To have a hearty, healthy breakfast at home each day. Apricots, orange, and pistachios, they remind me very much of Christmas sugarplums (which I need to make a batch of soon…). They’re packed with good stuff, and have plenty of natural sweetness and flavor, but I did find them a little dry. I’m going to tinker around a bit with adding buttermilk or Greek yogurt to see if that moistens them a bit – until then, I’m leaving you with the original recipe. Let me know if you try it out! And as usual, please share your resolutions in the comments if you want to play along.

Monday Morning Resolutions: Healthy Christmas Muffins

Monday Morning Resolutions: Healthy Christmas Muffins

Monday Morning Resolutions: Healthy Christmas Muffins

Monday Morning Resolutions: Healthy Christmas Muffins

Healthy Orange-Date-Apricot Muffins with Anise

Makes 12 regular muffins.

Note: As mentioned above, I found these muffins a little bit dry as written. I’m still tinkering with the recipe, but the original (below) still makes a very healthy muffin with great flavor and natural sweetness. I’ll update the recipe below if I find a way to make them less dry. Also, I opted to top these with pistachios only.

  • 2 c. white whole wheat flour
  • 1/4 c. sugar
  • 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground anise seeds
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 c. chopped dried dates
  • 1/4 c. chopped dried apricots
  • 3 large eggs, at room temperature
  • 1/2 c. honey
  • 1/3 c. olive oil
  • 2 tsp freshly grated orange zest
  • 3/4 c. freshly squeezed orange juice (from ~2 medium navel oranges)
  • 1/2 c. + 3 TBS chopped roasted pistachios
  1. Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a standard-sized muffin tin with muffin cups or grease the pan itself.
  2. Whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, anise, and salt. Add the chopped dates and chopped apricots and stir briefly to coat the fruit with flour.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs. Add the honey, olive oil, orange zest, and orange juice, and whisk until smooth. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients. Use a spatula to fold the two together until just combined – do not overmix. Stir in the 1/2 c. chopped pistachios, and add a heaping 1/4 c. of batter to each muffin cup. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the remaining 3 TBS chopped pistachios. Bake for 15-17 minutes, until domed and golden brown. Let cool on a wire rack.

Monday Morning Resolutions: Healthy Christmas Muffins

Dining and Cooking