Making a muffin mix healthier?
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Anonymous
I still have a box of Trader Joe’s pumpkin muffin mix from the fall. I want to make it this weekend, but I would like to make it a little healthier because my kids have been sugar monsters lately 
We have done the thing where you sub a can of pumpkin for the oil and they didn’t love it and it was left mostly uneaten. Is there some way to increase the fiber by adding something like oats? How would I balance that with needing more liquid since oats soak it up? Would you do something like chia seeds instead? I’m not enough of a baker to figure out balancing out the additional ingredients and still having it turn out ok. Thank you for your advice for this novice. |
Anonymous
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Nobody?
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Anonymous
| Add chopped apple? I think the flavors would go well together. |
Anonymous
| Just make them following the instructions on the box and serve with apple slices or berries. |
Anonymous
| What about adding chia seeds or/and flax seeds? |
Anonymous
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Don't make it?
You're missing the forest for the tree. You're not making it "healthier" by substituting this for that. Especially for kids. The problem isn't the muffins but the overall sugar intake. And with that, you know what to do. Don't make them. |
Anonymous
This. I think OP is way overthinking the muffins. |
Anonymous
| Make them into mini muffins and manage the portions. Serve with protein and fresh veg/fruit. That's how you reduce the impact. |
Anonymous
+1 |
Anonymous
| Step one- throw boxed mix into the bin. |
Anonymous
| If the mix is unhealthy to begin with, you can't make it less so by adding anything, you'd have to remove the unhealthy parts, which is not possible. |
Anonymous
| Applesauce for oil, but that’s really just adding more sugar. I’d just make them in smaller size, add extra nuts, and slap some cream cheese on them. |
Anonymous
| I make boxed blueberry muffins because they’re a nostalgic food for me. But I use fresh or frozen blueberries instead of the canned ones which are sweetened. I also add ground flax and ground almonds to the mix. They’re still bad for you but I like them better. So try flax and walnuts ground up in the food processor? |
Anonymous
| flax seeds |
Anonymous
| I make that mix using half of the box and I add four or so bananas. Also add a lot of oats- just make sure you don’t use instant. My kids love it. |