This morning, I received the summer email that parents either love or hate: “Welcome back to school!”
Personally, I have mixed feelings about this email. Okay, mixed feelings for about two seconds and then excitement sets in. I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: I love August and back to school time. Maybe it’s because I was a teacher before having children. Or, and probably much more likely to be the case, I personally thrive on consistency and routine and find my children are the same way. Summer is a time when both those words have absolutely no meaning.
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It’s been a fun summer. We’ve gone to the movies on a random Tuesday night, without caring about bedtimes. (PS: Incredibles 2 is a fantastic movie–even better than the first one.) We traveled to Iceland with the kids. We’ve had fun in the kitchen, enjoyed picnic dinners at the beach, and watched way too much Netflix. <–We’re just catching up on the last nine months of new content. It’s been a good summer. And now it’s time to enjoy the last few weeks, all while preparing for a new school year.
We talk a lot about food prep here on the blog and over on Instagram. I’ve personally seen the benefits of meal prep (even if this means preparing just one breakfast item) in my own life. Meal prep has helped us simplify our full weeks, allowing us to spend less time in the kitchen during the week.
I encourage you to give meal prep a try. Start small, with just one thing. This one thing may look like preparing one breakfast item, or chopping a few veggies for snacks and lunches. By starting now, you’ll get into a routine with meal prep and build some meal prep muscles. I think you’ll be amazed at how much of an impact preparing just one thing can have on your week.
This week, here on the blog, we’re going to make muffins. The goal in sharing simple muffin recipes is to help you get started with meal prep.
Muffins are a great food to prep in advance for several reasons:
- They’re easy to make. About 15-20 minutes is all you’ll need to prep muffins.
- They keep in the fridge for about a week.
- They don’t require any special reheating. I keep muffins in the fridge and take out as many as needed when I wake up in the morning. By breakfast time, the muffins are usually around room temperature. Muffins may be reheated in a microwave, too.
- They will feed a family for multiple days, especially if paired with fluffy scrambled eggs or sunnyside up eggs, healthy yogurt bowls, or smoothies. <–This keeps the muffins from getting boring morning after morning.
- It’s easy to cook once, eat twice with muffins. Make a double batch so you can save some in the freezer for another week (or even later that week). For most flour-based recipes, I don’t recommend doubling recipes in the same bowl since the results aren’t always favorable. Use two bowls, and whisk together each batch in their own separate bowl. Sure, this means cleaning up an extra bowl, but think about the time savings in the future.
- Muffins aren’t just for breakfast. They also make a great lunchbox addition and snack.
Later this week we’re going to make a flourless, blender muffin recipe. Today we’re going to make muffins using einkorn flour.
Einkorn is known as the oldest variety of wheat making it an “ancient” grain. The ancient grain is believed to have originated in the Tigris-Euphrates region and is possibly the main grain referenced in the earliest accounts of the Bible. Einkorn is said to be the wheat men were eating in the earliest days before modern day wheat varieties. While modern wheat has undergone hybridization, einkorn still holds true to its original properties. Einkorn is slowly gaining popularity, but is still grown in only a few regions in Europe.
Einkorn is my favorite flour to work with when making traditional, flour-based baked goods. The sweet, ancient grain has a lighter texture and taste than modern day wheat, and contains a more favorable gluten ratio.
I’ve received a number of requests for particular baked good recipes made with einkorn flour. One of the requests that stood out was for a master muffin recipe. The suggestion was to create one master muffin recipe with multiple possibilities. What a great idea! Talk about simplicity.
Over the past couple of months, I’ve been tweaking this master recipe to make it just sweet enough, just moist enough, just flavorful enough to be able to work with multiple mix-in options. Today’s recipe is just that–a incredibly versatile muffin recipe that can easily be customized to your liking. Feeling like a blueberry muffin this week? No problem! Use this recipe as your base. How about chocolate chip and coconut muffins? Awesome! Do it! Start with the base recipe and add in your chocolate and coconut. What about veggie-filled muffins? Yep, add those veggies.
This recipe is perfection, in my opinion. Simple, basic perfection with so many possibilities.
Talk about the perfect way to start flexing your meal prep muscles before the busyness of the new school season.
These muffins are a great breakfast for busy school mornings. Pair the einkorn muffins alongside eggs (one of 16 different egg styles), healthy yogurt bowls, or a smoothie. For more breakfast ideas for kids (and the entire family), check out 27 Easy & Healthy Kids Breakfast Ideas.
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7 Ways to Make Einkorn Muffins
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Einkorn Muffin Recipe: One Master Recipe, Multiple Ways to Customize
Ingredients
- 8 TB unsalted butter melted
- ½ cup maple syrup (144g) or honey
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce (135g) OR plain whole milk yogurt (or a dairy-free yogurt)
- 2 eggs
- 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose einkorn flour (222g), sifted *
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp salt
Equipment:
- large bowl
- medium bowl for sifting the einkorn flour
- sieve for sifting the einkorn flour
- muffin pan
- muffin liners
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease or line a muffin pan.
- In a large bowl, whisk the wet ingredients together: melted butter, maple syrup, applesauce, eggs, and vanilla extract.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients: sifted einkorn flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt. Stir to combine.
- Add any customizations desired (see notes, below). Stir to incorporate the customizations into the batter.
- Scoop the batter into the muffin pan (it will be thick). I use an ice cream scooper.
- Bake the muffins for 18-20 minutes, until firm on top. My muffins are usually done at 18 minutes, but this may vary with each oven. Allow the muffins to cool for a few minutes before enjoying.
- For storage, I keep the muffins in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to a week. They also freeze well.
Video
Notes
1 cup halved blackberries
1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries
1 cup shredded carrots or zucchini
1 cup chopped nuts
1 cup dried fruit, such as: chopped mangoes, cranberries, or cherries
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup chocolate chips + ½ cup dried cherries
1 cup chopped apples + extra ½ tsp cinnamon + ¼ tsp nutmeg
1 cup shredded carrots + ½ cup raisins For dairy-free muffins, use melted coconut oil in place of the melted butter.
Wow, these turned out so good! Definitely a must-have recipe for anyone who bakes with einkorn. I followed the suggestion for whole wheat ekinkorn and subbed coocnut oil for butter.
YUM! Thanks for sharing, Hannah!
LS Team
Hi Kristin, Thanks for sharing this recipe, my husband and I love it!! I’m running low on Einkorn as my local organic shop hasn’t had it in stock for weeks (due to Covid) so was wondering what the measurement substitute would be for Bob’s all-purpose organic flour. I don’t want to make other muffin recipes that require sugar when this one has honey! Thanks again!
Hey Pamela, I’m so glad you love the recipe. I think a 1:1 sub with all purpose flour will work.
Would like to do a blackberry lemon poppyseed. Any thoughts on adding lemon juice and how to do so properly as to not have it too liquidy?
Rachel,
I would add 1 lemon juiced and add some of the zest (the skin).
LS Team.
Wow!!! Just made these with my 4 yo and 2 yo boys using whole wheat einkhorn flour and a little less sugar. Wonderful recipe! These are so incredibly delicious and filled my house with the best smell. Thank you!
That’s wonderful, Jessica! So happy you guys loved it.
LS Team.
I love this master recipe! Pretty quick and easy to make and they taste great. Love that it’s one recipe you can use for multiple “flavors” of muffins.
Laura, thank you so much for your review. I’m glad you enjoyed it, it’s one of my personal favorites as well!
Made these this afternoon and they taste delicious, but any reason they didn’t rise as much as yours?
Hey Kaitlyn, Glad you liked them. Did you use all-purpose einkorn? Or whole wheat einkorn? The all-purpose will rise more. What filling did you go with? That could also determine how much the muffins rise.
I did all purpose with the apple filling given
Hmmm, they should rise then. Are you baking powder is new and active, I’m guessing, so that shouldn’t be an issue. Are you weighing the flour?
Yep always weigh, never measure. They are rising a bit just not nearly as much as yours.
Any thoughts since I am weighing the flour and not getting ideal results?
Hi Kaitlyn, I’m not Kristen, but I’ve used this recipe of hers many times and no matter what I do it works perfectly. I believe the key is to make sure you add or subtract enough einkorn flour so the batter is muffin consistency. I find I generally need to add a little more flour rather than less.
Are you sifting it?
Hi Kristin,
I’m enjoying my first Einkorn Muffin made with your master recipe. They turned out wonderful I wouldn’t change a thing. Many thanks
Hey Larry, I’m so glad you’re enjoying them! Thanks so much for coming back to comment and rate the recipe. That means so much!
Hi Kristin. I’m enjoying your master recipes, thank you! I haven’t been able to source einkorn flour in Australia – could I substitute spelt 1:1?
Do you think a strawberry rhubarb combo would work and about how much?? Its what I have on hand and was looking for a muffin recipe!
Hey Christy, I think so. Strawberries can get a bit mushy in muffins, but if you use about 1/2 I think it should be okay. Maybe 1/2 cup each?
When you say “If using whole grain Einkorn – decrease by 1/4 cup” are you talking about decreasing 1/4 cup of flour ?
Hey Andrea, Yes, correct. Decrease the flour amount by 1/4 cup.
I substituted a 1/2 cup of carrot purée for the applesauce and used honey for the sweetener. It came out fantastic. Very moist. I also added raisins and walnuts to a few. Excellent recipe
Yum, Carly! That’s a great idea to add the carrot puree. So glad you’re enjoying the muffins.
Just made these vegan and they turned out fantastic! Subbed 8TB coconut oil, and 1/2 cup applesauce + splash of lemon for eggs (so 1 cup total applesauce). I added 1/4 cup extra flour and 1/2 tsp extra baking powder. My add-ins were 1C fresh blueberries. I wish I could upload a picture, they’re beautiful!
Yay, I’m so glad that worked well. So good to know!
I’m making some vegan muffins for my daughter’s school and am wondering your thoughts on using coconut oil instead of butter and applesauce + lemon instead of eggs. I’ve never tried it with Einkorn, have been successful with other flours. TIA!
Hey Tamara, I’m not sure how they’ll come out with all the changes. Coconut oil will work as a sub, but the applesauce and lemon combo are what I’m concerned may not work well with this recipe.
Just made these subbing the applesauce for mashed sweet potatoes. Added in extra cinnamon and chocolate chips. So good! Will be my go to recipe for Einkorn muffins
Yay, Ashley! U’m so glad you’re loving them!
My entire family loved these muffins. My one daughter has autoimmune issues so it had been a challenge to find baked goods that the entire family enjoys. Einkorn flour has been a lifesaver and so has this recipe. I can finally feel confident making a muffin recipe everyone will like. We made blueberry muffins. Can’t wait to try other combinations.
Yay, Mel! So happy to hear that.
I made these muffins for the first time yesterday, and we loved them! My add in was 3/4 cup peeled, chopped Gala apple, with 1/4 cup chopped dried cranberries & walnuts (I also added the extra 1/2 tsp. of cinnamon & the 1/4 tsp. nutmeg as you suggested). These were delicious! We can’t wait to try them with some of the other add in suggestions. Thanks for another great recipe!
Hey Diana, I’m so glad you’re enjoying the muffins. Love your additions!
Hi Kristin,
Thanks for the recipe. You recommended here einkorn flour for making this recipe. If I use almond flour for making this can I make this? or I need to use einkorn flour to make this? Thanks in advance for giving me the clarification.
Hey Regina, Almond flour will not produce the same results. For this recipe, you’ll need einkorn.
My local flour mil l had einkorn flour but they have very few recipes so I was really happy to find this! I did one batch with honey, applesauce and a combination of dried cherries, apricots and cranberries with pecans. Second batch with agave syrup, yogurt and chocolate chips. Both were awesome! I’ll be buying more of this flour!
This was my first time baking at elevation, since I moved to Colorado, but the muffins came out perfect. Flatter than yours, but so delicious! I love that you have so many great Einkorn recipes. Love your site.
Yay, Keke! I’m so glad you enjoyed the muffins, and they even worked at a high elevation.
Hi Kristin,
Thanks for the recipe. This is the first time I’ve tried einkorn flour and I’m looking forward to trying more recipes with it. Have you ever used it to bake a cake? By the way I’m just over the bay in Tampa do you ever do cooking classes of any kind?
Hey Julie, I have a cupcake recipe: https://livesimply.me/2017/06/21/homemade-vanilla-einkorn-cupcakes-buttercream-frosting/ And I’m working on a chocolate sheet cake at the moment. I don’t offer cooking classes at the moment, but possibly again in the future.
This is perfect! I’ve been looking for a good einkorn muffin recipe and these are delicious. I made a batch this morning with shredded carrots and they are like happy little carrot cakes. My kids (and me) put such a dent in the batch that we quickly made another with blueberries this afternoon. I keep chasing everyone out of the kitchen while they cool so we have some to freeze. Thank you for sharing, this one is a big winner!!!
Yay, Katie! I’m so happy to hear that. I tested this recipe soooooo many times and loved the final outcome.
We love this recipe with chocolate chips! So yummy! To mix it up, I’m wondering how I could make this base recipe into chocolate muffins?
Ah okay. I think it’s possible. Maybe 1/4 cup cocoa powder stirred into the wet ingredients. And a bit less flour?
LS Team
Is there a way you can make theae into banana or pumpkin muffins?
Hey Maggie, You could try replacing the applesauce with mashed banana or pumpkin puree.
Oh yeah…I didn’t think of that…is the flour easy to find?and what is a good in season produce I could use right now?
Many health food stores now sell einkorn. Whole Foods doesn’t sell it yet. My favorite brand (and the easiest to find it Jovial). Blueberries would be good right now. You could even try some chopped cherries, even add some chocolate chips–cherries and chocolate chips are a delicious combo. Someone told me they were going to try chopped peaches.
Young Living grows there own and sells it and it’s amazing quality.