Muffins Galore!

I baked 4 things today, all in the form of muffins.  Two of the recipes were originally for bread.  I made a few modifications and wanted to do muffins, as my plan is to freeze them for easy-to-grab breakfasts or snacks. 

The first recipe I modified, and am calling it "Greek Strawberry Blueberry Muffins."  The original recipe was for Greek Yogurt and Strawberry Banana Bread.  Click [here] for the original recipe.  I did not have any ripe bananas, so I didn't use those.  I also just used plain strawberry greek yogurt rather than strawberry banana.  And since I didn't use bananas, I added a bit of almond milk instead.  Blueberries replaced the actual strawberries.  The result.....eh.  Just ok.  The texture was very very dense and chewy.  Not muffin or cake-like at all.  I've found when using whole wheat flour in baking, this is usually how things turn out.  Anyone know why that is??  The flavor wasn't bad.  I'll still eat them, but not sure if they will be a go-to recipe for me.  I was able to make 14 muffins, and at 86 calories, 16 carbs, 1g fat, and 4g protein per muffin - not too shabby.

While those were baking, I whipped up my Skinny Lemon Poppyseed Muffins.  I used my own version of this recipe [here].  Rather than all-purpose flour, I used whole wheat pastry flour.  Instead of sugar I used stevia.  Low fat milk was almond milk, and oat bran was ground steel cut oats.  I feel the same about this recipe as I did the other.  Flavor = fine.  Texture = dense and chewy.  I still ponder why that is......?  Nutrition info per muffin (I got 13 muffins this time):  86 calories, 17 carbs, 2g fat, and 3g protein. 

Now it just gets better from here.  The Double Chocolate Chunk muffins I made, following this recipe [here], I thought were great!  Not too sweet but sweet enough, and a bit more fluffy and cake-like than the others.  Is it because you use cream of tartar in this one??  Plus they are chocolate, so how can you go wrong!  Definitely a recipe I will make again.  Nutrition info per muffin (I got 17 muffins this time):  132 calories, 22 carbs, 3g fat, and 5g protein. 

Picture courtesy of www.makeitandloveit.com

The last thing I made was Parmesan Quinoa Bites.  HOLY HEAVEN!!!  I absolutely LOVED these to death!  They were SO easy and SO tasty!  I could tell I was going to love them as I was mixing all the ingredients.  They smelled delicious, and certainly tasted that way too.  I'm so glad I found a recipe with quinoa that I LOVE!  Here's a link to the recipe [here]. 

A few adjustments:  I didn't have green onion, so I used red.  I didn't have parsley, so I used some italian pizza seasoning.  It was recommended to use LOTS of cooking spray in your muffin tin so they won't stick.  I thought I used plenty, but would use more next time.  They did stick just a bit for me, but not too bad.  It's recommended to dip in Honey Dijon Dressing or Ranch - I'm sure those would be great!  But I used pizza sauce, and that was super delish in my opinion!  5+ stars on this one!!

Alright, let's see what yummy things I can whip up tomorrow...