Ugly Muffins (Secret Recipe Club)
I had to rename this recipe. I just had to. I give them that name in the most loving way and with the best intentions. These muffins aren’t pretty, but they are oh so delicious. Moist, sweet, filling. They’re full of healthy stuff like whole wheat flour, flax seed meal, and wheat germ. Add in some carrots and apples and you have a full-on feast!

I made the muffins as part of this month’s Secret Recipe Club. We took the month off in January and I really found myself missing it. My assigned blog for February was Vanderbilt Wife. Jessie is a stay-at-home-mom/writer who blogs about her life, her food, and her kids. Her tagline sums her up best: “Trying to be the housewife I’m not.” I love that, because isn’t that something so many of us strive for? We work, we cook, we clean, we care for our kids, we run the house, we do everything. Yet we still try to be “better” or “more”. Always trying to improve ourselves.
So, the muffins. Jessie has a lot of great recipes but I’ve been specifically looking for a muffin recipe that I can freeze and have for breakfast in the mornings. Her Chock Full of Healthy Muffins fit the bill perfectly. They are full of fiber so just one with a little bit of fruit on the side is a great filling breakfast. I’ve been eating them all week and refuse to share. Next time I’ll add some raisins because I feel like that’s the only improvement on them that I should make.
Here’s how I made them:
Ugly Muffins
From Vanderbilt Wife
Ingredients:
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
- 3/4 cup flax seed meal
- 3/4 cup wheat germ
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1/4 cup maple syrup (I used pancake syrup…stop judging me)
- 2 Tbsp honey
- 1 tsp salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 3/4 cup milk
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 2 Tbsp coconut oil
- 2 cups shredded carrots
- 2 apples, shredded
- 1/2 cup chopped pecans
- In a large bowl, combine flours, flax seed meal, wheat germ, brown sugar, salt, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Whisk to combine.
- In a medium bowl, stir together syrup, honey, milk, eggs, vanilla, oil, carrots, apples and pecans.
- Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir together until just combined. Pour into lined muffin tins. Bake at 350 degrees for 18-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out dry.
Proudly linked up to Today’s Creative Blog and others.




Those muffins are definitely not ugly.
I made a similar muffin for the SRC before. What they lack for in appearance they make up for in taste.
Delicious and healthy…who cares if they’re not the most beautiful muffin around.
If you haven’t already, I’d love for you to check out my SRC entry: Crunchy Fudgy Heart Bites
Lisa~~
Cook Lisa Cook
Yum – these sound great!!!
No judgement here :0) These look amazing!
Oh snap! These sound AMAZING and I will most definitely be trying them! Great SRC pick!
I don’t think they’re ugly. I think they look delicious! Great choice.
Those muffins look delicious to me. That’s definitely a breakfast I’d like to try! I’m making pumpkin muffins for the 2nd time tonight.
Ugly or not, those muffins look delicious! I’ve been making a habit of packing a healthy breakfast on workdays, and these sound just perfect… might have to make a batch this weekend, in fact.
Great pick!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe. I missed doing it in January, too!
raisins in muffins are kind of a must do for me. or at least some kind of fruit. i like your idea of adding them – what a healthy and “ugly” muffin!
PS. the title was what got me here. well played
This sounds YUMMY..Bookmarked..
Aarthi
http://www.yummytummyaarthi.com/
Great name! They look wonderful, tho =o)
Haha love the name! Seriously though these sound awesome! Excellent SRC pick.
These sound great, ugly or not! I like the sound of the carrots and apples in them.
not ugly, modest maybe as they should be with all the nutrition packed in it
Your ugly muffin looks amazing! Great ingredients!!
Ugly yet perfect. Great choice.
maybe a little ugly, but they sound fabulous! Thanks for linking up this week! I really want to try these muffins…
UGLY!! I don’t know why!! They sound ymmy!!!
well they may not be the prettiest muffin in the world, but they sound yummy!