A to Z Muffins

I couldn't wait to post this recipe. I know Sue and I are doing all of our apricot recipes this month but I had to sneak this in. See...I had a dream about creating this recipe. 

Want to know why it's named "A to Z" muffins?

Because I made sure to include at least one ingredient for every letter of the alphabet. 

Cool idea, right?

The only letter that is not included is "X". I was going to use some xanthan gum but changed my mind - I don't know enough about baking with it and this recipe is funky enough already. If you have any ideas on how to incorporate the xanthan gum then please leave us a comment. ( I was also considering Xylitol but have heard some bad things about it so didn't want to try it.)

I asked the ladies at my office for some suggestions, our mom & dad, Sue, and the ladies at the local grocery store. Turns out it can be pretty tricky to find all the letters of the alphabet in food...specifically, food that will go well together in a muffin.

I had so much fun creating this. I couldn't help but think it would be great for kids learning their alphabet. 

Oh, yeah...in case I forgot to mention it... it also tastes yummy. I was worried it would either be too moist or too dry....nope.....just right!

*Whew*

A to Z Muffins

Ingredients

1/2 cup butter

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup yam, cooked & mashed

1/4 cup Greek yogurt (plain, vanilla, or Maple Syrup flavor)

1/2 cup honey

3 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

1/4 cup orange juice

2 1/2 cup flour

1/4 cup whole wheat flour

1/4 cup quinoa flakes

pinch salt

2 1/2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp grated lemon rind (approx half a lemon)

1 cup carrot, shredded

1 cup zucchini, shredded

1 cup apple, finely diced

1/4 cup raisins

1/4 cup toffee bits

1/4 cup nectarine, finely diced

1/4 cup strawberries, finely diced

1/4 cup kiwi, finely diced

1/4 cup dates, finely diced

1/4 cup pecans, finely diced

Frosting

1/2 cup cream cheese, softened

1/4 cup butter, softened

2 Tbsp plum jam (or any jam)

1 cup icing sugar

1 cup mini marshmallows

Topping

1 oz unsweetened chocolate

Directions

Preheat oven to 350. Line 24 cupcake tins with paper liners, set aside. 

In a large bowl, beat  together the butter and brown sugar until creamy. Beat in yam, Greek yogurt, honey, eggs, vanilla, and orange juice until well combined.

In a separate bowl, whisk together flour, whole wheat flour, quinoa flakes, salt, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and lemon rind. 

To the dry ingredients add the carrot, zucchini, apple, raisins, toffee bits, nectarine, strawberries, kiwi, dates, and pecans. 

Add all at once to the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. DO NOT over mix. Scoop into prepared muffin trays. 

Bake for 15 - 20 minutes, until tops are very lightly browned and toothpick inserted near center comes out clean.

Let cool completely before frosting.

Prepare frosting: In a small mixing bowl, beat together cream cheese, butter and jam until smooth. Beat in icing sugar. In a small, microwave safe bowl, heat mini marshmallows for about 15 - 20 seconds, remove and stir. (If not completely smooth heat another 5 - 10 seconds.)  Beat the melted marshmallows into the cream cheese mixture until smooth. 

Spread about 1 Tbsp of the frosting onto each muffin. (You will more than likely have some frosting leftover.)

Grate a little of the unsweetened chocolate over each of the muffins. 

You can also make this into loaves if you prefer. You will just need to adjust your baking time accordingly.

And then you can frost it the same way as the muffins.

Whether you make a loaf or muffins, these are so much fun.

Here is the complete list of A to Z ingredients in this recipe:

A: Apple

B: Brown Sugar and Butter and Baking Powder/Soda

C: Carrots and Cinnamon and Cream Cheese

D: Dates

E: Eggs

F: Flour

G: Greek Yogurt

H: Honey

I: Icing Sugar

J: Jam 

K: Kiwi

L: Lemon Rind

M: Marshmallows

N: Nectarine

O: Orange Juice

P: Pecans

Q: Quinoa Flakes

R: Raisins

S: Strawberries

T: Toffee Bits

U: Unsweetened Chocolate

V: Vanilla

W: Whole Wheat Flour

X:

Y: Yam

Z: Zucchini

What else would you have substituted? We would love to hear your ideas. 

Looking for tons of fun and tasty links to visit? Pop over to Carole's Chatter!  

Fruitsicles

Here is a great, healthy snack to make for the kids or for yourself. Any combination of fruit would work. I decided to whip these up for a coworker's birthday. She requested "something with fruit". Well, you can't get much more fruity than this.

Fruitsicles

Ingredients

2 kiwi, peeled

1/2 cup pineapple chunks

1/4 cup yogurt (I used Greek yogurt so it would be nice and creamy)

1 Tbsp maple syrup

and

12 large strawberries

1/2 cup blueberries

1/4 cup yogurt

1 Tbsp maple syrup

Directions

Using Magic Bullet (or other blender), place first 4 ingredients into blender cup and process with pulsing motion until smooth. Pour equally into popsicle holders (OR - I used little plastic wine glasses), filling only bottom half of holder. You want to freeze the first layer for a few hours so the layers won't mix.

If you are using the plastic wine glasses - place a small piece of tin foil over the top of the glass and puncture with lollipop stick (or popsicle stick). Press stick into fruit mixture. (The tin foil will hold the stick in place)

When the bottom layer is partially frozen, place next 4 ingredients into blender cup. Process until smooth. Remove tin foil from glasses. Pour equally into the holders, over the bottom layer. Return to freezer until completely frozen. I let them freeze overnight.

Unmold the fruitsicles by running the outside of the popsicle holder or glass under hot water for a few seconds. They should pop right out.

.

This is what they look like if you wait for the first layer to freeze before adding the second layer.

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This is what they look like if you don't wait for the first layer to freeze before adding the second layer.

These were tasty and not too tart. Not too many calories either. (It's not too often I can say that about one of our recipes!) I believe the recipe, as listed above, made about 6 -7  fruitsicles. I could only do that much at a time as I used my Magic Bullet blender and it has a smaller capacity.

What fruit combinations would you prefer?