Muffins Worth Getting Out of Bed For

I got lazy. There's no other excuse for the lack of posts. Well, lazy and busy. After surviving finals, I flew back home to Denver where I lived up the Colorado experience: 2 Avalanche games, a Bronco's game, numerous trips to Boulder, a pretty drive but very short stay in Estes Park, and attempted skiing (unfortunately I slipped on ice and fell hard on my right knee the day before, so my knee wasn't too happy when I went to make turns in my skis).
Excuse time over. Now on to something much more delicious: muffins.

Last semester one of my guy friends talked me and my roommate into coming over to his apartment and making him muffins for breakfast. There were some requirements though: blueberries and no "healthy stuff". The muffins turned out DELICIOUS! I made them again when I was home and everyone there loved them as well. While not the healthiest muffin, these are perfect for a little morning indulgence:

 No "Healthy Stuff" Blueberry Muffins

What You Need: 
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
Blueberries (I used frozen)
1 stick butter, softened
1 cup sugar
Squeeze lemon juice
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup skim milk
1-2 Tablespoons turbinado sugar

What to do:

1. Set oven to 375
2. Whisk flour, baking powder, and salt 
3. In small bowl, toss blueberries with 1 Tablespoon of the flour mixture -- this is an awesome trick I learned that keeps the blueberries from sinking to the bottom of the muffins
4. In another bowl, beat butter, sugar, and lemon juice with a fork until fluffy
5. Add eggs and vanilla 
6. Gradually add the flour mixture then the milk. DO NOT OVERBEAT! 
7. Fold in blueberries with a rubber spatula
8. Bake in oven for 23-27min (I know very random times)

As delicious as those muffins are, and surprisingly filling, I wanted to try making a healthier muffin that I could pack along with a smoothie for my long day of classes. While definitely not as sweet as the other muffins, these taste like baked oatmeal with bananas. I followed the recipe from the Moosewood Restaurant Low-Fat Favorites cookbook, except that instead of 1/2 c of yogurt I used 1/2 cup of almond milk. 

I saw this music video on the music blog Communion a couple weeks ago. So cool!

--Kelli