Fun with leftovers

Last week for our anniversary breakfast I made To Die For Blueberry Muffins, which have a yummy streusel topping. These are not my usual healthy muffins; these are a rich treat that my husband loves so I make them on special occasions. The recipe always makes far too much topping...even when I mixed up less I still found myself with a surplus so I popped it into the fridge for another time.

Over the weekend I had a craving for banana bread, so I made some super healthy banana muffins and added a sprinkle of the topping to each. They turned out beautifully!

For these, I use the Mott's banana bread recipe as a base. I cut the sugar down to 1/2 c and use half whole wheat and half all-purpose flour. I love how much fruit my kids are getting when they eat one of these before school.

I also had some leftover pecan topping from some Thanksgiving cookies, which I added to plain pumpkin muffins yesterday and those were also delicious. I started with Dean's Favorite Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins and left out the chocolate chips but topped them off before baking. The cookie topping had chopped pecans, a bit of soy creamer, margarine and sugar...you could easily replicate with some chopped nuts and a bit of maple syrup or honey for the same yummy effect. Here's a photo.

I think I will experiment more with toppings because they make ordinary muffins more appealing and you get a lot of bang for your buck in terms of fat and calories...a little bit goes a long way. Happy baking!