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.
FYI . . . the link to PRINT the recipe is broken.
Hey Max, Sorry about that. It should be fixed now. Make sure any pop up blockers are turned off when clicking on the print button as well.
Amazing recipe! So Simple but absolutely delicious. I am a confident baker, but just started using Einkorn flour (instead of my usual almond or gf blends) and also just moved to
Colorado where baking times need to be adjusted. This turned out so well! I had no plain yogurt so I used whole
Milk vanilla yogurt and did half blueberry, half chocolate chips. Thank you!:) can’t wait to try your other recipes
Yay, Sophia! This makes me so happy to read. Love that you had such great success with the einkorn muffins. Here’s my entire einkorn baking section with recipes: https://livesimply.me/category/recipes/flour/einkorn/
great recipe! thank you so much for sharing– I also halved the amount of maple syrup and yogurt and made half apple and half carrot muffins, so yummy!
That sounds amazing, Monika! Thank you for sharing, so glad you enjoyed the muffins.
Hi there! If I don’t have applesauce, can I substitute it for something else? Thank you for all of your great recipes. We love them!
Hey Judith, I’m so glad you’re enjoying the recipes! I haven’t tested this out, but I think yogurt would work. The applesauce does add natural sweetness to the muffins, which the yogurt won’t have. Another idea is to use mashed bananas or pumpkin puree.
These were SO good! I only added 1/4 cup of maple syrup and a 1/4 cup of full fat yogurt. Then I added shredded a carrot to the mix. My one year old twins, husband, and mother devoured these! I’m making more today but adding fresh peach this time and no carrot. Awesome recipe!! Thank you.
That’s awesome, Angela! Love the modifications you made. I bet peaches will be amazing!
Hi I’m allergic to vanilla. Is there something else I could substitute?
Thanks!
Hey Margaret, You can skip the vanilla.
Hi Kristin!
First of all I love this recipe- it’s my go to!! I just got my sourdough starter ready (haven’t baked with it yet!) and would love to make these but sourdough- possible? What tweaks would you make?
Hey Tosha, I’m so glad you love the muffins. I would use this recipe (sourdough einkorn banana muffins) as an example for tweaking this recipe to work for a sourdough starter: https://livesimply.me/sourdough-banana-bread-muffins/ Let me know how it goes!
Hello I am excited to try this recipe. At first I looked at the recipe with spelt flour and was about to ask about subbing einkhorn- I was hoping for the lemony flavor from the spelt one- do you think adding some lemon and zest like that recipe would be okay with this one? Or subbing einkhorn for spelt in that recipe?
Hey Lil’ Mama, You could use this recipe and skip the poppyseeds: https://livesimply.me/lemon-poppy-seed-einkorn-muffins/
My wife and I are just starting our ‘real food’ journey. You and your website have been super helpful, and this muffin recipe was our first baking adventure. My wife has always had a gift for baking, so I’ve been incredibly blessed over the years with everything she does. We both agreed these muffins were, by far, the best thing she’s ever baked. All of the flavors are so rich and real. Thanks so much for all your time invested into helping others start eating healthy, real food! You’re a huge blessing!
JR, This means so much. I’m thrilled that Live Simply has been so helpful in your real food journey and what a huge compliment that your wife loved this recipe! Thank you for sharing (this means the world) and for leaving a review.
Hi Kristin
Could the 8 TB butter or coconut oil be substituted with 4 TB applesauce + 4 TB canola oil.
Or any other low fat substitute would be appreciated. I am trying to cut down on the saturated fats.
Thanks!
Hey Mona, I recommend avoiding canola oil as it’s very processed and inflammatory. I would use avocado oil or olive oil instead, if possible. Not sure about using apple sauce instead of a butter or oil, but it’s worth a try. Let me know how it goes.
Good morning!
I have tweeked my Southern biscuit recipe using einkorn flour. I now want to make muffins. I like adding oat bran to muffins. Do you think this is possible with your master recipe? Do not want to waste my einkorn on a failed batch because of oat bran addition.
For egg sub I use 1 T of ground golden flax & 3 T of water.
Thank you!
Hey Lynn, I’m not sure since I haven’t tested or tried using oat bran, but I think it could work. Let me know if you try it!
Any adjustments needed for high altitude?
Hey Jane, I’m not sure, I don’t have any experience with high altitude baking.
It’s me again, lol. I just have to say THANK YOU! No matter what substitutions or additives we use with your recipe it turns out yummy. We’ve been making bread with it as well and bake 350F for 55-60 min. Love einkorn whole wheat flour and buy it bulk now to save. So fast and so easy and so yummy! No more searching for a healthy muffin or quick bread recipe.
Yay, Edwina! I’m so happy to hear this!! Thank you so much for sharing.
This is THE recipe for einkorn muffins. All 5 kids loved them. Can’t wait to try Edwina’s recommendation for bread! Thank you!
Yay!! So happy to hear that :).
You are so welcome. My grandkids devour the bread so now I have to double the recipe when they come. They will eat pecans now so I top the loaf with pecans and they ask for pecans on top. Happy baking.
That’s awesome, Edwina!
what do you do, Edwina, to make bread with this muffin recipe? Do you double the ingredients? Please give more details. I would love to make this as bread!! Thank you!!
Hey Brenda, You’ll just need to bake the recipe longer, for about 55-60 minutes is my guess.
Yes as Kristen suggested. 60 minutes does it. Follow her recipe and simply put in a loaf pan. I line with parchment paper for easy removal. If you double the recipe you would use 2 loaf pans.
Enjoy!
This master recipe looks great! One question though.
If I want to use coconut sugar or another non liquid sugar how much would I use?
Thank you, Lindsay! You can use the same amount :).
I made this using whole milk skyr (icelandic yogurt) and added fresh cranberries. These are to die for – fluffy, flavorful, moist – delicious! This is going into my recipe box for sure.
Yay, Katie! So happy to hear that.
thanks for this master recipe! i’d not used einkorn for muffins yet but glad i found yours. worked great even subbing chia egg replacement, pureed pumpkin for the applesauce and adding in appr 2/3 c minced apple peel. i had pumpkin puree i needed to use and didn’t want to waste the organic granny smith apple peels leftover from pie making. this recipe worked great even with all the substitutes! i baked them 21 minutes and they’re delicious. thanks again for all the time you saved me with this master recipe and ways to customize.
Yay, Janice! So glad you enjoyed them and thank you for sharing about the egg substitution–that’s super helpful!
This has become our go to muffin recipe! They are incredibly delicious and love to customize it for different family members. Thanks Kristin!
Yay, Brandi! That’s awesome!! Thank you for sharing–it means so much to hear that you’re enjoying the muffins.
I’ve been using this recipe for some time now. and the whole family loves these muffins! Thank you for such an amazing recipe with so many variations to try. 🙂 When using blueberries in this recipe, I have always used fresh. If using frozen blueberries do I need to thaw them first?
Hi Brenda! So happy you love the recipe, no you do not need to thaw the blueberries.
Thank you for commenting and rating!
LS Team
LOVED these! Made them with diced apples and just threw a bunch of fall spices in. (It was my first time using einkorn!) Thanks for the recipe!
That sounds amazing, Christine! Thank you for sharing!
So yummy! I used dried organic sugar free cranberries and apricot. They were a hit and so healthy.. Love when healthy tastes good and has a nice texture.
Thank you for the recipe. I did use whole grain einkorn though and had to add the 1/4 cup you said to subtract as it was too thin. Will definitely be my go to muffin with so many varied options.
Edwina
So glad you enjoyed the muffins, Edwina!
Made these again with apple chunks and chopped nuts inside and sprinkled on top. So very good. Thank you for sharing your recipe.
YUM! Sounds delicious!
LS Team