Hellobee

I have always had a thing for muffins. I just love them! A muffin was my typical breakfast growing up. I especially enjoy what I call “oaty” muffins, which are just muffins with oats, bran, or some grain goodness.

There is a place in my hometown called Honey’s and they have the perfect oat bran muffin, or should I say oaty, muffin. When I went home for the holidays during college, I would buy a dozen, wrap each muffin individually, freeze them, and take them back to school with me. That should give you some idea of my muffin obsession.

Needless to say, I’ve been looking forward to sharing muffins with Petit Macaron. I have been feeding him all sorts of purees and slowly trying to add more finger type foods into the mix. He’s not the biggest fan of solids, yet. He gives the cutest confused face when something has more texture. I figured muffins would be good to try as they are soft, easy to eat, and tasty.

I looked for a recipe that would be nutritious for a baby – like no sugar or crazy ingredients. Also, I wanted to use some some fruits I had hanging around at home that needed to be used – a ripe banana and avocado to be exact. This recipe came up on my Pinterest feed and fit the bill. I baked them up during Petit Macaron’s morning nap and was surprised how easy they were to throw together.

I tasted the final product and was pleasantly surprised – good texture and slightly sweet. I fed it to the little guy and he actually ate it. Win!

Given my success, I thought I’d share the recipe with my adjustments. I used some of the frozen applesauce I had made previously, but only had 1/2 cup worth of it and the original recipe called for 1 cup. Instead I added 1/2 cup peaches since I had some on hand. The peaches were cooked already since they were from dinner the day before – luckily I didn’t add anything to them when I cooked them so it worked perfectly. The other change was with the oats. I didn’t have any quick-cooking oats, so I used old-fashioned oats instead. I considered pulsing them in the food processor for a minute to make them smaller, but I opted not to because my time was limited since Petit Macaron takes a shorter morning nap.

The recipe is pretty flexible. You can play around with the fruits and veggies, so long as they add up to about 2 cups. For instance, you can use pumpkin and apples. Or maybe try zucchini and pineapple!

I hope your little ones enjoy! Muffins for the win!

Mini Baby Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 large banana, mashed (about 1/2 cup)
• 1 medium avocado, mashed (about 1/2 cup)
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup roasted peach, mashed

Directions:

1. Preheat over to 350°F. Lightly grease a mini muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl, stir together the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon.
3. Make a well in the center and add the mashed banana, mashed avocado and applesauce. Stir until well combined.
4. Divide batter evenly among the 24 mini muffin cups. Bake for 12-14 minutes until set.

Slightly Adapted from The Baker Mama’s Baby Food Muffins.