The perfect grab-and-go whole-wheat blueberry muffins for busy mornings…or any time of day!

Muffins are one of my favorites! They’re so easy to grab for an on-the-go snack. I like to make a big batch, freeze individually, and take as needed for when I know I’m going to be out and about. I learned years ago to always take some food with me when I’m running around — whether it’s a cheese stick and crackers, a protein bar, some nuts or a muffin. This prevents me from buying food on the go that I will later regret eating and also from not eating for hours, which I sometimes tend to do.

For some reason, when I was growing up, in my mind muffins = healthy. I mean, c’mon, it’s not a cupcake. A cupcake is cake! But a muffin? Now, that’s healthy!

I don’t know where I picked up that notion, but when I would go to the bakery with my father and wanted to make a “healthier” choice, I would get a chocolate chip or blueberry muffin instead of a donut or danish. I suppose that a standard bakery muffin may be a bit healthier than those options, but they are still filled with processed flour, sugar and margarine. I don’t know if I chose to remain in denial or I genuinely thought muffins were healthy, but I loved the crispy muffin top. Loved biting into the soft, cakey interior and having an explosion of chocolate chip or blueberry fill my mouth. Loved that bakery muffins were always huge, so they would take a long time to finish.

When I got older, I started really liking cinnamon crumb muffins and would buy one whenever I found them. My grandmother had this little grocery store on her corner where she lived in Boro Park that made the best. I know they weren’t baked in-house and were probably as processed as could be, but I still enjoyed treating myself to those muffins!

After I got married, my husband introduced me to the famous bakery Breadsmith, which has several kosher locations in the Midwest, where they sell delicious baked goods with whole-grain, “clean” ingredients. Now these muffins are definitely healthy, I thought at first. Until I saw the nutritional information and realized that some of their muffins contain over 500 calories — yikes! But oh, they make the best lemon muffins ever…and their zucchini ones are just so good! So despite the fact that I know good and well what I’m doing, whenever I visit my in-laws in Minneapolis, I allow myself a muffin for a treat with my morning coffee.

In recent years, I’ve started seeing muffins being sold that are genuinely healthier. There are spelt muffins, muffins made with no refined ingredients, muffins made with whole-grain flours and coconut sugar. There’s a local eatery here that makes a good-for-you lemon-blueberry muffin that is so good…but the downside is that the price is not so good! I’ve found that some of these muffins can easily run you $6-$8, and that’s why I’ve been making my own muffins. These whole-wheat blueberry muffins are so easy to make, there’s almost no excuse to buy a muffin anymore! (I also have a yummy cinnamon bun muffin recipe that’s just as good as what you’d buy at a bakery!) And I love knowing exactly what’s going in them. I have a section in my freezer where you can always find some muffins available. My boys like to take them before leaving to yeshivah in the morning and my girls like to grab one for breakfast if they don’t have time to eat before school.

These whole-wheat blueberry muffins are extremely versatile. I make them 100% whole grain and with honey as the sweetener, but feel free to use white flour and/or sugar. You can also swap the blueberries for a handful of chocolate chips or chopped nuts or all of the above! (I have a friend who actually adds colored sprinkles to all her baked goods. She says that if her kids see sprinkles, they will eat it, no matter how healthy it really is!) I’ve made my muffins huge, bakery-style, but I prefer making them in a smaller portion size — though you can easily adapt the recipe to make bigger ones.

I use a whisk to mix the batter for the muffins — no need to take out your electric mixer. Then I switch to a wooden spatula to fold the blueberries in. When spooning out the batter, I will either use a ⅓ cup measuring cup or this Gorilla Grip ice cream scoop, which is perfect for measuring muffin-sized portions of batter.

Better than the Bakery’s Whole-Wheat Blueberry Muffins

The perfect grab-and-go muffin for busy mornings…or any time of day!

Print Recipe

Ingredients

2½ cups white whole-wheat flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup sugar or ¾ cup honey
½ cup oil
2 eggs
1 cup milk (I use almond milk to keep it pareve)
1 tsp vanilla
1 12-oz. bag frozen blueberries or 1 pint fresh blueberries

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350° and line muffin tins with paper liners.
Place all ingredients except blueberries into a bowl and mix by hand until combined (batter will be thick).
Gently fold in blueberries with a spatula.
Pour into muffin tins, filling them almost to the top.
Bake for 30 minutes.

Notes

This recipe also works well as a loaf cake — just divide the batter into three small loaf pans and bake for about 40 minutes, or until insterted toothpick comes out clean.