Welcome Home Muffins
I made Welcome Home Muffins for my dear friend and co-worker Sabina. She has arrived home after having been overseas caring for her mom.
I’m not sure there is anything more personal than caring for a parent. We lovingly follow in their footsteps until it’s time to venture out on our own. Then we look over our shoulder for their approval as we find our way. Often the road leads us back home.
I wanted to make something special for Sabina to welcome her home. These are definitely Sabina inspired muffins. She loves her fresh veggies, especially the orange ones. With hints of coconut and cinnamon and a little nutty crunch there is a healthy, not to sweet, warmth to these muffins.
In addition to mashed sweet potato, and to the delight of my trusty kitchen side-kicks Lilah and Scrappy Thyme, I added shredded carrots and zucchini to the mix. They are coo coo for carrots.
Our Welcome Home Muffins have a feel and look of fall, adding roasted pumpkin seeds was perfect and gave a nice crunch. I also added a couple tablespoons of flax seed because flax seeds are good for you, that’s reason enough. Coconut oil in place of butter and shredded unsweetened coconut make these muffins smell as good as they taste.
And they’re moist like a muffin should be.
I may need to make a second batch of these.
Very soon.
If you’re looking for a new Share the Love recipe to deliver to a friend, consider these Welcome Home Muffins. New mom’s will love them, post-surgery patients will sing your praises, friends who need a warm hug will eat these up and maybe even put on a pot of coffee and invite you to sit a while.
Don’t forget to follow us @LemonyThyme on Instagram and Facebook! And check out our latest TikTok videos and Pinterest boards too!
All my best,
xo Libby
Welcome Home Muffins
Ingredients
wet ingredients…
- 1 cup carrots grated about 2 medium
- 1 cup zucchini grated about 2 small
- 1 cup cooked sweet potato mashed about 1 medium
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup coconut oil
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp. vanilla
- 1 tsp. orange or lemon zest
dry ingredients…
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup unsweetened shredded coconut
- 1 tsp. baking soda
- 1 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 tsp. cinnamon
- 1/2 cup pepitas roasted pumpkin seeds
- 2 Tbl. flax seeds
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare muffin pan with paper cupcake liners.
- In a large bowl, combine wet ingredients until well blended.
- In medium bowl whisk together remaining dry ingredients.
- Spoon dry ingredients into wet ingredients gently mixing with a wooden spoon until incorporated. Do not over mix.
- Fill 12 paper lined muffin cups.
- Bake for 15 – 18 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean.
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28 Comments
Emily
These are a winner. I love how many healthy ingredients they have. I made a couple of adjustments by omitting the white sugar and using half white flour half whole wheat flour. Family really liked them but everyone commented they tasted too strongly of baking soda.
I will make these again, but with less baking soda, or omit it entirely. They tasted a little soapy and my carrots turned green. I did some research and most recipe ratios say 1 tsp of baking powder per 1 cup of flour and 1/4 tsp of baking soda per 1 cup of flour. Thanks for the great recipe!
Jess
Lovely and moist. Thank you for sharing :)
Cindi
We made these welcome home muffins vegan style with flax eggs and regular soy oil. My vegan daughter LOVED them. They freeze well and allow her to grab a snack and run for school. Delicious.. so healthy and filling! We all loved them.
Pearl
Hi. I made these muffins. They’re really good! Would you know how many calories are in each muffin ?? I have to watch my calorie intake.
Sheri Berger, RDN
I calculated it. About 270 calories per muffin. Great for a healthy breakfast or a filling snack :)
Sheri Berger, RDN
Registered Dietitian/Nutritionist
libby
Thank you so much for doing that!!
Rob c
I make these muffins for my 16month old. I cut the sugar down to half a cup combined and add a little bit of pure maple syrup and honey. She loves these muffins as does my fiancee! Thanks so much
libby
I’m going to have to try your changes Rob. Thanks for sharing.
Amy
Hello! These muffins sound delicious and nutritious;). I’m wondering if it would be possible to replace the white and brown sugars with something else like molasses, honey, and/or stevia as I’m trying to eliminate cane sugar from our diets?
libby
Hi Amy. I found this great article on The Best Sugar Alternatives for Baking. I think you’ll find some good options here. I may try a few of these myself. Let me know how they turn out.
http://www.popsugar.com/fitness/Best-Sugar-Alternatives-Baking-30861504
Gillian Ingram
Cannot wait to try this Welcome Home Muffins recipe! What a great combination of ingredients especially now at the end of summer with zucchini everywhere. (An invasive plant at this stage!)
Love your story behind the name! A dear friend is coming home today from hospital/rehab and I am delighted to have this delicious way of welcoming him back home!
libby
Thank you so much Gillian. I hope your friend enjoys them.
Be
Hi, would it throw the moisture off too much if l leave out the coconut? I have IBS and coconut is a trigger food so I’d rather avoid it. These look great, otherwise. Thanks!
libby
You could replace the coconut oil with softened butter, applesauce, mashed banana or a combination. I hope you’ll give them a try.
Janet
Fabulous muffins, very moist. What are he calories per serving?
Andrea
Do you know if it is necessary to add the pumpkin seeds? Just wondering if I can add crushed walnuts or almond slices to get the right consistency of this muffin while still adding the crunch. I have everything here to start these today if I so. They sound/look delicious! I’m excited to make muffins that are good do me! Thanks for sharing:)
libby
I’m sorry I didn’t see your comment sooner Andrea. The answer is any kind of nut would work fine. Hope you got a chance to give them a try.
Amy
Do you cook the sweet potato before mashing it?
libby
Hi Amy, yes you do. I need to update the recipe with that. Hope you enjoy them as much as we do.
Kris
Ok. Someone made these muffins for our teachers. They were fantastic. so I begged for the recipe and made some at home, purchasing the ingredients that I did not have in stock.
Here’s my question – when I took the muffins out of the pan to cool on a rack they dripped on my table. Oil?
I followed the recipe. Mine seemed excessively moist to the point of being gooey.
Suggestions?
libby
Hmm. I’m not sure Kris. Possibly the cooking time. They’re definitely a moist muffin, but gooey sounds like they didn’t get done quite enough. A couple more minutes might make the difference.
Jenna
Wow! That’s a great muffin! Renaming them “welcome to my belly muffins.” They’re good for me too, so I get to eat all of them in one sitting! And this recipe made more than a dozen (bonus muffins?!?!). I added a pinch of cardamom to this batch and it tastes great. Thanks for your dedication to muffin mastery!
libby
Thanks Jenna. I may have to rename them ;)
Judy
Thanks for coming and linking up at #The Weekend Social. Please be sure to come back next week starting Thursdays at 9PM EST The Midnight Baker ! I hope to see you there!
Judy@ http://www.bakeatmidnite.com