muffins or biscuits?
A recent recipe find sparked an internal debate that was also vocalized by my oldest daughter. When I asked her if she’d try a veggie muffin, she looked into the bowl where I mixed a beigey-brown veggie-laden batter and said yes, if they were biscuits instead of muffins. I laughed as I’d had the same thought when I saw the recipe for Savory Oatmeal Muffins–along with phenomenally gorgeous photos–at With a Spin. Wasn’t a savory muffin the same thing as a biscuit?
Culinary philosophy aside, these muffins intrigued as they were packed with shredded carrots, zucchini, and spinach. As well, they used a healthy amount of olive oil and the only flour used was oat flour. As soon as I was able to snag a handful of beautiful baby zukes at a local farmers’ market, the recipe became priority one.
Ingredient changes included swapping beet greens for the spinach since I had also purchased beets at the farmers’ market, but no spinach. I also ground oats myself as it was easier than hunting down a specialty flour.
muffins deconstructed
The batter surprised me by being extremely dense with vegetables. There seemed just enough flour and wet ingredients (only olive oil and two eggs) to hold the muffins together.
attractive? not so much
But in the end, these savory muffins were a good balance of moist and dry. They also had a hearty vegetable flavor, which could be toned down by using the intended spinach instead of subbing in a darker, more heavily flavored green.
Breakfast, snack, lunch, and of course supper–these muffins work anytime. A spread of goat cheese makes them even tastier.
Because they taste like they’re packed with vegetables (a good thing to some, myself included), these muffins have not been a favorite with my kids. A shame as these mini baked goods are about as healthy as they come. Perhaps I should take my daughter’s advice and call them biscuits.
food for fun 
Absolutely delicious!! Definitely a recipe I’ll make here. Thanks Liz!
Thanks, Mimi 🙂 Glad you like. Guessing Bogey would like, too!
He cannot be considered a culinary curator – he will eat ANYTHING!!! And I will let your imagination take you anywhere you want to go and you’ll be right.
Interesting! They could be a fritter if you fried them!
Sent from Joan’s iPad
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yum! That sounds delish, Joan. I would love some veggie fritters.
they look great, but i can see why kids might resist them. go with the ‘biscuit’ option when in doubt and it’s the old ‘one child’s muffin is another’s biscuit debate.’ )
exactly, Beth 🙂
Mmmmm!
Thanks, Sophie. Appreciate you coming over very much 🙂
Ah, you’re welcome!
Thank you so much for trying these, Liz. I see your point now. I guess, my daughter is not old enough to know how things should taste whether I call them muffin or biscuit 🙂 I suppose, I should change some of my pinterest heading to biscuits 🙂
Thanks again for trying. We love them at our house.
glad you caught this, Lail. Doesn’t matter what you call them–they’re tasty!
The muffins are wonderful, muffins and biscuits are both quick breads so they are the same family of baked goods. I really love this idea and am going to try baking them with barley flour.
That’s it, Suzanne–veggie quickbread 🙂 Barley flour would work well–thinking the flavor would be a good match for the veggies. Please let me know how it turns out!
Omg! What a lovely bake you have there! ^__^
Thanks so much for stopping by 🙂
This looks intriguing….I would call them biscuits too. The word “muffins” holds promise of sugary or fruity sweetness. I will have to try them, though I have a feeling my husband may be less than enthusiastic, haha!
Thanks, Jenny! Love that you’re writing about your “husband” now 🙂
These look really good! It’s a great way to use up all of the wonderful produce sprouting these days. I”m also a huge fan of savory cakes, muffins, scones, etc. I like the way you asked your daughter if she’d eat it. Sometimes the idea of something is way different than the actual execution and your execution looks awesome!
Thanks, Amanda. You’re always so kind. Agreed that the execution can be a surprise!
I usually don’t make things with vegetables, but these look good! And that is too funny with the biscuit v. muffin debate. Maybe biscuits sounded better to your daughter because muffin’s are usually sweet?
Hey, Liz! Thanks 🙂 Been meaning to circle back to an earlier post with this: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/10/27/nutella-swirl-pound-cake_n_1058578.html
No veggies in this one! I can only make it twice a year because I will eat the entire loaf (crusty bottom bits are the best part) in under 48 hours. I’m pretty good about stopping myself, but not here. You’re welcome 😉
Woe savory muffin. Thanks for the recipe Liz:)
You’re welcome and thank you!
What a yummy savory muffin. Goat cheese would indeed be great. Add some tomato soup and we have a meal! Not sure how my kids would react to this, I just might have to check it out.
Yes, tomato soup–perfect. My bet is that your kids would be in 🙂
These look great! Your kids are such adventerous and healthy eaters. I love the idea of the veggie bisc-ins 🙂 toasted and spread with a creamy chévre. Yum, yum. Oh, and you are so smart to grind the oats yourself! Safe yourself the hassle of finding the specialty flour, for sure.
Thanks, Shanna. The girls might try things, but they’d always pick junk first. And you could consider me smart to grind the oats or you could more correctly consider me lazy 😉
So you ground oats like a pioneer woman? 🙂 It almost looks like a vegetable cake, which makes no sense to say. I really would like to try that. My question is why baby cukes? I only buy senior cukes. Is there a taste difference?
nope, not a pioneer woman. I ground the oats in my fancy Cusinart stand mixer attachment. It’s my baby and I love it–grinds any grain or nut.
No baby cukes, they were baby zukes. And the growing season is so behind in Minnesota that we’re just now seeing small zucchini. I like them best that way–less seedy and bitter.
Well, but of course you used beet greens and made your own oat flour, of course you did. Because, well, that is what makes you you. I on the other hand, would have to contact you and say, “Hey Liz, this recipe calls for unicorn sparkles, but seems I am all out, what do you suggest as a good substitute?”, and you’d have the perfect answer at the ready! These look good to me and I am so confident that I would not have to share them 🙂
bahahahaha, Bonnie. I love how my unwillingness to do extra work (buy spinach, hunt down oat flour) comes across as having the extra ability. Hah–I’m just lazy, Bon. lol, unicorn sprinkles. That’s awesome. How about edible glitter or colored sprinkles?
These look awesome! I’m so excited to try them out! I’ll let you know how they go over. 🙂
please do! And thanks so much for the tweet-tention 😉
These are brilliant Liz! I love the idea of baking vegetables such as spinach, zucchini and carrots into a muffin, or biscuit rather…plus..you used oats. I must make these for my guys, I know they’ll love them!
Thanks, Seana. Keep in mind I only borrowed someone elses recipe. No way can I claim the brilliance as my own. But I was happy to stumble upon the recipe as it’s an easy way to bake up healthy and fun.
I know…but YOU made them and shared it with us..photo and all! I still think they are brilliant…and so are you!
Muffin biscuits? Curious… I am very happy with this 😀
Savoury and delicious, I bet these are a great as a uni snack!
Cheers
Choc Chip Uru
Thanks, Uru 🙂 Yes, a healthy and yummy savory snack–good for students of all ages.
Regardless of the name, I think they sound awesome. I am never scared of savory vegetable-packed things and I also like anything that is both healthy and portable!
I knew you’d be with me on the savoy veggie-ness of it all. Thanks for your kind words always.
Change of topic: Have you or your husband smoked bacon before? I found pork belly at a farmers’ market and my husband has been watching youtubes to prepare. If you’ve made, any tips to share?
Oh, these look wonderful, Liz! I will definitely try these, as I love to have something savory in the morning but only have a handful of healthy options I can take with me on my commute. I eat rolled oats every day and am glad to know you can just grind up oats to make oat flour rather than buying it. Looks delicious!
Thanks, Ngan. These make good breakfast treats for sure. And heck yeah to grinding your own oats. Or almonds or barley or quinoa or chickpeas etc. I have a cuisinart attachment for grinding and the only flour I don’t think I could make is coconut flour as the coconut might be too wet. ?? You need one, too 😀
wow, never even tought to add veggies on muffin before!!!
you’re such an inspirational cooks my friend….
Thank you, kind sir. Seeing Lail’s (with a spin) post was an “aha” moment for me as well as I’d never thought along the lines of savory muffins. Seems so obvious now!
Liz, this looks delicious! I can just imagine slathering it in ghee and popping it into my mouth. slurp! there seems to be a muffin vibe in the air. Just made my kids almond muffins with grated zucchini!
btw… my kids didn’t eat much of my veggie muffins either 😦
lol, Shamin. I’ll have what your kids didn’t eat! Thanks for coming by and your kind comment. Ghee would take it to a whole ‘nother level! Dreamy 🙂
Those look gorgeous! I’ll have to give them a try.
Thanks, Tracy. I was hoping you’d see this as it seems perfect for you 🙂
I’ll send you a picture of my first attempt. 🙂
I made them with home grown courgettes, the yellow & green ones! I loved them & so did my hubby Peter! I also made them a second time in mini muffins, for a party! Everyone gobbled them up! xx
You’ve made my day, Sophie! So glad you made them multiple times and even better, they were gobbled up 🙂
😀😀 xxxx
Interesting veggie muffin/biscuit! I can definitely see why this would not be a favorite among kids haha. I am doing my best to eat healthier these days, so I will try to make this soon! Thanks for sharing, Liz!
Thanks, Ada 🙂 Hope you’ve been able to enjoy these muffins. Even better, tweak them as you like. Hope the eating healthier thing goes well, though I’d bet you do a good job overall!
wish I saw this post an hour ago – was frantically searching for dinner ideas for tonight! These look great.
Hope you found another occasion to make these muffins (biscuits? still not sure, lol). Thanks for coming over 🙂
Never fear – I may just make them for school lunchboxes 🙂
Nice biscuit/muffin! I once tried kale in a muffin as I was inspired to make green smoothies in muffin form. Had to chop the kale really really fine and throw in some fruits in the batter to balance out the bitterness in the greens.
Thank you, Sam. Yes, chopping fine is good for the hearty greens. Sounds like you know exactly what you’re doing in the kitchen 🙂 And from time at your blog, I know very well you do.