So many recipes... so little time!

There's a running list I keep called "recipes I'd like to develop someday."

A baking bucket list, as it were.

SOMEDAY... I'm going to figure out how to make s'more cupcakes. And triple chocolate scones. And 100% whole grain baguettes.

Now, tell me, doesn't cheeseburger pizza sound good? How about iced carrot cake cookies? Or a giant soft pretzel, perfect for a crowd-sized sandwich?

Well, today is the day I'm actually making progress on this list. Because Granola Muffins were on it for the longest time, before becoming reality.

Crunchy granola. A moist, substantial whole wheat muffin.

Whole grains, meet whole grains.

As it turns out, the granola adds a certain pleasant chewiness to the muffins' texture, and crunch to their tops. Plus lots of toasty/nutty flavor.

Looking for a quick and easy high-fiber breakfast treat?

Voilà!

No brag, just fact: our recipe for Crunchy Granola makes the best granola I've ever eaten. And it's perfect for these muffins.

Preheat the oven to 400°F.

Place the following in a mixing bowl:

2 cups (8 ounces) King Arthur White Whole Wheat Flour or Premium Whole Wheat Flour
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, optional
1 cup prepared granola

Whisk everything together thoroughly.

In a separate bowl, whisk together 1 teaspoon vanilla, 1/3 cup vegetable oil, and 1 1/2 cups buttermilk (or 1 1/4 cups liquid whey – the liquid drained from plain yogurt when you make thick, Greek-style yogurt).

Note: Want to make these muffins vegan? Substitute 1 1/4 cups orange juice, vegetable juice, cranberry juice, or the juice of your choice for the buttermilk or whey.

Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, stirring just to combine.

Lightly grease the cups of a standard muffin pan; or line with paper baking cups, and grease the paper cups.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling them nearly full. A slightly heaped muffin scoop of batter is the right amount.

Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with additional granola, if desired.

Bake the muffins for 16 to 18 minutes; they'll dome nicely.

Remove them from the oven.

Test one of the center muffins by inserting a toothpick into the middle - it should come out clean.

If the muffins are too hot for you to handle, use a table knife or chopstick to tilt them in their cups; this will prevent their bottoms from steaming and becoming soggy.

Once the muffins are cool enough to pick up, transfer them to a rack.

Save and enjoy any granola left behind - it'll be nice and crisp/crunchy.

Serve muffins warm, or at room temperature. Store leftovers loosely wrapped at room temperature.

Did I mention these are 100% whole grain? Now THAT'S a tasty way to enjoy fiber!

Read, bake, and review (please) our recipe for Buttermilk Granola Muffins.

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About PJ Hamel

PJ Hamel grew up in New England, graduated from Brown University, and was an award-winning Maine journalist (favorite topics: sports and food) before joining King Arthur Flour in 1990. Hired to write the newly launched Baker’s Catalogue, PJ became the small but growing company’s sixth employee.&nbsp...
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Comments

Eve

May 16, 2015 at 3:41am

if I decide to make these muffins in a bundt pan, what size should can I use 9, 10 or 12. Please help. Thanks
moniqueterrio

April 21, 2012 at 1:57pm

I made these a couple days ago. I weighed ingredients, followed the directions, used everything as listed, but my batter was very "wet". I baked them anyway, thinking that the hot oven would use up some of the 'wet', but they needed longer to cook, and sank in the middle before being done. Sad looking that they were, they were Delicious! It was difficult to limit myself to just one. Needless to say, they were very moist and stayed that way until they were gone. They just didn't look very much like the photo. When I make them again, I'll add more flour/less milk and see how it goes. I know that my "test subjects" (everyone at work) will inhale these when I bring them in.
thorofare

April 20, 2012 at 5:55pm

These muffins are GREAT!!!! They were moist and flavorful with a subtle cinnamon flavor. I threw in some dried tart cherries for a little zing. Very satisfying in that you don't feel like you've had an unhealthy snack. My husband, who shys away from anything made solely with whole wheat flour, LOVES them!! These will be a standard in our house!
kristinquinby

April 20, 2012 at 9:32am

Made these this morning and went ahead and added 2 eggs, 'cause the kids are crumbly-averse. Not sure if that would've happened, but didn't want to waste a batch no one would eat. They turned out great - a BIG HIT. Now to go put this one on my mobile device so I'll have it when I travel to family. Thanks for sharing your tweak, Kristin; they're not crumbly without the egg, but by adding eggs you were adding protein and vitamins for the kids, always a good thing... PJH
gaa

April 16, 2012 at 10:04am

PJ= As usual, a wonderful recipe!! I made these yesterday using traditional WW flour and my own granola. These are wonderfully moist, flavorful (LOVE KAF Vietnamese cinnamon and Vanilla Bean Crush extract!!!) and not too sweet (desppite the 1 c. brown sugar) I mistakenly made mine a little smaller (realized it as I was putting pans in the oven) than called for but adjusted baking time so all is well. In fact, the smaller size works better for me and my husband (less calories you know!!). I froze most of them so that we can grab one in the morning and have it with coffee or tea later in the day while at work. These will be a staple in our house for sure!!
binag

April 16, 2012 at 9:09am

These look fantastic and are going to be breakfast tomorrow morning. Just wondering if I could substitute melted butter for the oil, and if so how much? Thanks for all the great recipes. Yes, you can use butter for the oil, same amount. Enjoy! ~ MJ
kendria

April 12, 2012 at 1:09pm

Made the granola and muffins and brought them into work. By 10am they were gone. :-) Consensus was most people liked the fact that muffins were not as sweet as store bought muffins, they were made with whole wheat flour and the dried fruit in the granola. Overall thumbs up from me and my co-workers. :-)
ebenezer94

April 11, 2012 at 4:23pm

Looks yummy. Thanks for the suggestion of using whey. I make a lot of Greek style yogurt and never know what to do with the whey. It generally goes down the drain. Would this work in other recipes calling for buttermilk as well? For example, Bert's Buttermilk Biscuits, my usual biscuit recipe (converted to whole wheat)? Yes, I find whey steps in for buttermilk pretty well. Since it's a lot thinner, though, you'd use less of it - at least in recipes that call for a significant amount of buttermilk. If the recipe calls for 1 cup buttermilk or over, I'd reduce the amount of whey by about 20%. Give it a try - it's fun experimenting. PJH

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