Monday, September 3, 2012

Muffins in the Morning: a collection of make ahead and freeze muffins for school day breakfasts





My boys are going to REAL SCHOOL this year!! (Because what we did before was fake right?) ;)   I shared the little details about that transition and new move HEREThe week before school started I made stacks and rows of muffins to line our freezer shelves.


  Taking a Saturday afternoon (or even a day if you could squeeze one in) to make ahead breakfast meals for your little students will save you MUCH time on rushed school mornings.  Almost no time block is busier or crazier than those speedy minutes prepping for the school day on school mornings. This has helped us so much!  I'm a night owl girl and can't stand the early morning hours.  I'm a don't talk to me zombie in the morning so it works for me to robotically open the freezer door for make-ahead-breakfasts on school days.


Good books, fresh fruit, 
and hearty muffins 
ensure a 
gold super star school day!



It's a fun idea to make HOT CEREAL into muffins!

Follow the links for each HOT CEREAL MUFFIN recipe:
- Malt O Meal Magic muffins
- Oatmeal muffins with blueberries
- Cream of Wheat lowfat banana muffins



I baked and baked in preparation for the new September back to school season...fresh out of the oven! Mmmm, making our home sweet home smell so good...



 More out of the oven...





And more...






 I'm sharing 5 muffin varieties this morning.
THE MORNING MUFFINS I prepared:

1) These healthy ones are Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Spice muffins via BabycakesNYC cookbook (recipe found here).  They are VEGAN and GLUTEN-FREE.  I added sugar free chocolate chips. 





They also work for gifts. Wrap them up with wax sheets and tie with baker's twine, all snuggly for cozy fall gifts!




A shiny silver tray of homemade beauty on top of a chunky knit table runner I knit last year! 


2) The next set of muffins I baked were classic homemade blueberry sugar crisp muffins.  These are delicious!  In this past post: BACK TO SCHOOL 101, I promised the recipe.  You can find it here: To Die For Blueberry Muffins
 







3) NEXT UP: Quinoa Raisin Breakfast muffins, recipe found here via Martha Stewart (I made a small change in the recipe and substituted with gluten free flour).  These weren't my favorites, they are somewhat boring BUT they have a lot of potential to experiment with!



4) The last muffin variety I prepped is a family favorite!  I've been making Malt O Meal magic muffins straight off recipe from the back of the box forEVER (recipe found above in hot cereal muffin list).  They are easy and tasty too.  Plus, the name "magic muffins" is just too darn cute not to try. 

Magic muffins served with lemon water



5) The last one is from muffins I shared a couple years ago.  You can find the post HERE.  Perfect for the fall season, Baked Apple Muffins.



Finally, after your entire home sweet home is filled with the smell of fresh blueberries and baked goodness, and your kitchen counters are lined with sheets of paper towels and rows of cute, peaked, muffin tops, you're ready to pull out freezer bags, stack them all, and freeze them for future EASY use!  I keep a small selection in our kitchen freezer and the rest of them in the big garage freezer. I use chalk ink all the time to write all over my dishes because it wipes right off.





Sometimes, I also make ahead and freeze waffles, french toast, and breakfast burritos.  I've been doing the burritos for years and they're a lifesaver to have!  I actually had a blog post started for breakfast burritos back when I started my blog a few years ago BUT I never finished it....maybe someday. ;)

For other information on make ahead meals to create ease into modern lives, see a past post here: Meals in Fast Forward.


And enjoy your morning muffins!





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10 comments:

Jane said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Jane said...

We love muffins around here!!! These recipes sound good...even the quinoa recipe. But please share your changes, when you figure out how to make it tastier.

We keep muffins in the freezer...and "Jane McMuffins", too. These are crustless muffin-sized quiches. (My customers gave them this name!)They are so quick to pop into the MW for a minute, add a whole grain English muffin and fruit...and you're on your way.

caveman said...

It's hard to imagine a tastier muffin than blueberries in a jar, so I won't even try. Instead I will just request that we have them again! ;-).

I also appreciate our relatively stress free mornings that ideas like these help create. It makes it much simpler for me to hit the office focused and ready to accomplish.

Unknown said...

I love blueberry muffins :)

I would like to let you know about a new Craft Party,

I would love to see your creations linked up with Crafty Tuesday

Every week I will choose few tutorials and they will be featured on my blog and my facebook, twitter and pinterest page

I hope to see you link up

http://blueberrycraftandhobbytime.blogspot.ie/search/label/Crafty%20Tuesday%20Link%20Party

Lisa @ Fern Creek Cottage said...

I'm not very good at baking, but I can bake muffins! :)
Yours all look really yummy! I've been baking up a fresh batch on sunday night to eat through out the week. Sometimes I have the boys help me (which they enjoy) sometimes I do it myself (which is much faster :)
I am going to have to try some of your recipes! For some reason I never thought about freezing some of the muffins. Good idea!

Jenny said...

These all sound yummy! You are the most organized, creative Mom I've ever known!

Go you!

Anonymous said...

Muffins are a big hit in my house..They all looks delicious..

BonBon Rose Girls Kristin said...

I want to be one of your kids. Ha! Those look so delish!

Margo said...

Awesome and helpful post, beautiful photography too!

Sunshine said...

Lisa, not only do you keep your own home cozily organized (for example having stacks of frozen muffins), you did a fab job with organizing Grandma's pantry while you were in AZ. Your goodness crosses state lines and hearts. This mom is sure blessed to have YOU!!!