Why so many muffins you ask?
I bake fresh muffins pretty much every week for my children. It makes me feel good to know that they are getting some homespun goodness in their lunchboxes and it’s a treat for them (they have never had cookies, cakes or otherwise in their lunches. So this is their ‘goodie’).
I try to vary the muffins each week, keeping things fun and introducing them to new textures, tastes and nutritive foods.
Fig Muffins with fresh Apple and Oat-Spelt Flour
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1 cup spelt flour
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1 cup whole grain oatmeal + 1 Tbsp for topping
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1 tsp baking powder
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1 tsp baking soda
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1/3 cup demerara sugar
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2 apples, peeled and chopped
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5 fresh figs, peeled and chopped (reserving small wedges for topping)
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1 egg
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1/4 cup olive oil
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1/4 cup dilute orange juice (not from concentrate)
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Preheat oven to 400 F.
In a large size bowl, combine spelt flour, 1 cup oatmeal, baking powder, baking soda and sugar. Add in chopped apples and fig, mixing gently to combine taking care not to mash fruit.
 In a separate smaller bowl, whisk together egg, olive oil and orange juice.
Add wet ingredients to dry mixing only until combined.
Divide batter among 12 oiled muffin cups, topping each with oatmeal flakes and fig wedges as desired.
Bake for 14-18 minutes or until muffins are firm to the touch.
thanks FoodJaunts – you could also double the batch and freeze the muffins. That way, it’s worth the time. Enjoy :)
I don’t taste the olive oil although… I must say that when I made Sissi applesauce cake with butter (oh YUM), I did notice a difference in consistency between the butter and the olive oil that I often use. Put it this way, butter is an occasional baking treat for us and boy is it *good*!!
Oh, that’s too bad about the unhappy woman – that can make for a really unpleasant experience but it sounds like you and Miss A made the best of it and kept your sense of humour.
ha-ha… I sometimes come across bags of flour from the health food store and wonder… spelt? kamut? buckwheat? …. they do have a long shelf life though which is great.
Thanks Lynn!! Glad your family enjoyed.
Thanks Chris – the earlier you start, the better though change is possible at any age :0
thanks Ann – I’m with you!
yes, i started my campaign when they were very young (ha-ha!) but truthfully, it really is about what you get use to and it’s very rewarding for me when the eat store bought stuff and comment on how intolerably sweet it is.
me too. xo
I like working with spelt because it has such gorgeous, silky properties, a superior nutrient proper to grain and better tolerated.
Thanks Erika – this was my first time with fresh figs too – I liked the result and, apparently, the boys did too :)
fresh figs are fun.
Thanks Amy! How your preps are going well… :)
they do look pretty, don’t they… thanks Stephanie!
you’re very sweet – thanks for the double wish :0 – the fresh figs worked amazingly well!
That’s a good idea to do a weekly muffin bake for the week. I keep thinking I should do something along those lines but never actually do it.
I’m definitely going to keep these in mind!
Nice – you really are a wonderful mother! Of course it helps that it’s what you do for a living, but it’s so nice to see someone who actually *has* a clue these days and doesn’t just send their children off to school for a box full of candy, or “hey, here’s $10, go get yourself a burger” – when I was at school I saw people developing terrible eating habits. My lunches weren’t quite as awesome as these – I usually got a sandwich, some sort of sweet thing (small chocolate biscuit maybe) and an apple – my mother was always adamant about not sticking in a bag of potato chips every day, and some chemical-laden fake-juice box, like most other people had. It really sets the trend for your entire childhood and teens/early twenties too I think. Love that these have no butter either! Do you find the olive oil comes through in the end result a lot?
wow your kids must love it when you bake! :) love the fresh whole grain ingredients. what is their favorite muffin recipe?
Love all the whole grains and fresh fruit in this recipe, nice and hearty, perfect for this time of year.
love the addition of fresh figs. muffins (homemade) are a great on the go, nutrient dense snack. :)
Kelly,
Those muffins looks yummy! I can’t wait to scour some fresh figs from the local market this weekend.
so tempting, what more home baked fresh muffins.
These sound and look delicious! I love muffins!! :)
I am such a muffin girl but I’ve never tried figs with them. Definitely interesting and I can’t wait to try this
Love the addition of figs to the muffins. These sound healthy and delicious, Kelly! They look great too. :)
I love that you make muffins for your kids every week. We never got cookies or cakes either growing up(unless it was a special occasion), but this is a lovely way of letting them have a treat.
You are such a sweet mom! What lucky boys! Mr. N would love this in his lunch box, I have no doubt. And anytime I see figs I’m happy. Miss A and I had a wonderful adventure not so long ago with a rather unkind woman in the grocery store. We have since referred to her as “Figgy.” Anytime something goes wrong now, we raise a fist in the air and yell, “Figgy!”
Looks delicious and what a gorgeous photo! Figs are not used enough in cooking in my opinion!!
Lucky kids!! I love muffins made with spelt flour…
Your children are so lucky! Your muffins look healthy and delicious, at least they are not tempted by the unhealthy bars etc.. I must check if I have spelt flour. I have so many different flours and grains, I keep them for years and forget to start using. I must empty my cupboards more often.
I love figs :) Making muffins with them is a great idea I hadn’t thought of, so I’m really curious to try them out :)
I love spelt! And those muffins look wholesome and delicious!
Hey Kelly –
Keep these coming! LOVE muffins and this recipe looks amazing! I made your Oatmeal Peanut Butter Banana muffins and they were delish…very much enjoyed by all!
Lynn
Go figs! One can never have too many muffin recipes, in my opinion, especially not ones with this much goodness packed inside!
You’re such a good mom – it’s great that you’re introducing your kids to all these nutritious ingredients early on! The figs make these muffins look so pretty!
Hi Amy,
Spelt, although a cousin of wheat (it is not gluten free), has evolved differently than wheat and is generally much better tolerated than wheat. It has gorgeous silky baking properties. For non gluten, try: buckwheat, teff, quinoa, rice, millet and amaranth flours. I also frequently use nut and seed flours (almond, flax and chia are among my favourite). Keep in mind that gluten acts as a binding agent so, depending on what you are baking, if you are working with non gluten flours you may need to add a gluten free binding agent such as xanthan gum or guar gum – sometimes a mixture of non gluten grains can achieve this effect as well (some experimentation is usually involved). Hope this gets you started.
Hmm…spelt flour. Never tried it but these look really delicious!
Awesome recipe
These are stunning! I love that you make these for the kids’s lunch boxes! Much better than pre-packaged junk! I like these a LOT!
First, let me say that I love that this is your children’s treat in their lunch! What a great way to get them to eat healthy and not expect cakes and candies. Also, I love figs and pairing them with apples for fall sounds perfect. Your muffins look so great!
HI Kelly, I tried to find spelt flour today but didnt see it in my local grocery store. They had every other flour but spelt! Is it gluten free? What is it made from? That may sound silly but I dont know what it is! I made Naan today but used white/wheat flour, I would like to make it gluten free.
My boys love muffins, I will have to give these a try once I find that spelt flour, I see a Whole Foods run in my near future! :-)
—What a thrill is must be living with you, Kelly :)) I love strong coffee w/ my muffins!! xx
Kim http://myinnerchick.com
Kelly….I love your varieties of muffins ….so bring them on!!! And these are particularly beautiful. I’ve been stumbling upon a lot of recipes lately calling for spelt flour, though I’ve never used it. This looks like a great recipe to start. And I LOVE figs!!! These again are just so pretty and picture perfect!
These muffins look so yummy! I’ve never tried figs in muffins before but I bet it’s great!
I love how hearty and low in sugar these are. And fresh figs!
Oooh, I’ve never thought to bake with fresh figs! I need to start making muffins. That’s so sweet that you bake them for your kids so often. I hope my children have memories of me baking muffins for them someday too :)
OK, I need to start baking with figs! These muffins look so good (and healthy!)
I’m a big muffin/bread maker too, and like you I like that the kids are getting something healthy to take with them. I’ve not had much experience with figs, but they are big at the markets now. I just may have to pick some up. Wish I could double buzz!
What a great recipe, these look fabulous! :)