Oh my goodness, can you say “fluffy?” These Orange Poppyseed Muffins are so light and fluffy, the fact that they are made with whole grains and are low in sugar will be easily overlooked.

Allow me to share with you the ingredients that make these muffins so incredible. Drum roll please:

1. Almond Extract: Do not skip this ingredient. It takes these muffins up a thousand notches.
2. Orange Juice: The OJ gives a perfectly light citrus flavor that pairs perfectly with the almond extract.
3. Whole Wheat Pastry Flour: I grind this myself from soft white wheat berries. Oh my goodness, is this stuff amazing! (But if you need to eat GF, I believe your favorite flour blend will work just as well in these muffins!)
4. Poppyseeds: What even is a poppyseed? What exactly do these add to the recipe? I have yet to figure this out after all my years of baking.

Many times I’ve considered leaving the poppyseeds out of my Poppyseed Bread or Muffins, simply because I can’t figure out the role they play (aside from the fact that a Poppyseed Muffin wouldn’t be a Poppyseed Muffin without Poppyseeds, and that’s what gives the bread/muffins their name). They have no taste, they don’t make the muffin rise, therefore they seem to only be an aesthetic ingredient.

Who can help me solve the mystery of the Poppy Seed? What is its purpose? Who decided to add them to breads and muffins? We may never know…

But no matter. Go make these muffins and then eat one (or three) fresh out of the oven with a glass of milk or a cup of coffee or tea. They are ridiculously delicious!

Whole Grain Orange Poppyseed Muffins

Easy Whole Grain Orange Poppyseed Muffins

 

Save Print

Author: Laura

Serves: 18-24

Ingredients

• 3 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• ½ cup sugar or sucanat
• 1½ teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 Tablespoon poppyseeds
• 3 eggs
• 1¼ cups orange juice
• 1 cup melted butter
• ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 teaspoon almond extract

Instructions

1. Mix dry ingredients in a large bowl.
2. Add eggs, orange juice, and melted butter.
3. Stir until just mixed (but do not over-stir).
4. Scoop batter into 18-24 prepared muffin tins.
5. Bake in a 400 degree oven for 18-25 minutes or until muffins are golden brown.

3.5.3229

By the way, you’ll likely notice the similarity of this muffin recipe with my Orange Glazed Poppyseed Quick Bread. I tweaked that recipe just a bit to make these simple muffins. I love how they turned out!

Pssst! Want to keep Muffin Mix on hand to sub out for the dry ingredients in recipes like this? Simple Mixes to Save the Day truly do save my day over and over. Find our Muffin Mix Recipe and many more in this delightful treasure!

Sometimes the simplest suppers can include a few fresh veggies, some fresh fruit, a bag of favorite tortilla chips, and a variety of dips. Yep, for today’s Simple Summer Supper we’re takin’ a dip! Wanna come?

Dips have an unhealthy reputation, but I disagree with this trend. I believe dips can be very nourishing! Also, if they help get the fruits and veggies down, even better!

Takin’ a Dip: 16 of our family’s favorite summertime dips.

Pair a fruit dip with a veggie dip, throw in a fun chip dip, and you’ve got a great summertime meal!

1. Simple Bean and Cheese Salsa Dip
2. Creamy Chocolate Fruit Dip
3. Creamy Italian Veggie Dip
4. Cream Cheese Salsa Dip
5. Bacon Ranch Chip Dip
6. French Onion Dip
7. Bacon Tomato Dip
8. Black Bean Salsa
9. Easy Veggie Dip
10. Healthier Cheese Dip 
11. Hot Spinach and Artichoke Dip
12. Nacho Cheese Pretzel Dip
13. Easy Guacomole
14. Easy Cheesy Bean Dip
15. Hamburber Sauerkraut Dip
16. Cream Cheese Fruit Dip

Have you seen our other Simple Summer Suppers? Here’s a running list:

• Simple BLT Wraps
• Simple Bacon Broccoli Salad
• Simple Sloppy Joes
• Simple Sloppy Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
• Simple Taco Salad
• Simple Grilled Tortilla Pizza

Don’t miss any of our new ideas we’ve got coming! Subscribe for free so all the latest can come directly to your inbox!

Have you become a Simple Meals member yet? You will LOVE how simple all the recipes are, and better yet, you’ll love that we do all the planning for you!

Have you checked out ABCmouse yet? If not, I definitely recommend that you take advantage of this fun freebie! It’s a great way to help your kids learn. :)

Obviously my kids are old and huge and they no longer like to sit in my lap and learn letter sounds while playing fun computer games. But still, I went through the process of setting up an account to see how easy it is (and how easy it is to cancel!). Both were simple!! And in the meantime, I played with a few of the learning games to see if it was worth your time to set this up for your kiddos.

Oh yes. It’s worth your time. This learning app is fantastic, fun, and for 30 whole days – FREE! What a great way to enjoy some fun learning this summer with your little ones.

If my kids were still little, I would sign all four of them up for this. This is exactly the kind of learning fun they loved during those little years. And it is the kind of computer time I loved to let them enjoy. It’s safe, adorable, easy to navigate, and of course, educational. (You don’t have to tell your kids that part though!)

You can sign up here to help your kids learn with the ABCmouse freebie!

These links are my affiliate links.

Thursday is an exciting day for many of us now! That’s the day we send our the newest Planning Packets to all of our Simple Meals subscribers. I have more to say about this upcoming Thursday, but…

Chew on that for just a minute. You can get a detailed (yet simple) meal planning packet in your inbox every single Thursday! Ahhhhh, think of the relief that will provide you.

Well anyway, what I actually popped on here to say is that this week’s email with planning packet will include not one but two bonuses for the upcoming holidays. They will save you oodles of time and stress, and of course, they will make your house will smell like cinnamon!

Already a member? Watch for your Holiday Bonuses in your regular email this Thursday!

Not a member yet and want to get these freebies along with all the other great benefits of being a Simple Meals Subscriber? Get your Simple Meals subscription by Wednesday night so you can enjoy it all!

[wp_eStore_fancy1 id=19]

Get out your favorite markers or crayons. We all need them for this, AndHeDrew’s Book of Coloring.

A few months ago I discovered that grown-up coloring books are wonderful and amazing. But that wonderment and amazement have just been taken to a new level because of this:

See, the pages in this coloring book all flow together into one cohesive design. Color each page individually, then take them out of the book and place them side by side by side by side – in any order. Every page fits together with all the other pages – can you even imagine? I think this is genius.

AndHeDrew is the guy who just so happens to be my site designer. Yeah, someday I’ll be able to say, “I knew him when…”

Malachi and I are having so much fun coloring these pages together. He said, and I quote, “These are amazing. We need to color all of these then get a bunch more…”

As we finish the pages, Malachi has been hanging them up on his Lego Room wall.

See how they all fit together like a puzzle? It truly amazes me. I can’t imagine the time it took to design these pages. But yay me. I get to color them. (With my son. Perfection.)

Definitely check out AndHeDrew’s Book of Coloring for your family!

AndHeDrew is giving away one printed copy of his Book of Coloring plus two digital copies! Enter the Rafflecopter below for a chance to win. I’ll select three random winners on Wednesday, September 14.

a Rafflecopter giveaway

As the week draws to a close, I wanted to recap and play catch-up. I’m anxious to share what YOU are doing during this first Health Challenge Week!

First, I didn’t draw and post giveaway winners on Wednesday like I said I would. Here you go!

The winners are:

1) Margaret: Mommyischief
2) Melissa: [email protected]
3) Tina: [email protected]
4) Harriet Glassco: [email protected]
5) Lisa W: [email protected]

Ladies, please email me with your full name and address and I’ll forward your information on for your prize!

Don’t forget, you can get 60%  ECALOO Stainless Steel Super Fine Mesh Strainers when you use the code KDAYWV4U through September 15, 2016.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’m thrilled that so many are joining me for the April Health Challenge! We’ve been chatting this week and I’ve been so encouraged to hear the variety of healthy choices all of you are making.

Take note! No one is trying to change everything at the same time. Each person is simply choosing something to focus on to do better. Isn’t that a breath of fresh air? You can do this!!

When I sent a message to all the Health Challenge Members, asking “What is one thing you’ve done for your health during the past 24 hours?” here are some of the responses I got:

• Ate a variety of fruits and vegetables at meals throughout the day.
• Rebounding on my cellerciser!!!!
• I walked on the treadmill (rainy day!) for 30 minutes.
• Took a nice, long (hour +) walk with 3 good friends. So we got exercise plus fellowship time :)
• I made time in my day to go for a run.
• Drinking more water!
• I made some meals for the freezer (from your Eat Right Away books ;-) ). No need for last minute Sonic stops after co-op. Yay!!
• No sugar today!
• I’m riding my bike with my almost 7 year old every day we can. She is good at reminding me.
• I got 7 hours of sleep!

The responses keep coming in and they are so encouraging! Everyone keep it up!

Want to join us? Sign up for the April Health Challenge here and get started. Being healthy is more fun when we’re working at it together.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I’ve been resting all week (partly because I planned it and partly because I came down with a cold and didn’t have a choice). My main health focus this month is to rest and recover from a very busy winter. I aim to stay home as much as possible because my health very much depends on it.

We’re enjoying some amazing food this week – simply because real food tastes so incredibly good. Elias (age 14) has become an expert Strawberry Cheesecake Parfait maker. We’ve enjoyed Scrambled Cheesy Eggs with fresh fruit. We made Homemade Stir-and-Pour Bread this week. Cantaloupe is especially sweet right now. Homemade Guacamole is the finest way to eat an avocado.

I just can’t say enough about the joy and health benefit of eating simple, real food. Don’t make it hard. Just buy real food. Eat real food. Enjoy real food.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Last but not least, Paula at Lilla Rose wanted to be sure you knew about the April special! Get a FREE pair of Bobby Pins with any order over $50!

Here’s this month’s gorgeous Flexi-of-the-Month…

Thanks to all who have joined Health Challenge Week One!

Have a fantastic, health focused weekend!