We are huge breakfast muffin fans around here, especially now–during fresh, local berry season.  My absolute favorite muffin recipe is one of Martha Stewart’s, loaded with butter, sugar, buttermilk, and other lovely things.  The muffins weigh about a pound each, and come out of the tins almost dripping with melted fat.  Heavenly.  But not for everyday, alas.  I like to make super-healthy, reasonably tasty, multi-grain muffins for my family, but Muffin Enthusiasm does not run nearly as high for such things.  Today I’m sharing my favorite compromise “very-yummy-and-almost-healthy” recipe:  mixed flours, no white sugar, chock full of local blueberries–a true super-food.  Some mornings (like today) Claire works the compromise further, wooing me into streusel topping.  But why not?  Harvest season blueberry muffins are cause for celebration.

Here’s my recipe, adapted over time from Ginny Callan’s Horn of the Moon Cookbook (no longer in print):

Tangled Nest Almost-Healthy Blueberry Muffins

Mix together dry ingredients:

• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 3/4 cups unbleached white flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

In a separate bowl, mix well:

• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 cup milk or buttermilk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup honey (if your honey is crystallized, warm  it to liquid before adding to the mix)
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Make a well in the dry ingredients, add wet ingredients.  As usual with muffins, stir just enough to moisten–don’t overmix.

• Fold in  1 1/2 cups of blueberries, fresh or frozen, with a few strokes.

This recipe makes 12 standard size muffins.  Fill muffin tins and if you’re feeling celebratory, add a sprinkle of your favorite streusel recipe, or use this one–

Mix together with your fingers until crumbly:  5 tablespoons melted, unsalted butter; 2/3 cup flour; 2/3 cup confectioners sugar; 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon; dash of salt.  Press lightly onto the tops of muffins before baking.

Bake 20 minutes at 400 F, until golden brown on top.  Let the muffins sit for a few minutes before removing from tin, and cooling on a baking rack.  Enjoy!

As an alternative, we’ve been loving our homemade granola.  This recipe evolved through trial and error, and meets Claire’s rigorous 10-year-old taste-testing standards.  Since apple juice provides both sweetener and liquid, it uses less oil than some recipes, and is lower in fat.  It’s both fun and super-easy to make.  Of course you can play with the dry ingredients–add wheat germ, flax seeds, different nuts–to suit your taste.  Just keep the ratio of dry and wet ingredients about the same. Most of this stuff is typically available in bulk.  Enjoy more nutrition, more yumminess, and less waste.

Tangled Nest Granola

Mix on a high-rimmed baking sheet, and toast for at 300 degrees for about 25 minutes, stirring halfway through:

6 cups rolled oats
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1 cup chopped walnuts, almonds, or mixture
1/2 cup sesame seeds
1 cup shaved coconut (OK–even though we get lovely fair trade, organic coconut at our local food coop, it still comes from Sri Lanka!  Not a great use of our food miles, we admit–but it is a concession to Claire, who learned to love granola when we were traveling in Tanzania, where coconut is a much different thing–falling all around us from the trees.  We are thinking about weaning coconut out of our granola slowly, without Claire noticing…Meanwhile, if you do use coconut, add it halfway through the toasting time, when you take the granola out to stir–otherwise it will overbrown.)

In a liquid measuring cup or small bowl, stir together:

1 cup frozen apple juice concentrate, thawed (we live in Washington state, where local AJ is plentiful–another sweet juice concentrate could be substituted)
1/2 cup brown sugar or honey
4 Tablespoons vegetable oil
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, or  to taste

Turn the oven up to 350.  Tip the toasted ingredients into a large bowl, pour the apple juice mixture over the top, and mix thoroughly.  Oil or spray the baking sheet, or line with parchment, and spread the granola into the pan.  Bake for about 30 minutes, stirring halfway through.  Let cool, and store in an airtight container.  Add berries, raisins, dried fruit, and milk or yogurt.  Enjoy!

More box-free breakfast recipes to come, but meanwhile try:  quick-breads, scones, summer berry muffins, home-mixed hot cereals…

Full disclosure:  we still have a box of Trader Joe’s Os in the cupboard…