We got some great news this morning and fresh muffins were needed for the occasion, stat.

Gracen’s becoming a pro at muffin making.

The secret ingredient in this recipe?  Whole greek yogurt!

The highlight for this little object transferring fiend?  Moving the blueberries, one by one, from the plastic container into the bowl.

Baking is just so much fun!

Prepping the pan is Grae’s specialty.

Next step?  Sprinkling cinnamon sugar on the muffin tops!

In the oven they go.

While waiting, my little baker kept busy at the gorgeous easel she got from her Uncle Gary for Christmas.

‘They’re reeeeaaaady, Mama!’

The finished product ready to be packed up and taken to our friends (explanatory post coming soon!)

The recipe we used can be found here.  Now this recipe is from the Pioneer Woman…  And although I never really follow recipes as they are, you just don’t mess with Pioneer Woman.  Why?  Because she is the QUEEN of cooking. That’s why. We did, however, replace half of the blueberries with raspberries, and add a splash of milk and a little cinnamon.  Shhh..  Don’t tell.

This morning’s activity involved baking a fresh batch of healthy muffins for the week.  Baking with a very busy baby isn’t always easy, so I try to have my ingredients {roughly} measured out before we actually get started. I find that it’s just easier if Grae can stay involved with the dumping and mixing and not have to wait for me to fetch and measure ingredients.

Today we sat on the floor next to the lazy susan and measured out the dry ingredients together and then she did this while I quickly gathered the wet ones.  There’s nothing like a little bowl of almonds and a drink to keep this little munchkin happy.

When I had everything out and ready, it was time to get to work.  First, Grae gave the dry ingredients a little stir by hand.

Then she added the walnuts.

In they go!  This may not be the fastest way of doing it, but I always try to let her do it her way first and then help her dump the rest in afterwards.

In with the milk and olive oil.

And now for the egg…

In it goes.

Then the fun part.  Adding the shredded carrot and zucchini!

She quite liked this step at first, but she didn’t love that her little hand was covered in grated carrot in between handfuls.

Once everything was in the bowl, it was time to let the mixer do its job.  Grae held the bowl, just in case. :)

This was the point when Miss G realized that she could see her reflection on the side of the stainless bowl.  Too funny!

With the batter finished, it was time to brush our muffin tin with olive oil.

Gracen waited patiently while I scooped the batter into the cups and then she sprinkled some cinnamon on the tops of the muffins.

Oops.  The result of overly enthusiastic cinnamon shaking.

The final step was placing a pecan on each muffin top.

Of course, Grae wasn’t shy about shoving some in her mouth when she got the chance.

With the muffins in the oven, it’s now time to wait…

Gracen made sure to check on them part way through.

They’re done!

Here’s the end result. You know how you sometimes bake some healthy and then end up eating it because you know its good for you and not because it actually tastes good?  Well not these!  They are actually really delicious.

Not to mention, they’re kid approved.  Gracen loves them!

If you’re in the mood for some yummy and mostly healthy (they do contain a small amount of sugar and salt) muffins, I strongly recommend you give these a try. I have issues following recipes as they are (hence the reason I’m not a great baker), but the recipe I used as a loose guide  can be found here.

Or if you want to try our version, here it is:

• 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup organic brown sugar, loosely packed
• 2 TBSP ground flax seed
• 2 TBSP wheat germ
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp organic cinnamon (additional for sprinkling)
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 cup old-fashioned organic oats
• 1/2 cup walnuts
• 3 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large organic egg
• 1/3 cup skim milk
• 3 medium carrots, shredded
• 1 small zucchini, shredded
• 1 medium ripe banana, mashed
• 12 pecans (for muffin tops)

Preheat oven to 350° . Prepare a 12 cup muffin pan by brushing it with olive oil.

In a large bowl, combine together the flour, brown sugar, flax, wheat germ, baking soda, baking powder, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Stir in the oats and nuts. Add the oil, egg, milk, carrots, zucchini, and banana and stir until just blended.  Sprinkle muffin tops with cinnamon and place a pecan on top of each.

Bake for 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Let cool and watch your baby gobble them up enthusiastically.

*I actually added an extra 1/3 of a cup of milk because the mixture seemed like it needed a bit more moisture, only to realize later that I had forgotten my thawed banana in the microwave (again, bad baker). With the banana, I don’t think we would have needed the extra milk. OOPS!