This week is going to be a little crazy for us since all three boys have swim lessons starting Tuesday. I decided to survive this schedule change it is going to require some planning ahead. Our biggest issues are dinner and breakfast. The boys will be eating their dinner at the gym twice a week while I work out and then they will have swim lessons. As for breakfast, Jack tends to sleep a little later the morning after swim so it will need to be portable to eat while walking to the bus.
Sometimes I wonder how people have their kids in so many activities. Just this one activity disrupts our schedule. With lessons starting at 6:30 it is very difficult to have a family dinner, impossible for us since my husband is not home early enough to eat AND get to lessons. Call me crazy, but I really object to my kids eating their meals in the car. I am even lucky since all of my kids are doing the same activity at the same time. I am really dreading the day that changes!
I made these muffins over the weekend so that I can freeze them and have a quick and portable breakfast ready for Jack in case he sleeps in a little. He will need all the sleep he can get. With white whole wheat flour and nonfat yogurt in the muffins I don’t have to feel too guilty about letting the kids eat these in the morning. Add a spoon of peanut butter (their favorite!) for protein and some milk and we are good to go.
You can’t even tell it is wheat flour which is a plus sometimes with kids. Since I couldn’t remember if the boys have had figs or not I added some mini chocolate chips to distract them a little! It must have worked because all three boys said they loved the muffins, hubby too. I hope you enjoy them as much as we do.
Hazelnut Chocolate Fig Muffins
2 c. white whole wheat flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 c. dried figs, chopped
1/2 c. hazelnuts, chopped
1/2 c. mini chocolate chips
1 egg
1 c. nonfat vanilla yogurt
1/2 c. buttermilk
1/2 c. turbinado sugar, extra for tops if desired
Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line or grease a muffin tin. Combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, figs, nuts and chocolate chips in a bowl. In another bowl whisk together the egg, yogurt, buttermilk and sugar. Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir until just combined, do not overmix. Fill the muffin pan, sprinkle the tops with turbinado sugar if desired and bake for 20-25 minutes.
Yields one dozen
Feeding My 3 Sons 
these look so good! 🙂
Thanks! They were quite tasty.
These look and sound delicious! Definitely something I will have to try out one day 🙂
Thanks, they were quite delicious!
These look great, Gretchen. Chocolate and figs are a match made in heaven (particularly when paired with red wine – though then you would have pink muffins!). 😉 I can relate to your hectic schedule and a husband who gets home late. This weekend, I froze a big batch of chocolate cherry granola bars, individually wrapped, so that they would be portable. I’ll try this recipe for sure. 🙂
Sometimes cooking in batches is quite helpful! I have a huge batch of marinara on the stove now that I freeze. Next is granola bars and graham crackers. I hope you enjoy the muffins if you get a chance to try them. Enjoy the week! Chocolate with figs and wine sounds good right about now! Maybe this will be the year we finally get something off our fig tree….
These look so beautiful – lovely photographs and a delicious sounding recipe! I rarely cook with figs (dried or fresh) but I really should … and I love the way you put chocolate chips in the “distract” the boys!
Thank you for the compliments. Chocolate is always a welcome distraction for children and adults! I am just starting to use figs more and enjoying it so far.
These sound great! I love figs but wouldn’t mind the chocolate at all. I, too, freeze most of the muffins I bake. As you mentioned, they make a great quickie breakfast.
I love freezing muffins, somehow it is nice to know I have a stash for breakfast emergencies!
yum yum yum yum! Love that these muffins combine so many good things—choc chips, figs, hazelnuts, whole wheat flour. 😀
And I hear you on the busy-ness. Ashamed to admit that my oldest has to go school early on Friday and I was going through meal options in my mind of what she could eat for breakfast in the car. Sometimes it’s a toss-up between sleep and food. How sad is that 😦 Here’s to good food anyway. Like your muffins! Hey, maybe I should make a batch of these for her Friday (in the car 0-: ) breakfast.
I dread those days…early to school and many activities! Luckily we aren’t there yet. At least by the time that arrives HOPEFULLY the boys will be less messy. If I must I can tolerate a homemade muffin in the car for breakfast. We also like whole wheat waffle sandwiches with peanut butter and bananas.
What a nice combination of flavors…perfect with an afternoon cup of tea.
And today is a great day for a cup of tea, getting ready for a cold rain this afternoon!
Your photography has really improved. I love the photos and the combination of ingredients. You seem to freeze lots of things. You must have a really huge freezer. My freezer is full of muffins too…when I over bake I freeze. Thanks for sharing the muffins!
Thank you for the compliments! I go through phases of freezing. I always like to have a hidden stash of cookies in the freezer, unfortunately the boys have discovered my favorite hiding spots and tend to get into them when nobody is looking! We have a second fridge/freezer in the garage which is where I put the cookies. When the boys play outside my husband tend to leave the garage door open and not pay attention, this is when they raid the cookies! Someday I shall have a deep freezer….
It reminds me of the days we were growing up. We used to raid everything in sight. Our favourite was licking sugar and sometimes we mixed it with cocoa. That was a great speciality. We have sun today after yesterdays’ snow storm. Have a lovely day!