These are not the muffins we made yesterday, but WordPress isn’t letting me upload new photos for some reason (I blame Covid) so I had to just pull this from the archives. Whatever. You guys know what a muffin looks like, right? #doingourbestoverhere #survivingnotthriving

Looking for an activity to do with your kiddos that results in a (semi) healthy snack? Or just looking for a muffin recipe you can make with whatever you’ve got in your pantry? We made these yesterday and I realized that so many of the ingredients could be swapped, subbed, stretched… perfect for quarantine! Plus, there’s enough ingredients to measure and dump that it can occupy helping hands for at least a little bit (and I will take those small wins however I can get them right now, ok?)

Flexible Quarantine Muffins

• 1/3 cup oil (avocado, canola, safflower, peanut) or melted butter
• 2 eggs (or 1/2 cup applesauce or mashed banana)
• 1/3 cup plain yogurt, buttermilk, dairy or non-dairy milk, or any combination of those (I used 1/4 cup greek yogurt topped off with whole milk)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/3 cup brown or white sugar or 1/4 cup maple syrup or honey
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4 cups all-purpose flour or GF flour
• 3/4 cups other flour (almond, oat*, whole wheat, GF flour, or more all-purpose)
• 1 tbsp flaxmeal or chia seeds (feel free to leave out if you don’t have this)
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 cup grated zucchini, carrot, apple, applesauce, or mashed banana (or any combination)
• 6 chopped dates or about 1/2 cup raisins, dried cranberries, apricots or any other dried fruit (chopped, if large)
• Raw sugar (or other sugar), for topping (optional)

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and grease a 12 cup muffin tin.
2. Whisk together oil, eggs, vanilla and sugar.
3. In a separate bowl, whisk together cinnamon, salt, flour(s), flax/chia, baking powder and soda.
4. Pour dry ingredients into wet and stir just until combined. Stir in grated zucchini and dates (or whatever you’re using).
5. Spoon batter into muffin tins (fill about 2/3 full), sprinkle tops with sugar (optional), and bake until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 18-21 minutes.

*You can make your own oat flour by blitzing old fashioned or quick-cooking oatmeal in the blender or a food processor.

Looking for another easy muffin recipe to make with kids? We love these whole wheat applesauce muffins. These pumpkin muffins are also easy and delicious!