Marvelous Muffins - Healthy, But Still Good

 

One of my amazing friends introduced me to a recipe from Dana Thornock's Lean and Free 2000 Plus many years ago.  When my Preemie came along we struggled with feeding problems for several years.  Oddly enough sprouts, these muffins and Ramen  noodles  were among his favorites.  I was puzzled that a picky kid would eat my sprouts, and the Ramen worried me because we were trying to power pack.   (The day I walked into the kitchen to find him and his little friend shoving sprouts into their mouths in a competitive manner I was a bit surprised.  I concealed my surprise and praised the activity.)
We are not what I would describe as health nuts, but I have a background in healthy eating from my childhood.  But, all of that is beside the point.
 

These muffins became my secret "weapon."  He liked them and would eat them when nothing else sounded good and I felt like he was getting good nutrition in when he ate them.  Whew! 

The recipe here is a variation of Dana's original recipe.  Dana's recipe is lower in sugar and fat, uses egg whites and does not contain chocolate chips or Canned Skim Milk. 

Marvelous Muffins - Unless you want an ARMY sized batch I recommend cutting the recipe in half.

Yeild:42

6 cups Whole Wheat Flour
3 cups Rolled Oats - I use instant
1 Tbsp Baking Soda
1 Tbsp Baking Powder
2 tsp Salt
4 whole Eggs
2 cups Canned Skim Milk - increases protein but not fat
1/2 cup Vegetable oil
2 2/3 cups Sugar
2 cups Applesauce
2 cups Pureed White Beans - I used 1/2 pinto and half white today.  But, prefer all pinto.
12 to 18 ounces Chocolate chips - for picky kids use 18 ounces

Open the can of beans drain most of the liquid off and add them to the blender.  Add water a tiny bit at a time until they are blend-able.  The texture you are going for is the texture of eggs and butter creamed together.

Preheat the oven to 375.  Bake 15-20 min.


Place all of the wet ingredients in one bowl and mix well.  Place all of the dry ingredients in a giant mixing bowl and mix well.  Pour the wet ingredients in and blend taking care to stir around the edges and at the bottom.  DO NOT over stir. Allow lumps and a little bit of dry flour to remain.

Bake in greased muffin pans or in muffin papers sprayed lightly with cooking spray.  You'll lose a lot of the muffin to the muffin paper if you do not spray them. 

I made these today with the whole group home and they wolfed them down with leftovers to spare.

Keyword:  Power Packing