Looking to come up with a super healthy veggie packed muffin

mommyof2boys

Wed, Aug 29 2012, 10:03 pm

My kids are extremely picky and don't touch veggies. We are starting to have problems with constipation too.
I am looking to come up with a super healthy muffin (ie bran muffin that may have other ingredients like whole wheat flour, minimal brown sugar, little or no oil, flaxseed, wheatgerm, oat bran etc) BUT the catch is, I want to hide some veggies in there- carrots? zucchini? anything else that doesnt have a strong taste?

I have no doubt that if they are sweet enough and taste good my kids will eat them. Regular bran muffins made with apple sauce and prunes/dates go over well. Does anyone have a recipe that can hide veggies too?

TIA!!

Chaya4

Wed, Aug 29 2012, 11:18 pm

Would love a recipe like that! I'm thinking of breakfeast food on the go

ra_mom

Wed, Aug 29 2012, 11:24 pm

these?
http://imamother.com/forum/vie.....ffins

you can grind the carrots and apples if you need them to blend in to the muffin

spring13

Wed, Aug 29 2012, 11:45 pm

Zucchini is the perfect veggie mix-in because it's pretty flavorless, you can easily mask it with spices or other flavors. Also, try whole wheat pastry flour to improve the overall texture of the muffin (sometimes regular whole wheat can be a little dense).

I just made chocolate zucchini muffins that my toddler DD LOVED (and so did the adults who tried them). The recipe I used isn't super low sugar, but I found some similar ones you could try - just google "low sugar chocolate zucchini muffins".

Bleemee

Thu, Aug 30 2012, 12:06 am

ra_mom wrote:

these?
http://imamother.com/forum/vie.....ffins

you can grind the carrots and apples if you need them to blend in to the muffin

These are amazing!!

kakky

Thu, Aug 30 2012, 12:09 am

I make carrot-zuchinni muffins with whole wheat flour. some of my kids wont eat because they can see the veggies. My 6 yo DS told his friends to eat with their eyes closed so they wont see the veggies.

OutATowner

Thu, Aug 30 2012, 6:36 pm

I don't have any recipes on hand but I know people who love this cookbook:
Deceptively Delicious
Also, you should research how to keep the nutritional value of the vegetables. When you boil vegetables many of the vitamins are lost, for instance.

shirachadasha

Thu, Aug 30 2012, 9:19 pm

Lots of squashes have a bland taste.

Fri, Aug 31 2012, 1:12 am

This is one of my favorite, pretty healthy recipe (oats and nuts).

Make-Your-Own Granola Bars

2 cups oats
2 tablespoons flax meal (or any type of bran) plus enough whole wheat flour to make 1/2 cup total
1 cup nuts, chopped to desired size (walnuts, almonds, cashews, peanuts, etc.)
1 cup total dried fruit (e.g. 1/2 cup raisins plus 1/2 cup chopped mixed dried fruit)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
1/3 cup honey
2 extra-large eggs
1 to 2 tablespoons water

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 9x13" pan with cooking spray.
Mix all dry ingredients in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the eggs and honey.
Dump the wet ingredients into the dry, and mix till combined.
In a food processor fitted with steel blade, add one cup of the granola mix, and pulse till sticky. Add this back to the granola (this helps it all stick together). Mix the granola until well combined, and turn it into the pan.
Pat it down evenly till granola covers the entire pan.
Bake bars 15-20 minutes or until the edges are starting to brown.
Remove from oven and let cool 15-20 minutes in pan, then remove from pan to cool on wire rack. (I don't have a wire rack, so at this stage I just cut it up and let it cool on a plate).
Cut into bars of desired shape and size, and store in airtight container.
Bars can be frozen, and defrost very quickly. You can wrap them individually for a quick on-the-go snack.
Be sure to put some parchment paper between the bars if stacking.

Fri, Aug 31 2012, 1:57 am

For veggie recipes:

http://www.epicurious.com/reci.....39164
http://hannahkeeley.com/recipe.....ffins (just add some cocoa powder, my guess is probably 1/4 to 1/2 cup)
http://www.lovefromtheoven.com.....fins/

Tue, May 07 2013, 12:23 am

Also, sneak in mashed sweet potato instead of some of the oil/liquid in a recipe for muffins- we always have leftovers that were baked whole in the oven, wrapped in some silver foil, for about an hour at 375 degrees F. They are so sweet, you can cut down on added sugars. Ditto for butternut squash.
Try to sub some of the flour with oats. Even grind some oats and use the oat flour to replace white flour, if you have patience.
DO they drink loads of juice- juice is a huge constipation causer.... Try to water it down. Make home-made iced tea with herbal teas?
I just bought these cool veggie cutters, in different shapes, from Amazon. My daughter loves the flower cucumbers and red peppers. Any sandwiches cut into shapes will be eaten immediately! (sneak some shredded veggies into mashed tuna or eggs).
Picky eaters turn us into creative Mums!

ruth

Tue, May 07 2013, 2:27 am

This came out nice. I used the Bob's Red Mill Gluten free muffin & biscuit mix from Whole Foods rather than all of the "flour" alternatives in the list. I used 1 1/2 mix with 1/2 cup potato starch.

http://wholefoodsmarket.com/re.....ffins