I asked my friend what I should include in bake sale week, and he suggested I do something healthy, with cranberries.

Now, the term healthy has come to have as many meanings as there are Birkenstocks in a natural foods store. For some people, whole wheat isn’t particularly healthy, while for others, anything without hydrogenated oil is hailed as a model of virtuous cuisine. The other day, I saw a bag of gummy bears with a sticker on it that said “Healthy!” Apparently, they didn’t didn’t have any high fructose corn syrup in them, which I guess . . . makes them healthy?

So to avoid any heated debate on the subject, I will simply call these muffins nourishing. They’re packed with squash, almond flour, whole grain flour, oats, and yogurt.

cranberry breakfast muffins

When you make them, don’t feel like you have to follow the recipe to a tee, just make sure the dry ingredients and the wet ingredients are roughly the same ratio as mine, and then have fun with it.

I made mine with yellow squash, which a neighbor had given to me, but you could use zucchini, or something else you’re trying to use up.

1 cup dried cranberries
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup quick oats
1/2 cup finely ground almonds or almond flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 1/2 cups shredded yellow squash or zucchini
3/4 cup agave nectar
1/2 cup olive oil
2 eggs
3/4 cup plain yogurt

1. Preheat oven to 325ºF. Line a standard muffin tin with 12 paper liners. Place cranberries in a small bowl and cover with warm water. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, almond flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Drain cranberries, and add to dry ingredients. Add in shredded squash. Use a wooden spoon or clean hands to toss the cranberries and squash in the dry ingredients, until uniformly coated.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat together the agave nectar, olive oil, eggs, and yogurt until smooth and slightly foamy. Pour wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Divide the batter among the paper liners. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until the center muffins spring back when touched.