Spring Cleaning....the Fridge

Dusting.....check
Mopping.....check
Donate clothes to Goodwill.....check
Cleaning out the fridge of all those leftover ingredients from winter baking.....CHECK

Spring cleaning always feels so tedious.   Why does the reward have to be just having a fresh and clean house that Mom and Dad would approve of?  Why not reward yourself in the sweetest of ways?  That was my thought today as I put together a list of things to do around the house.  Believe it or not, besides the birthday cobbler, I've been trying not to partake in much baking lately.  This is all thanks to my goal of reducing bad stuff from me and my hunnie's diet...complex carbs, processed sugars.  Let me just say, its been TORTURE!  I decided today that I wanted to clean out the fridge and cupboard of some of those leftover baking ingredients from the holidays, and in an attempt to avoid processed sugars and fats usually in baked goods, I came up with pretty healthy recipe, replacing sugar with local raw honey, replacing bleached flour with whole wheat flour, and replacing butter with coconut oil.  

 

These muffins are full of flavor and the nuts and whole wheat flour make them very filling.  The use of real honey instead of sugar also makes them more moist than you'd expect from a whole wheat muffin.  You may not have all the ingredients lying around the fridge, but they can easily be substituted by something you probably do have tucked away in the pantry.  Don't have apple butter?  Replace with apple sauce...or fresh apples.  You get the idea.  So get to that fridge and start cleaning!

 

Honey Nut Muffins
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup coconut oil
1/3 cup honey
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup milk
1 tablespoon apple butter
1/4 cup pecans, chopped 
1/4 cup walnuts, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.  Mix together flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.  In another bowl blend together oil, honey, eggs, and vanilla until just combined.  Then stir in milk and apple butter.  Add 1/3 of dry mixture to wet mixture and stir until combined.  Repeat until all dry mixture is combined into wet mixture.  Lastly, fold in nuts (or any other fruit you might have on hand).  Mixture will be somewhat thick.  Scoop into lined cupcake tin and bake for 15 minutes.  Check doneness by sticking a toothpick in the middle--if the toothpick comes out clean, the muffins are done.  Yields ~ 1 dozen.   

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