Lunchbox Harvest Muffins Recipe (2024)

By Melissa Clark

Lunchbox Harvest Muffins Recipe (1)

Total Time
35 minutes
Rating
5(1,469)
Notes
Read community notes

These diminutive muffins make the rotation at least twice a week in my daughter's lunchbox. Although they are filled with plenty of good-for-you ingredients (whole-wheat flour, olive oil, apple and grated vegetables), they are moist and just sweet enough to ensure that they don’t end up coming back home, which is the sad fate of many a salami sandwich.

Featured in: Healthful Muffins, Moist and Sweet, for Anytime

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Ingredients

Yield:About 2½ dozen mini-muffins (or 1 dozen regular muffins)

  • 140grams (1⅛ cups) whole-wheat pastry flour
  • 5grams (1 teaspoon) baking soda
  • 1teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • ¼teaspoon salt
  • 2large eggs
  • ½cup olive oil
  • 1tablespoon honey
  • 70grams (⅓ cup) packed dark brown sugar
  • 1small apple, grated, and juices reserved (½ cup)
  • ½cup grated carrots or butternut squash or parsnips
  • ½cup grated zucchini or beets
  • 55grams (⅓ cup) raisins
  • 40grams (½ cup) unsweetened shredded coconut

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Nutritional analysis per serving (30 servings)

79 calories; 5 grams fat; 1 gram saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 3 grams monounsaturated fat; 1 gram polyunsaturated fat; 9 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 1 gram protein; 54 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Lunchbox Harvest Muffins Recipe (2)

Preparation

  1. Step

    1

    Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease mini-muffin tins.

  2. Step

    2

    In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

  3. Step

    3

    In a large bowl, combine the eggs, olive oil, honey, brown sugar, grated apple and juices and grated vegetables.

  4. Step

    4

    Using a spatula, fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture until just combined. Gently fold in the raisins and coconut.

  5. Step

    5

    Fill each muffin cup ¾ of the way up, and bake for about 15 to 18 minutes for mini-muffins and about 20 to 22 minutes for regular muffins. The muffins are finished baking when an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Ratings

5

out of 5

1,469

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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

Jen Braun

I make these about once a week now. Very forgiving recipe -- I've messed with it all kinds of ways: Used regular flour instead of whole wheat, all carrots for the veg (and all zucchini too), accidentally doubled the amount of veggies, on-purpose doubled the amount of raisins, and skipped the coconut. It's always come out fine. And my kids vacuum them up.

Pasture

I encourage the gentle writers citing calories and fat to relax just a wee li'l smidge. These are not sinful muffins. They are fine, upstanding, nutritious and ,may I say, outasite muffins.

Erika

I took the olive oil down to 1/3 cup and the brown sugar down to 1/4 cup and they were delicious and moist. Thank you!

HogarthPress

Delicious and moist muffins! To add some warmth and spice, I also added 1/2 a teaspoon of ground ginger and 1/8 teaspoon of cloves. I also substituted the raisins for walnuts and crystallized ginger!

sneitz

I made these for my husband who likes to have a home-baked muffin with his coffee at work. They freeze beautifully. He just takes one out every morning and they are perfectly thawed by mid-morning.

Karen

I decided to use up half a bag of Trader Joe's Broccoli Slaw, which is largely shredded broccoli stalk and a bit of carrot. Before adding it to the batter, I processed the slaw into smaller bits in a food processor. The slaw smelled a bit like cabbage, but the muffins came out perfectly, with no cabbage or broccoli taste. I reduced the oil to 1/3 cup and didn't pack the brown sugar. I didn't have an apple, but I had applesauce. This recipe is a gem. You rock, Melissa!

Krista

Melissa,
Ive cooked pounds of your recipes and now your name is synonymous with "it's going to work". I knew even with your humble preamble these muffins would be perfect- and they were. melted coconut oil worked for the oil Sweet potatoes were wonderful for the parsnips, and I didn't have whole wheat flour, raisins or coconut flakes. Instead i subbed 1 to 1 with white flour (ha!) and added 1/2 cup of wheat germ. You rule and so does this modular recipe.

D B

Added 2 overripe bananas, vanilla, omitted the sugar and halved the oil, and baked in a loaf pan. Totally delicious!!!

riverdalite

Instead of a hand grater I used the food processor grater and was concerned that the vegetables would be too noticeable. Came out fine. Good way to get rid of some things in the vegetable drawer.

Gillian O'C

My experience is that King Arthur's Gluten Free flour is much better than Bob's Red Mill mix. Thought Bob's individual flours are great the mix is really heavy.

Rose

These were so-o-o-o delicious and moist. I made 12 large muffins since there are no kiddos in our house. The collection of ingredients are very nutritious and satisfying. This is a recipe I will make again and again.

Paula

These were pretty amazing. I didn't have whole wheat flour, so I put Bob's Red Mill 7 Grain Cereal in the blender and used that as my flour. I also added 1 tsp of baking powder. I also used a combo of raisins and dried cherries. They were delish and my 2 1/2 year old loved them. He even helped make them.

Jill

Being a lazy cook, I used Junior babyfood for the apples and veggies. Works fine. Also, chopped pecans instead of coconut. Mmmmm!

gajumaru

The whole fam gobbles these up. I use coconut oil instead of olive oil and no shredded coconut just b/c I never seem to have it on hand. I also never have pastry flour so I just use 70 grams of cake flour and 70 grams of whole wheat flour (although I make this recipe so often now that I should just go buy it!) I freeze a huge batch and throw 3 in to their snack bags. They defrost by lunch time.

Debra

This is something that will be a "regualr" at our house! I made a couple of adjustments. 1.) I used unsweetened applesauce in place of the oil. 2.) I only used 1/4 c. brown sugar 3.) I didn't have whole wheat pastry flour so I substituted 2/3 c. + 1 tablespoon all purpose flour and 1/3 c. + 1 tablespoon cake flour. It's 4 points on Weight Watchers with those adjustments.

me and Liv

Added 1 cup carrot, 1 banana, toasted pecans, chocolate chips and I c oats. Could use a bit more sugar

mgj

Half whole wheat, half white flour. Regular coconut.

Gillian

These were fantastic. Other commenters are correct, I doubled the shredded veg (butternut squash, beets), kept the apple and added an overripe banana. I also added wheat bran (1/2 cup) and toasted walnuts. I reduced the sugar and cinnamon by half and added cardamom and nutmeg. I think they'd be great without any spices. I can't believe how moist and delicious these are. Total keeper of a recipe!

Julia

I used an excellent olive oil, but it was too pungent for muffins. Next time I'd use canola.

Jenny

These are great but I would use coconut or vegetable oil next time as the olive oil is overpowering the other flavours (and a tiny bit too moist)

Patricia

Has anyone tried using buckwheat flour?

Coffee Grinder

Great muffins, i followed the recommendation to use 1/3 c olive oil and 1/4c brown sugar. Muffins were very moist and tender.

Nadine

I made this with all red apples, 60g sugar, no honey, half the olive oil. squeezed some lemon juice over the apples as someone suggested. very yummy.

Paloaltogirl

Folks, we’re talking about 1/3 cup brown sugar 1T honey spread across 12 full size muffins! And PLEASE don’t sub coconut oil for the olive oil. Olive oil has tremendous nutritional benefits; coconut oil, not so much. Some of those comments are six years old, so we were still in the “fat is bad for you/coconut oil is healthy” phase, I get it, but not now!

nerdgirl2000

It was apple picking season we we used all apples (with juices) instead of any veggies, and half the olive oil. And we used gluten free flour instead of regular. They are getting thumbs up from two kids so will make again!

Emily in France

I made this exactly as written except -no cinnamon -just a few raisins and I like it but the coconut flavor is very strong. Next time I’ll add less coconut.

Erica

I subbed a small peach for the apple as I'm allergic and these came out great! Very easy recipe!

mmw

Love this recipe as a snack or lunchbox item for my kids. I enjoy them too! Reduce oil (coconut) to 1/3 cup, reduce sugar to 1/4 cup. I make vegan to suit our family’s needs by subbing 2 flax eggs and using molasses or maple syrup in place of honey. Other options to play with for egg substitutes would be applesauce or mashed banana.

Amanda

Light brown sugar molassesNo honey

RecipesAreRecommendations

I have been trying to invent a recipe like this for 20 years. 5 stars.

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Lunchbox Harvest Muffins Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What is the secret to making moist muffins? ›

How to Make Homemade Muffins Moist: Our Top Tips
  1. Tips to Make Homemade Muffins Moist.
  2. Keep Wet and Dry Ingredients Separately.
  3. Add All Flavorings Last.
  4. Consider Paper Liners.
  5. Don't Overfill the Muffin Cups.
  6. Check the Temperature of Your Oven.
  7. Test if Muffins Are Fully Cooked.
  8. Top Your Muffins with Flavor.
Aug 9, 2021

What's in a harvest muffin? ›

Ingredients
  1. 2 cups flour.
  2. 3/4 cup sugar.
  3. 1 Tbsp cinnamon.
  4. 2 tsp baking soda sifted.
  5. 1/2 tsp salt.
  6. 2 cups shredded carrots packed.
  7. 1 cup shredded zucchini packed.
  8. 1 large apple cored and finely chopped.

Why are they called Morning Glory muffins? ›

Why are these called Morning Glory Muffins? These yummy yet healthy-ish muffins get their name based on where they first originated. They are actually named after The Morning Glory Cafe on Nantucket.

What does adding an extra egg do to muffins? ›

If there isn't enough egg, your batter or dough may not be able to hold its structure or could end up overly dry or dense. On the other hand, if there is too much egg, your baked goods could lose their shape due to excess liquid, or have a rubbery (or even overly cakey) texture depending on the recipe.

Is it better to use oil or butter in muffins? ›

Many muffin recipes use cooking oil instead of butter. Oil, being a liquid, distributes easily in the quick-mix batter and is readily absorbed into the baked muffin, producing a light non-greasy texture. Vegetable oil is ideal because its mild flavour doesn't compete with the main flavour of the muffin.

How to hack muffin mix? ›

5 Ways To Jazz Up Muffin Mix
  1. Add Fresh or Frozen Fruit to the Batter. Our Wild Blueberry Muffin Mix comes with a can of blueberries for your convenience, but you can easily add fruit to any of our mixes. ...
  2. Add a Cream Cheese Filling. ...
  3. Add Nuts to the Batter. ...
  4. Add a Sweet Topping. ...
  5. Make Something Completely Different.

What is the big sugar on muffins called? ›

Sanding sugar is used to decorate and garnish desserts and goodies like cookies, scones, muffins, and candies. It's sometimes used for other things too, like cakes. It makes a great addition to your creative arsenal, especially if you like to decorate holiday cookies to bag up and hand out as gifts each year.

What is a tulip muffin? ›

A chocolate muffin with plain, white & milk chocolate pieces. Chocolate muffin with milk, plain and white... chocolate chunks. Attractively presented in individual tulip cases, and in unbranded boxes of 24 – ready for front-of-house display.

What is the top of a muffin called? ›

The muffin top is the crisp upper part of the muffin, which has developed a "browned crust that's slightly singed around the edges".

Why is muffin slang for? ›

Muffin,when used as a slang is sometimes very impolite . It can mean an attractive person,usually female,similar to sugar.It can mean a female reproductive organ.

Why don't English muffins toast? ›

If the structure is dense, the English muffin will be too “bready” and heavy and won't crisp well in the toaster.

What to add to muffin mix to make it moist? ›

Milk: I like to use buttermilk or whole milk in this recipe because either add wonderful moisture and flavor. You can use any milk, dairy or nondairy, but the lower fat milk you use, the less flavorful and moist your muffins will taste.

How to get domed muffins? ›

According to O. Corriher, the way to get a perfectly puffed up dome on your muffins is to increase your oven heat. She says that 400° should do it, no matter what the recipe says. The higher baking temperature means that the the outside edges of the muffin will set while the middle is still liquidy.

Should you let muffin batter rest? ›

Rest the Muffin Batter

The first, most hands-off way to make your muffins pop (literally) is to let the batter rest. Make the batter, cover the bowl with plastic wrap, and let the batter rest at room temperature for about 1 hour. If you're short on time, just 30 minutes can make a difference.

How do you keep muffins from drying out? ›

If muffins are left exposed, the moisture starts to leak from them and they dry out. To store muffins up to 4 days, line an airtight container or zip-lock bag with paper towel and store the muffins in a single layer. Place another layer of paper towel on top of the muffins as well.

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