Banana Nut Oat Bran Muffins

I love muffins. The problem I have is that most of the muffin recipes I love to gobble up are basically cupcakes, and usually have more chocolate than flour in them. As much as I try to convince myself that I'm making a smart choice by snacking on a muffin, I know I could do better.

This muffin recipe is loaded with good-for-you food and gives me the satisfaction of a muffin, without all the stuff I don't need. As an added yum factor I added a few tablespoons of the Epicure Cocoa Crunch Whole Food Sprinkle to the batter. You could also add mini chocolate chips or leave it out all together.

Banana Nut Oat Bran Muffins
2 1/4 cups oat bran
1T baking powder
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 bananas, mashed
1 egg
2T honey
1/8 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat over to 425. In a medium sized bowl, stir together oat bran, baking powder and brown sugar. In a smaller bowl, mix together bananas, egg and honey. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until combined. Fold in the walnuts and transfer batter to paper lined muffin tins. Bake for 12-15 minutes.

The density and the crunch of the walnuts make these muffins extremely satisfying. I love the Cocoa Crunch Whole Food Sprinkle from Epicure. They give the muffins just a hint of chocolate without completely overdoing it. There are also chia seeds in the sprinkles so even more added health benefits!

I also made some mini loaves for Roman and Bianca to snack on. Bianca can grab one and snack away, and they are the perfect snack size for Roman. Sometimes with regular muffins he eats half and is full. I feel bad for throwing out half a muffin so I become the garbage compactor. I will compact no more!

Corn Dog Mini Muffins

I hate lunch! I think all moms hate lunch. It's that awkward meal in the middle of the day that lands right between, shopping, playgroup and chores. The only thing worse than making lunch every day, is trying to figure out what to take/send to work/school every day. The struggle is real!

Now before you starting commenting about how unhealthy/nasty hot dogs are, you should probably know this isn't an every day meal in our house. I usually save these tasty little devils for days that I don't feel like cooking, Bianca is fussing and I can't sit her down to cook, or we just want some delicious hot dogs. I know you secretly like a hot dog now and then, don't lie.

I originally started looking for a corn dog recipe because Roman loves himself a hot dog so I thought he'd really like a corn dog, and came across this one from Savoury Simple.  Turns out he could really care less about the corn muffin and I have to withhold the tasty meaty centres until he eats some of the muffin. John and I however could probably eat an entire batch ourselves, and I don't even like corn dogs!

Corn Dog Mini Muffins
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1/4t baking soda
1/4t salt
1/2 cup buttermilk*
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, melted
1 egg
6 hot dogs, cut into 1" pieces

*If you don't have buttermilk on hand, which I never do, add 1T vinegar to 1/2 cup regular milk and let stand for 5 minutes.  This will sour the milk and thicken it right up.

Preheat over to 375°.  Combine flour, cornmeal, baking soda and salt in a large mixing bowl.  In a separate bowl, mix together buttermilk, sugar, butter and egg.  Pour the wet ingredients over the dry ingredients, mixing just until moist.  Spoon 1T of the batter into a mini muffin cup and place one piece of hot dog into the centre.  Bake at 375° for 8-10 minutes.

To Freeze: Allow muffins to cool completely.  Flash freeze on a baking sheet and transfer into a freezer bag once frozen.
To Serve: Reheat in the microwave.

So obviously my corn dogs don't look like muffins. My Mom (Hi Mom!) gave me this handy silicone mini loaf pan from Epicure for Christmas and I thought this would be a perfect use for it.  The cornbread tends to bread off the ends of the dogs, much to Roman's delight because it's easier to get at the hot dog, but it's not a deal breaker for me. These tasty little morsels would be great for a kids birthday party or even if you're having people over to watch a football/hockey game. Plus, since they freeze so well you don't have to buy the pre-made boxed appies! Saves you money and time!