits into breakfast, lunch, snack, supper, or dessert
• freeze for later, thaw quickly
• grab-n-go
• packable in lunch boxes
• have fruits or vegs or other healthy stuff hidden inside
• pretty (usually!)
• feel like a treat
• no scrubbing a muffin tin if you use bake cups
• put batter in a loaf pan and call it quick bread if you want
• beginner-baker-friendly
• pairs well with a hot drink
• A little stale? Toast it and you’ve got yourself a whole new variation

Muffins I’ve made over and over:

Simply Zucchini Muffins

Honey Wheat Muffins

Boys’ Favorite Blueberry Crumble Muffins

1 1/2 freshly ground whole wheat flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup vanilla yogurt (or plain and add vanilla)
1 egg
milk, as needed
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries I like the wild maine blueberries from Walmart freezer section or huckleberries tha I pickdd myself. 
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup flour
1/4 cup butter
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line muffin tin. Make struesel by mixing the last four ingredients.  Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl. Dust berries with a tablespoon or so of this mixture. Mix wet ingredients in a smaller bowl. Pour wet into dry ingredients. Carefully mix in berries. Fill muffin cups. Bake 5 minutes at 400, then turn down to 350 and bake till done, maybe 15-18 minutes. I've lost the instructions so I'm making this part up! This recipe comes from The Life-Giving Table by Sally Clarkson.

I've started baking all my muffins with 5 minutes at 400 degrees to start. It makes them puff up and look prettier most of the time!

And a new-to-me recipe we really liked last week: Pear Muffins with Cinnamon Crumble. I used half whole wheat and next time plan to use cardomom for a change of spice. 

I like to make gingerbread muffins at this time of year. I couldn't find online the exact recipe I have, although I'm sure it came from the world wide web somewhere. So I found another and then thought I better try it before I recommend it. So I mixed them up yesterday. The tops spread all over the muffin tin while baking and I had to cut them off to get the muffins out of the pan. Definitely some scrubbing required to clean that up. They don't look very great but they still tasted quite good, although I must have done something wrong. 

I wanted muffins for the freezer and I wanted a realistic picture for this article. So there you have it. Real life in my kitchen.

Please share in the comments your favorite muffins and any tips you might have. Thank you!