Not long ago, my sister gave me an excellent bag of locally made granola. I wondered what would be the best way to make it shine. At first, I thought about just sprinkling it over yogurt for breakfast but then decided that granola muffins would be much more exciting. This simple recipe turns out some mighty tasty muffins.
I love the name of Deb’s baked in Hawaii granola. Besides the more common ingredients such as oats and almonds that you might find in many granolas, this one includes rich and buttery macadamia nuts and coconut chips that get nice and toasty when sprinkled over the top of the muffins.
Besides the granola in the batter, you’ll want to sprinkle more granola over the top of each muffin before baking. This lends a very tasty and crispy texture to each bite.
- 2 cups (227g) King Arthur white whole wheat flour
- 1 cup (213g) light brown sugar, packed
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 cup (99g) granola + ¾ cup (74g) for muffin topping
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ⅓ cup (67g) canola oil
- 1½ cups (340g) lactose free buttermilk
- (To make lactose free buttermilk add 1½ tablespoons of white vinegar to a 2-cup liquid measuring cup. Pour lactose free whole or 2% milk over the vinegar to measure 1½ cups. Allow the milk to sit for 5-10 minutes to thicken a bit).
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease the cups of a standard muffin pan.
- Whisk together all of the dry ingredients including 1 cup of granola.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the vanilla, canola oil and lactose free buttermilk. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, stirring just to combine. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, filling nearly full. Sprinkle the remaining ¾ cup of granola over the tops of the muffins.
- Bake the muffins for 16-18 minutes. Test for doneness by inserting a toothpick in the middle of one of the muffins. The toothpick should come out clean.
- Remove the muffins from the oven and set pan on a cooling rack for at least 5-10 minutes. When they are cool enough to handle, remove muffins from pan and cool on a rack. Muffins freeze well for a few months.
