Very Berry Muffins
At my kids’ school, the parents are in charge of making the snacks for their child’s class for an entire week, several times a year. With two kids, that means I need to prepare food for over 40 kids five to six weeks a year! This is an easy task for some moms but for others it’s a much bigger challenge that they absolutely dread. The snacks generally run the gamut from cheese cubes, crackers, fresh fruit, steamed veggies, little sandwiches and so on to more elaborate creations that are always put together with love.
Earlier this year, a mother in Kenya’s class made the most incredible muffins that the kids completely devoured. They were unbelievably delicious and packed with a mix of bright, juicy berries. I asked her for the recipe, but she couldn’t find it. Nonetheless, I was determined to figure out how to recreate her delectable creation. As we head into the fall and winter months, fresh berries will be a big challenge to find (and will cost an arm and a leg when you do), so instead I’m using an entire bag of frozen mixed berries to fulfill my craving for these treats.
I’m not kidding, I love these muffins so much, the next time I make them for snack they may not all make it to the classroom!
Very Berry Muffins (Makes 12 Regular Muffins)
1/2 Cup All Purpose Flour
3/4 Cup Whole Wheat Flour
3/4 Cup Old Fashioned Oats
2 Tsp Baking Powder
1/2 Tsp Salt
1/3 Cup Brown Sugar
1 Large Egg, whisked
1 Tsp Vanilla Extract
3/4 Cup Milk
1/3 Cup Canola or Vegetable Oil
2 Cups Frozen Berries
1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. Place the first 6 ingredients in a bowl and combine.
3. Combine the egg, vanilla extract, milk and oil in a separate bowl.
4. Slowly combine the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients.
5. Gently mix the frozen berries into the batter, do not over mix or the berries will bleed.
6. Pour batter into greased or muffin lined regular sized tins.
7. Bake for 20-22 minutes.
8. Allow muffins to cool for 5 minutes then remove to a cooling rack.
9. Serve.
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My 15 month old will love these! I am wondering the purpose of using the two different types of flour? We have very limited pantry space and I ususally only keep one type of flour.
Thanks for all the great recipes and ideas!
I like to add whole wheat flour for added nutrition whenever possible. You could easily make these with all white flour if you prefer, though. If you try to make them with all whole wheat flour they may become to dense.
would it work if instead of 2 different kinds of flour, I would use whole wheat pastry flour? I use that instead of white flour and it works great!!
That’s a perfect substitute. I rarely ask for it in recipes because I know a lot of moms don’t keep it on hand.
Thanks for the idea of the whole wheat pastry flour. I was just looking at this recipe and wondering how it would work with all whole wheat flour. I don’t use white flour anymore. I actually have whole wheat pastry flour, but have only used it a little bit so far. I didn’t realize that would be better in baked recipes where I substitute all the white flour. Why didn’t I realize this before?
sounds wonderful…can’t wait to try these! btw, “i can’t find the recipe” usually means “no way, not giving it to you!”
If I use mini muffin pans, how long should I bake?
For mini muffins I would cook them 12-14 minutes. I made them in mini’s and they were little berry bites of deliciousness!
Julie, my thought exactly!!!
Julie, Tiffany, You read my mind. Lol!
What do you make for the class snacks Catherine? I’m in the same boat!
The parents at the kids school are responsible for snack a few times a year. We need to provide a fruit or veggie, protein and carbohydrate. That can mean bagels with cream cheese, muffins, edamame, carrots, cut fruit, pancakes or waffles, cheese, yogurt, etc.. This week I make watermelon balls, red beet & white bean hummus, whole wheat cheddar crackers and brown rice crisp-wee treats. It’s fun to watch the kids enjoying different foods every day.
Did you thaw the berries before adding them to the batter?
Nope, just toss them in and gently stir!
We just picked so many apples from my grandparents trees. I think we will try this recipe using chopped apples instead of berries.
You could also try one of these recipes if you have tons of apples:
http://weelicious.com/2011/04/18/carrot-apple-coconut-muffins/
http://weelicious.com/2010/10/18/pumpkin-apple-muffins/
Do you have the calorie count for these muffins?
I don’t have it. I try to keep the weelicious recipes as nutritionally balanced as possible. I’ve been thinking about adding nutritional info, though.
Personally, I don’t count calories anymore. I think it’s more important to read the ingredients… no toxic ingredients, preservatives, processed sugars, coloring/dyes and preferably low-glycemic!
I also prefer to use non-rancid oils for cooking, like grapeseed or coconut oils, and butter. They may be higher in calories, but they aren’t damaging to your body.
Keep the recipes coming… thanks!
I generally use light spelt flour in my muffins and it has always worked out fine too. I love the idea of the frozen berries with the winter coming. Interesting that you have to provide the snacks at school.
I use spelt flour a lot too. It’s a great option instead of the whole wheat flour. Tell me about it with the snack. Several weeks a year feeding 14-24 kids (depending on whether it’s Kenya or Chloe’s class). You always know who’s the snack mom because she’s dragging her kids and big bags of groceries!
If you go to myfitnessplan.com you can input the recipe and it will calculate the nutritional value for you.
I’m jealous you can actually make snacks. My DD’s school, everything has to be store bought, nothing homemade…which makes snack days at school extra expensive. Lovin these muffins tho. They would be perfect on the table for holidays as well.
Same with my daughter’s preschool, nothing homemade. Boo! We have to bring snack for the first time next week and I’m struggling to find a healthy packaged snack that is not too expensive for 21 kids.
My child’s preschool did not allow homemade nor store bought:( Boo! I wasn’t even able to bring in a batman cake or cupcake for the class. If you want cake, you have to make arrangements with the cafeteria ladies. They make things so complicated!
Could I use rice milk or goat’s milk? My son is allergic to cow’s milk and nuts.
In general, what is the best substitute for cow’s milk when cooking?
Thanks
When we thought my son might have a dairy allergy, I used unsweetened/plain almond milk in my baking and everything turned out great!
October’s issue of Cooking LIght magazine has an article on milk substitutes and how well they can sub in for cow’s milk in certain recipes.
We have dairy and nut allergies in our house as well. We use rice milk almost everytime a recipe calls for cows milk and it turns out great. I have even used it to make mashed potatoes and homemade chocolate pudding!
We take snacks too. Not for a whole week though. We rotate by days. I don’t think we can make it though.
Lol! I would say I couldn’t find it too if I didn’t wanna share the recipe. How could she lose it that quick. I’m sure you asked her the same day she made em.
NE way this looks like something my kids will love.
I love muffins and these look really good!
I made these in my mini muffin pan this afternoon and my 5 year old son could not stop eating them. Perfect afterschool snack and he has requested them for breakfast tomorrow morning. Big Hit!!
How would you make these for Gluten free kids? Would it be OK to use all purpose gluten free flour?
Thanks
These look great. My boy asks for muffins at least 3 times a week for his morning snack at preschool. I may try them with buttermilk, since he loves anything with buttermilk.
P.S. LOVE THE PHOTO!
These were so delicious! Thank you for a another great muffin recipe!!!
What can I use to replace eggs. We have an egg allergy in the family. Thanks.
I know what I’ll be doing after my girls go to bed tonight. Looks delicious!
We use ground chia seeds and water to replace eggs and either coconut milk or almond milk in place of cow milk. My friends are always shocked that my muffins are vegan. Another egg alternative is ground flax and water. Both flax and chia provide some of the viscosity of the egg.
I made the muffins this week with my 3yr old daughter….super easy and VERY tasty!!
Catherine, I just made these muffins! They are wonderful! Thanks for another great recipe!!!
Made these for my 9 month old this morning and she LOVED them! She loves all berries and anything with bread like substances, so this was perfect
thanks for all the great recipes
Hi Catherine! I have these in the oven now (made with blueberries). Do you think bananas would work well with this recipe? I thought about it AFTER I finished mixing of course. Curious what you think about bananas…
I substituted all natural applesauce for the oil for less fat calories and turned out great also.
I used frozen organic wild blueberries and the minute I poured them into the batter they bled
I am sure they will taste great, but they are going to be gray instead of perfect and pretty like yours! What did I do wrong? They went straight from the freezer into the batter.
I’m worried about my frozen berries bleeding too. I wonder if tossing the berries in flour before adding to the batter will help prevent bleeding?? I’m making these for my daycare providers birthday, I want them to turn out nicely!!
When using frozen blueberries if you coat them with a light coating of flour it will keep them from bleeding.
I just got done making these. The recipe was easy to follow and they look tasty only thing is my berries ended up bleeding and I didn’t do mix alot. I am making them for my daughter’s Pre-K class tomorrow morning. We alternate snack days here. I hope the kids love them as much as I do.
I make these with 70% w/w flour, and 30% white flour. I also only use frozen blueberries, and these muffins are simply delicious!!! Thank you so much!
Fantastic! Love these muffins, and so do my kids! I love having easy, quick and nutritious snacks to give them, and it helps that they love these
) Thanks for another awesome recipe!
Do you have to use oats?
I discovered your site after seeing you on Access Hollywood this morning and I’m so glad I did!
Just made these muffins. I used whole wheat pastry flour for all of the flour and almond milk for the milk. The only issue I had was that I used the frozen mixed berries from Costco and some of those suckers are big so they made a bit of a mess. Not that I care about how they look – they taste fantastic!
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Nice recipe. Can’t wait to try it with fresh berries in the spring. Weight Watchers, only 3 points per muffin – mine made 14 muffins.
Made them several times before, and always a success. I just made a batch without berries, subbing frozen pineapple, and some coconut. Just like a pina colata!
What can be substituted for the oil and would the measurements be the same?
You can substitute coconut milk or applesauce for oil. Use the same amount. I have not tried those substitutions in these muffins, but others have with great results!
I used baking SODA instead of baking powder on accident
Are they still ok to eat or should I toss them? So frustrated 
Oh no! I have done that before! They will probably have a funny flavor. Taste them and see what you think! It isn’t harmful or anything, just not pleasant in my opinion.
Yes, I ended up throwing them out, darn it! When I first tried them I didn’t realize what I had done and thought..Hmm… these are different but I’ll eat them anyway, haha! Then it came to me after looking over the recipe what I had done wrong and realized what I did. I’ll try again
just made these for the first time, and wont be my last! Delish and simple as can be…. Thank you for providing awesome receipes
I love these muffins and am very pleased that there is not a lot of sugar in them for my 2 year old, but would these be considered diabetic friendly? My dad is having a hard time with his sugars but I don’t know a lot about diabetic cooking since he was diagnosed recently. My mom and I are looking for healthy snacks and meals for him!! thanks.
These muffins certainly are great when you want something sweet but also healthy! I would check with your dad’s doctor and ask about his specific needs and sugar limitations.
Just made these today and they are so yummy! Used all blueberries and substituted applesauce in place of the oil. Also substituted 1/4 cup ground flax seed for 1/4 cup of the whole wheat flour for an extra nutritional boost. I lightly coated the frozen blueberries in flour and had no problem with them bleeding into the batter. Can’t wait for my kids to wake up from nap and try them
These muffins are absolutely delicious. I used fresh berries instead of frozen, and made sure not to mix them too much to keep the berries intact. They came out so good that the kids in my son’s playgroup refused to let the parents try their muffins
Will definitely make again!! Thanks
These filled my 2 mini muffin pans PERFECTLY! Having the girls and kiddies over and I’m sure we’ll all enjoy them for the second week in a row
My 2 year old just had a big one as her “birthday cake” last week, and it didn’t last long.
THANKS!
I have an entire bag of frozen cherries in the freezer that I only needed a few of for something. Do you think these would be good with just cherries?
That sounds delicious!
giam can…
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made these to use for snack time this week… used the mini muffin tin n they cooked perfectly in 10m
… my 20m/o loves them.
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