Back to School...Boo Hoo!

Today is one of the last days of my March break...sniff, sniff...tear :(

Where has the time gone?!?

After thoroughly enjoying my cup of coffee on the couch this morning I decided to head to the kitchen to bake...what else would I do with my last scraps of free time?  Should I Relax!?! Don't be silly!

Now, the question of what to make? Hmmm...

I started thinking about going back to work next week:  getting up at 5:00am, hectic mornings getting an active 2 year old ready and out the door, breakfast in the car...should I go on?
Now I know what you're thinking...it all sounds VERY glamorous!  Well, don't be fooled...it's a crazy juggling act during the work week in this house.

So I wanted to make something that would help those first few back-to-work mornings potentially go a bit more smoothly.  Take some of the guess work out.  So why not bake some yummy muffins to enjoy during the morning commute?

I looked through my library of cookbooks to see what sounded good.  After flipping through several books I decided on an old favorite from Baking: From my home to yours by Dorie Greenspan.  This particular cookbook has so many delicious delights - everything from muffins to cookies to decadent cakes. 

I chose to make Great Grains Muffins.  I have made this recipe many times and have never been disappointed by it. 

But as I looked at the recipe I decided I didn't want to make the same old recipe yet another time.  I wanted to switch things up a little bit and put my own spin on these muffins.  Don't worry, I'm not going all paleo on you again...but after tasting how good those paleo pumpkin muffins turned out I wanted to make my muffins sweet, delicious, and a little healthy too! 

So I added a little bit of coconut flour and raisins here, some flax seed meal and oatmeal there...and of course I HAD to add some chocolate chips for that extra sweet factor.  After all my changes to the recipe, I was so happy that I'd really made this recipe mine. 

Here's how the final product came out:

I'll be honest, sometimes when you try something new with a recipe, or create your own, it can really be a crap-shoot how it will turn out.  But, let me tell you, they really turned out well.  They are light and fluffy, and the raisin/chocolate pairing was soooo yummy.  And while I was enjoying my muffin, I felt good that they did have that healthy twist - hooray for flax seed!

Well,  I hope you all liked my latest baking endeavor and stay tuned for the next one! 

Have a fabulous afternoon and take time to enjoy something sweet today :).