Savor your Cheese and Herb Muffins

MUFFINS!!! Most breakfast muffins are loaded with sugar and all sorts of deliciousness that really isn't all that good for your first meal of the day. But who really wants or thinks about being healthy first thing in the morning? I know I don't (and don't even lie!) You may "think" about eating something healthy but in the end whatever is easiest (and looks more appetizing) is what gets eaten.

In my quest for a muffin that is not your usual run of the mill muffin, I found a recipe for these savory Cheese and Herb Muffins from Healthy Cooking For Your Kids cookbook that I got on sale at Barnes & Noble for a wonderful sale price of $6.98 (I love great bargains!) This book has some great pictures that accompany the recipes and most of them are pretty easy and really not just for kids. The muffins, contain no sugar and I actually added a drizzle of honey on each cooked muffins to give it just a hint of sweet (cuz dammit I need some kind of sweet in the morning) My 20 month old toddler gobbled it up no problem and so did my co-workers. Seriously, this cheese and herb muffins (no, not that kind of herb) are mighty tasty. I recommend baking this at night and letting it sit till the morning to give the honey some time to permeate the muffins. Ok so onto the recipe!

Cheese & Herb Muffins (this is my edited version of the recipe)

Ingredients:

1 salad package of baby spinach (or 2 1/8 cups)
5 1/2 Tbsp of butter
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese (or more if you want :))
1 Tbsp chopped fresh herbs (like parsley, chive or tarragon. I used tarragon)
3/4 cup all purpose flour
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch of salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 large egg
1 cup buttermilk
*honey

Directions:

• Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C. Line muffin tin. (You can either use a regular size or mini size muffin tins. I used 24 count mini muffin tins and 6 regular size ones. The decision is up to you!)

• Put spinach in a colander and pour boiling water on it to wilt them. Let cool, then squeeze all the liquid out till spinach is very dry. (I did this using paper towels or you can be all environmentally friendly and use a kitchen towel, just wring it out) Mince.

• Melt butter in a small pan on low heat (do NOT burn the butter!) then let cool. Mix the herbs, flours, baking soda, salt and baking powder together in a bowl, then stir in spinach. (You will *not* be using a mixer in this recipe. A spatula is all you need)

• Whisk the melted butter with the egg and buttermilk in a pitcher, pour into the dry ingredients. Stir briefly to combine. Do *not* over mix - the batter should still be a little lumpy.

• Spoon batter into muffin tins and bake for 10-12 minutes.

• Once out of the oven, poke tops of muffins with fork several times then drizzle with honey. (amount is again, up to you) leave overnight. Re-heat it in the micro for about 5-10 seconds before eating if you want to serve it warm.

Voila! Breakfast is served!