Granola is one of those foods that I go through phases with. I enjoy making it and eating it, but then I move on to something else. I had made granola a little while ago and still had a jar or two of it sitting around. Definitely time to get that food eaten up.
So, granola muffins seemed like a great way to use up my granola. Why is making it into breakfast muffins better than just eating it? ...I guess that once I bake something, I'm forced to eat it. When I'm not on a granola kick, I can easily let the granola languish, becoming just another fixture in my kitchen, cluttering my counter. After all, it doesn't go bad.
I've made these muffins twice. The granola muffins call for no egg. The recipe calls for buttermilk, but I used an equivalent amount of yogurt both times with great success. Pick the fruit pieces out of the granola you use for topping, and bury them inside the muffins so they will remain moist; if you leave them on top, they may burn (particularly in my oven). I think this works best with a strongly flavored granola - the last batch I included had dates, which tasted great against the whole wheat.
These were great breakfast muffins. They were very moist, even after a few days. Fruit in the granola was best incorporated into the batter, as fruit in the granola sprinkled on top of the muffins scorched a little. The muffins were wheaty but not heavy, and were surprisingly tender thanks to the yogurt. They're sweet, but not too sweet. They tasted healthy, but not too healthy. They were a satisfying breakfast item, and were a good snack as well.
Honestly, I don't notice the granola too much except for on top, but I don't think that's a problem. You're eating a whole wheat muffin that's tasty, after all! And that's part of what granola is - whole grains that are tasty.
📖 Recipe
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 1 cup brown sugar
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cup granola (if you're short on granola, substitute in some rolled oats here; I substituted in ¼ cup oats my last time around)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil (applesauce might work if you're trying for lower-fat)
- 1 ½ cups yogurt (lower fat and full fat yogurt both work)
- ¾ cup granola for topping (picked free of fruit; no substitutions here)
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Mix together dry ingredients. Combine wet ingredients and add to dry ingredients, mixing gently. Divide batter among 12 greased muffin cups. (These work great without liners!) Top the nearly full muffin cups with fruitless granola.
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Bake at 400F for 16 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes, then tip muffins on their side in the cups to allow steam to vent from the bottoms. Store covered and sealed; muffins will stay moist for days.
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