If you have ever visited Hungry Girl's website, you know that she is a huge fan of Vitalicious products, but even though she talks them up a lot, she's certainly not the only one who enjoys them. The company is growing by the day because, since we all watch what we eat from time to time, their healthy and very tasty snacks are a natural option for anyone looking for a quick bite to eat. And what could be better than a low calorie/low fat, high fiber, vitamin and nutrient fortified snack that also tastes good?

How about one such snack fresh from the oven?

Vitalicious has just introduced a line of baking mixes that will allow you to bake up your favorite flavor - Deep Chocolate, BlueBran, Sugar-Free Banana Nut, and Deep & Velvety Chocolate VitaBrownie - at home. All of them can be made in regular muffin pans to turn out 2 or 4 ounce snack cakes, but you can also order some silicone VitaTop pans if you prefer to stick with the company's signature snack shape.

Shauna, the Gluten-free Girl has been living with Celiac disease her entire life, but has only been eating gluten free for just over a year and a half. In that time, she has felt better than she ever did before and she has definitely learned more about gluten-free cooking and baking than she ever thought she would know. By her own admission, she does not make gluten free baked goods all that often, in large part because it is more complicated than a standard muffin and the pre-made mixes are usually just as good. This particular batch of Gluten Free Blueberry Muffins, however, she made completely from scratch. In her post, Shauna explains how she developed a feel for using gluten free flours - sweet white sorghum flour, white rice flour and tapioca flour in this case - to achieve the familiar consistency of a muffin made with wheat. To the inexperienced, gluten free baking sounds like a challenge, but as with anything else, familiarity makes things easier and Shauna's successful muffins prove that point.

There are an almost unlimited number of combinations of ingredients that can go into muffins, so "complete" might be a bit of an exaggeration in the title of this book. That being said, The Complete Muffin Cookbook: The Ultimate Guide To Making Great Muffins does provide a very well-rounded selection of muffins and anyone who enjoys them would be more than happy with a book that provides the variety that this one does.

These muffins, according to the author, are not cupcake substitutes (there are plenty of cookbooks out there already if that's what you're looking for). They are "not only wholesome and nutritious but also delicious, heart-healthy, immensely satisfying, and suitable for enjoying any time of day." The recipes use a wide range of regular and whole wheat flours, fresh fruits, spices and other high-quality ingredients to turn out muffins both sweet and savory, like French Onion Soup Muffins, Glazed Sunrise Blueberry Muffins, Bananas Foster Muffins and Lemon Ginger Muffins. Some of the muffin recipes are even low in fat, making them an all the more enjoyable indulgence.

Easy to read and even easier to make, the recipes in this book will be the type that you turn to again and again. And with over 200 to choose from, there are sure to be at least a few that turn into favorites.

I have only heard the term "mollete," which is Spanish for "muffin", used to refer to a type of bread or a sort of sandwich (often featuring cheese and beans) made with that bread. Apparently, it is also a type of cookie that is rolled in pinenuts. This batch of Kissed Molletes was baked by Joe, at Culinary in the Desert Country. He substituted pecans for the pinenuts and the cookies use both whole wheat flour and whole grain yellow cornmeal, so they are quite hearty, but the crunchy exterior gives way to a moist, tender interior once you bit into it. The cookies are topped with the seasonal candy cane kisses from Hershey's, which gives them a very festive look and makes them a perfect addition to a Christmas cookie plate. If you want to try the recipe for yourself, you can either pick up a copy of the cookbook that it was derived from or simply try making Joe's recipe.

It's hard to get pumpkin muffins right because the pumpkin itself is often so moist that it makes the muffin seem heavy or overly wet. On top of that, many recipes call for oil instead of butter, which doesn't help to lighten the muffins up at all. Too often, the end product is a very unsatisfying muffin that is gummy and has minimal pumpkin flavor. These, however, are not those muffins.

The recipe is from Epicurious and they use butter, buttermilk, a bit of molasses and lots of spices to turn out a very flavorful muffin. The muffins are moist, but not wet, and have a wonderfully light texture to them. Pecans make a fantastic combination with pumpkin, so I opted to use them instead of the walnuts suggested by the original recipe. Chocolate chips, raisins or dried cranberries would also be good additions to this recipe if you're looking to try a couple of variations.

Since the two main elements of Halloween are candy and pumpkins, what could be a better way to start the day off that with a batch of sweet, fall-flavored pumpkin muffins? The only thing that could top these Pumpkin Spice Muffins with Molasses Glaze from What We're Eating would be a batch that was emerging from your oven - as opposed to your computer screen - right now. Fortunately for anyone who wants to get into the seasonal spirit by doing a little baking, Amada included her recipe along with the oh-so-tempting photograph.

The muffins have typical pumpkin muffin/bread ingredients - flour, pumpkin, molasses - with one exception: fresh ginger juice. Instead of simply mincing the ginger or adding candied/crystallised ginger. It seems that the advantage of using the juice is that you get all the flavor from the ginger and it is more evenly distributed throughout the muffin, with no risk of biting down into an unminced bit and disturbing the balance of the pastry. Although, if you're a ginger fan, as I am, it probably wouldn't hurt to toss in a handful of crystallised ginger for good measure.

A mini muffin is just not as cute when it isn't tucked inside a miniature wrapper. The downside, of course, is that a portion of the already small morsel will stick to the paper. The upside, however, is that you can simply eat a second muffin to make up for it without any guilt. These are Mini Mocha Macadamia Muffins from Morning Coffee and Afternoon Tea and, although the word "muffin" might inspire thoughts of wholesome fare, these sound deliciously decadent. The muffins are flavored with coffee and cocoa and they are rich with sour cream and butter. On top of that, they are packed with macadamia nuts, white chocolate and semi-sweet chocolate. The recipe makes about 48 mini muffins, so be prepared to share them. It shouldn't be hard to find willing friends and family to help polish them off.

I have never been much of a zucchini fan, so I thought I'd just incorporate it into some comfort food. Since zucchinis are in season and I had a couple handy, I thought, "How about chocolate zucchini cake?" It's been done many times before, but how about a pseudo-healthy muffin? Well, the zucchini is a versatile veggie...I used a cake recipe from this slashfood page and fiddled with it a little.

Replacing the fat in baked goods is something that we have done a few times now, but for some people fat is not the issue that they want to tackle - it's sugar. Baking without sugar is much harder than baking without fat because fats contribute to the texture of the finished product, but not as much to the flavor. Granted, a buttery flavor can be nice, but I have had fat free cookies (made with applesauce) on numerous occasions that have tasted quite good, even if they are lacking in the texture department.

Berries, along with chocolate chips, nuts and other mix-ins you might like to add to cakes, breads and muffins, often seem to sink to the bottom of the pan during baking. While you still get to eat the same number of berries per muffin, this usually means that you have one bit of berries and several of plain cake. Berries sink when a batter is not thick enough to support their weight and hold them up during baking. Choosing a recipe that you know has such a batter will produce the best results. One other benefit of using very thick batters is that you will get a much more bakery-like dome to your muffins, since the muffin will be able to support the weight of a high rise better.

But to prevent the berries from sinking into a thinner batter, tossing them with a little bit of flour before stirring them in can help a bit. The flour helps them "grab on" to the rest of the batter and remain in position during baking. Adding a teaspoon of flour will not change the way the recipe works or tastes, so it's a good trick to keep in mind just in case, whether you're working with a thick batter or not.

You can also simply poke the berries into the top of the batter once it is in the pan, instead of stirring them into the batter while it is still in the mixing bowl. This way, even if they sink, they have a much better chance of remaining in the center of the muffin or cake.

I am not generally one to put butter onto my muffins, especially if they start out as sweet as the Blueberry and Currant Muffins from Cookbook 411 sound. Usually, the richness of the muffin is sufficient, although L says that she makes her own butter, which does make the idea of buttering the muffin tempting. The muffins are stuffed with locally grown (from Seattle) fruits, the blueberries adding a juiciness and the majority of the rich color that is evident in the picture above, and the tiny red currants adding a slight tartness and a flavor that is similar to that of gooseberries. The best thing about the muffins, however, is that they stand as a reminder to the fact that a muffin does not have to be as large as your head, unlike some bakery muffins, to be either delicious or tempting because these are both.

Fabe's All Natural Bakery supports healthy living and says that their products are "good for you" because they are free from refined sugar, artificial ingredients and preservatives. While that is certainly an aspect of foods that are "good for you," it seems like they are exaggerating the healthy qualities of their food. After all, a block of organic butter is still not health food, despite being organic.

The most glaring example of this might be their Healthy Dieter Blueberry Muffins. The low-carb muffins are low in sugar, but have 250 calories each (2.5-oz) and 18g fat, including a whopping 41% of the daily maximum intake of saturated fat and 41% of the daily maximum intake of cholesterol. The first ingredient in the muffins is cream cheese - and that doesn't make them sound very muffin-like. The only redeeming feature is that they don't appear to contain any gluten, though the site gives no indication as to whether they are prepared in a gluten-free environment.

Healthy to some? Perhaps, but to say that it is a muffin for more than a handful of "healthy dieters" is an overstatement.

My love of pancakes notwithstanding, muffins are one of my favorite breakfast foods. They're available at just about any coffee shop or bakery and are equally good on-the-go or when nibbled at while savoring a cup of coffee. If you're inclined to make them, it only takes minutes to asseble the batter and bake them up. If you're still worried about time, they can almost always be made a day in advance, too. This particular muffin uses dried blueberries instead of fresh or frozen, so there is no blue/pink discoloration of the muffin, but you still get that blueberry flavor. To get a high, domed rise on your muffins, check out our tips on how to make a bakery-style muffin.

[Photo by Nicole Weston]

Thanks, everyone, for coming by our little Garden Party today! In case you missed anything, or want an easy reference back to all our recipes, ideas and posts, here is a roundup of all the stuff we did today:

General and How-To:

• Party Food Porn: White Chocolate Petit Fours
• Edible centerpieces for a garden party
• Cookbooks for parties
• Impress with caviar
• Lime cheesecake mini-tarts

Recipes:

• Smoked Salmon Benedict
• Carrot Mini-Muffins with Cream Cheese Filling
• Lemon Buttermilk Cupcakes
• Edamame Hummus on Toasted Flatbread
• Asparagus, Basil and Tomato Fritatta
• Spinach and Feta Fritatta
• Garlic and Parmesan Roasted New Potatoes
• Coconut Cupcakes
• Cauliflower Soup with Toasted Garlic and Scallions
• Elegant Nasturtium and Cucumber Tea Sandwiches

Drinks:

• Easy punch recipes
• Pimms Original Cocktail
• Campari and Soda with orange
• Grapefruit Cooler Cocktail
• Sparkling cocktails: mimosa, bellini, and kir royale

Tropical fruits:

• Papaya
• Tamarind
• Watermelon Juice
• Spanish Limes/Genips/Quenepas/Mamoncillos

We also had a reader submission from Cookbook 411 for some amazing looking Mini Puff Pastry Pizzas - check them out!

[Photo by Nicole Weston]

Really now, is there a difference between a cupcake and a muffin? Isn't a muffin just a naked cupcake?!

I like to call these miniature muffins "inside-out cupcakes" because the traditional cream cheese frosting is inside, making them just as tasty as frosted cupcake, but much easier to transport.