Blueberry Muffins

August 25, 2013

Blueberrymuffins

Nearly every Sunday morning I look at my leftover fruits from the week and try to make use of them. This week I am left with an abundance of blueberries as my husband went a little wacky when he shopped at Costco the other day and bought 3 organic containers of blueberries! Unfortunately, it was very sour and the boys (and me) didn’t enjoy it very much. For those who follow my Instagram (@mariakangfitness)  you know I’m not particular about my husband’s grocery shopping as he over-buys MOST of the time.

When I look online for recipes I don’t necessarily look for the ‘cleanest’ recipes (void of white sugar, eggs, butter, etc). I try to substitute as best I can and use miniature muffin tins, which makes the portion size super small. Also, I try to manage my son’s taste buds so they are not accustomed to super rich foods found in a lot of processed dessert foods (I don’t think I’ve ever bought real ice cream for them from a grocery store) – I actually love it when they say, “Mom let’s make ice cream!” (made out of frozen bananas or a fruit sorbet). Ensuring they are not used to so much sugar helps me because my muffins may not be tasty to a child who is used to eating hostess cupcakes for lunch daily – but it is definitely tasty for them as their other sweet option is fruit!

With that said, this recipe (and my popular banana muffin recipe) has 1/2 c of white sugar in it (oh no! LOL) – I’m not a sugar nazi mom. It’s all about moderation and having them enjoy homemade goodies.

So what do I look for in a recipe? I look for minimal ingredients. Just the basics is best. Sometimes I will get creative. I found this Blueberry Muffin Recipe HERE.

This recipe took me 30 minutes.

Ingredients

  • 1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup milk (I used almond milk)
  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 1 1/2 cups blueberries

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 400°F. Grease a 12-cup muffin pan. (I used mini cupcake pans, which made 24)
2. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon.
3. In a large bowl, stir together the milk, oil, egg, sugar, and vanilla extract until well-blended. Stir in the flour mixture until just combined. Do not overmix. Gently fold in the blueberries.
4. Divide the batter evenly among the prepared muffin cups, filling them about two-thirds full. Bake for 17 to 20 minutes, (mine baked in 10  minutes as they are smaller) or until a wooden pick inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool on a rack for 5 minutes. Remove to the rack to cool completely.

Nutritional Facts per serving
Calories 163 cal (cut in HALF if you made mini ones)
Fat 5.5 g
Saturated Fat 0.7 g
Cholesterol 18.6 mg
Sodium 188.7 mg
Carbohydrates 25.8 g
Total Sugars 10.8 g
Dietary Fiber 1 g
Protein 2.9 g

7 Comments

  • Reply Sara Pedroza October 15, 2013 at 10:20 am

    It sounds so good, your articles are inspiring me. I’m 36 weeks pregnant and I was concerned about getting my body back after and I was a lil over weight before I was pregnant but once I found out I began to eat healthy and I lost some in my first trimester but I wasn’t sure besides fruits and veggies what would be healthy and what exercise routine should be taken up. Do you have a book? And I saw that you created something for women after birth?

  • Reply Melanie October 15, 2013 at 5:56 pm

    Oh my goodness, thank you!! I also enjoy sugar and white flour in moderation and get frustrated when I see “too many” clean eating recipes with ingredients that are very pricey and not very practical ( I have 3 boys and pregnant with #4). I have always managed to stay fit and still enjoy these things. Thank you for this recipe! I am also into fitness (although, I have been slacking) and I am enjoying your site.

  • Reply Jeanette Carswell October 16, 2013 at 12:14 am

    Try substituting the all-purpose flour with equal amounts of rice flour and dry oatmeal. It has a great dense texture and gets you away from flour!
    Also you could substitute the oil with almond butter! Yum!

  • Reply Josephine October 18, 2013 at 7:45 pm

    For healthier cake/biscuit recipes I use baby/toddler recipes I find on parenting websites or cookbooks devoted to cooking for kids as they reduce the amount of sugar used. Chocolate covered katie is also excellent, her recipes are reduced in sugar and use spelt flour, which isn’t difficult to source like coconut flour. I use honey or maple syrup and rapeseed oil in all her recipes. Her polka dot bananna bread is fantastic. http://chocolatecoveredkatie.com/2011/11/02/polka-dot-banana-bread/. Mumsnet and Annabel karmel also have a few low sugar cake recipes.

  • Reply Brandee October 25, 2013 at 7:29 pm

    I do the same thing with fruits or really anything I think might go bad. I hate throwing away food. My man loves sweets (I don’t eat any) so that means I bake quite a bit. Yesterday I made a recipe super similar to this but I substituted non-fat sour cream for the milk and oil.

  • Reply Chelle March 8, 2014 at 12:53 pm

    Thanks for the recipe, will make this using the modified methods listed here; you could actually make this muffin recipe healthier by substitute using 1 cup 100% whole wheat flour, 3/4 cup oat flour,brown rice flour or AP white flour ,trading the oil for equal amounts of unsweetened apple sauce and using coconut sugar (which is less processed) and since cinnamon is so healthy like to add and extra tsp (or 2) to my baked goods!

    • Reply lisa April 22, 2014 at 2:03 pm

      Thank you for that Chelle.

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