Mix and Match Muffins

I haven't fully explored all the possibilities of this recipe. But, it's great for its versatility. Mix up the dry ingredients and when you add the wet team, toss in whatever fruit, nuts, or flavorings you have on hand. We've tried vanilla blueberry and banana chocolate chip (above) with great success.

I was inspired by this recipe in Fine Cooking, but have tweaked it to fit the schedule of a busy mom. Who has time to separate eggs when there's so much to do on any given day? I've also healthified it by substituting plain yogurt for the sour cream and a little whole wheat flour for the white.

Mix and Match Muffins
3 cups unbleached flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar, brown sugar, or sucanat
1/2 cup oil
1 cup milk
1/2 cup plain yogurt
2 eggs
Mixins: 1 teaspoon extract, 1 1/2 cups any combination of fruit*, chopped nuts, chocolate

*Possible fruit to use: mashed bananas, blueberries, finely chopped apples, raspberries, coarsley chopped cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 °. Line muffin tin with papers or spray with nonstick cooking spray. In large mixing bowl, combine, flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and sugar. (If preparing as a mix, simply combine all these ingredients in a ziptop bag, label well, mark with the wet ingredients and baking instructions.)

In a separate bowl, combine oil, milk, yogurt, and eggs. Whisk to blend. Add wet ingredients to dry. Fold gently until mostly moistened, but still lumpy. Fold in mix-ins.

For 12 large muffins, fill muffin cups completely, even mounding past their tops. For 18 kid-size muffind, fill almost full. Bake 25 - 35 minutes, depedning on how much you fill them.