I would never count baking as one of my strengths. It's one of those techniques that require a bit of science to make it come out perfection, at least in my opinion. The exact amount of water to the exact amount of flour mixture. Oh and don't get me started on how the dish might change based on the flour you use. I haven't kept all-purpose flour in my own kitchen since...ever. I've always tried my recipes with whole wheat flour and the results were always different than whoever's recipe was trying to follow. I'm constantly trying to finesse a vegan alternative to eggs when baking or using almond milk instead of whole. Most times I would never find a recipe that included ingredients I already had and not a long list of little things. However, when Better Body Foods reached out to me to test their protein powder, I really, really, really wanted to do something fun like bake muffins with it! Even with all the heartache I suffer with baking, I still wanted to give this batch a chance. You can do a million and ten protein smoothie recipes with thousands of variations (which I did feature on Instagram **eye roll** but nothing beats the excitement of some low cal strawberry-banana muffins.
I found this recipe by Little Sweet Baker which included all the ingredients I already had. I decided to use eggs and follow the recipe exactly. No variations when it came to the amount of flour, butter, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and milk.
I knew the main difference would be my choice in flour.
When combining ingredients for preparing a dough or batter, its best to mix the dry ingredients separate from the liquids. Since I mix by hand, this ensures it's actually going to combine evenly.
Once the batter is mixed, feel free to add in whatever fruits or nuts of your liking. I broke the batter out into 2 batches.
The photo below is from batch one; blueberry banana muffins with a brown sugar crunch topping. I completely filled the muffin cups way too high so the batter spilled over. Immediately I freaked out thinking that I completely ruined them...they were perfect.
The brown sugar crunch cooled off really well and left a nice topping. So sweet.
Batch 1 cooked at 425F for 5 minutes. Then, without opening the oven door, turn the thermostat down to 375F and bake for the remaining 15 minutes or until middle is not dripping wet. Most of the blueberry batch had a bread-like texture, similar to banana bread.
For Batch 2, I chose not to do the brown sugar crumb just so one of them can be the "healthier" choice. Batch 2 was strawberry banana. I learned my lesson and only filled the baking tin 3/4 of the way. Batch 2 cooked at 375F for 15 minutes and had more of moist center.
Ingredients: serves 12 muffins
2.5 cups Trader Joe's Whole Wheat Flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup Califa Farms Almond Milk
1 tsp vanilla extract (all I had left)
fruits: blueberries, bananas, strawberries, etc.
Instructions
Preheat the oven to 425F. Grease an entire standard-size muffin pan (including the rim) with butter or spray with non-stick cooking spray.
To prepare the streusel; mix together the sugar, flour, and cinnamon in a small bowl. Stir in the butter, and set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk the melted butter with the sugar. Add the eggs, milk, and vanilla. Mix again.
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently stir using a rubber spatula until almost combined. Fold in the blueberries until just combined.
Divide the batter into the muffin cups, top with streusel and bake for 5 minutes at 425F, then keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the heat to 375F and bake for another 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Let cool in pan on the countertop for 10 minutes. Carefully lift the muffins and let cool.
