Monday, February 11, 2008

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins


I'm now balancing out my last post about gooey caramel cookies with this one about healthy muffins! It's actually quite possible that modifying muffin recipes to make them healthier has helped me become a more adventurous cook and baker. If it's a new recipe, sometimes I'll only modify a few things or if I'm feeling crazy I might modify a lot. I remember when there was no way I could possibly deviate from a recipe - vanilla extract instead of almond? White wine vinegar instead of apple cider vinegar? Inconceivable!


Anyway, I'm incredibly happy with this muffin recipe. It's 100% whole wheat, uses no butter or oil, and is full of blueberries and nuts. I've been making these muffins every week, slowly tweaking the recipe. These muffins are a bit dense but in a perfect healthy muffin way. I, of course, still love my fluffy, soft, sweet, cake-y muffins, but for something I can eat everyday and feel good about, these muffins are perfect.


Tips for making healthier muffins:
-replace half of the flour with whole wheat flour, or replace half with whole wheat flour and the other half with whole wheat pastry flour (the idea is to figure out a good balance of flours that are healthier but still produce a yummy soft baked good)
-try different types of flour (ex. spelt, amaranth)- an easy one is grinding oatmeal in a food processor or blender until it's fine like flour
-replace the oil with applesauce
-use "flax eggs" instead of eggs, or add ground flax to your muffin batter
-try reducing the sugar by 1/4 of the amount or more
-add fruits, nuts and/or seeds
-add cinnamon or your favourite spice to give it more flavour
-use muffin liners instead of oiling your muffin tin (this one I don't like because it involves using paper that's not really needed)


Other healthy muffins:
Banana Bran
Pumpkin Banana
Almond Coconut

Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins
Inspired by The Garden of Vegan

Makes 8 good size muffins. This recipe is easily doubled.

1/2 cup 1% milk (or you can use non dairy milk)
1 cup oats
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon flax seeds
2 tablespoons water
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup frozen blueberries
1/2 to 1 cup of chopped nuts (I usually use almonds, pecans or walnuts)

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Prepare muffin tins with muffin cup liners.

2. Prepare the "flax eggs" by first grinding the flax seeds. Add the water to the ground flax seeds and blend together until it starts to thicken up a bit.

3. In a medium bowl, stir together the "flax eggs", milk, applesauce, vanilla and sugar. In a large bowl, stir together the oats, flours, cinnamon, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and gently fold together. Gently stir in the blueberries and nuts. Spoon into muffin tins and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Suggested modifications: Make these muffins with your favourite dried chopped fruit instead of the blueberries, and use 3/4 cup or 1 cup of milk instead. Replace the milk with soy milk to make these vegan. I like my muffins a bit drier so you might prefer to add up to 1 cup of milk.

Note: I put a vegan tag on these muffins because they can easily be veganized by using soy milk instead of cow's milk (since they contain no eggs or butter). I am not intending to imply that cow's milk is vegan.

55 comments:

Sylvia said...

Those muffins looks absolutely delicious...I am hungry now!!!

Patricia Scarpin said...

These look fantastic! Since you say they are healthy, I'll have 3, please. ;)

Sarah said...

Yay! A post that begins with the words "Whole Wheat" always makes my day. :)

I'm impressed you got away with no oil...do you think the flax "egg" helped with the missing oil? I always use 1/2 oil & 1/2 applesauce (or 3/4 applesauce if I'm feeling crazy) but I've wondered what would happen if I used no oil at all.

I really need to try this flax egg thing. I do eat eggs but am always looking for ways to work flax into my diet.

Thanks for a great recipe! They look soo good...

Anonymous said...

these look really tasty. I like healthifying muffins because it seems that overdosing on sugar in the morning isn't a good idea to do everyday.

Deborah said...

Thanks for this recipe - I really need to start incorporating more whole wheat into my baking!

grace said...

these may very well be the most beautiful muffins i've ever laid eyes on. kudos to you!

Emily said...

Your healthy muffins look divine; just perfect.
I love blueberry anything.

Cakespy said...

These look gorgeous. I like more dense muffins so these look perfect. The flax, the intense burst of berries...very nice job!!

Sarena Shasteen - The Non-Dairy Queen said...

Those look so good! I have been on the hunt for a recipe like this one. I am always on the hunt for a healthier muffin recipe and my last blueberry muffins left a little to be desired! I am definitely going to give this one a try!

Anonymous said...

Mm, you can't go wrong with a blueberry muffin, but a healthier one like this would certainly be a welcome change!

Oye Cookie! said...

yum! i love that they look like they have tons of blueberries in them. they take on a great color.

jennifer
www.oyecookie.com

Jannett said...

I will be trying these. we love muffins. :)

Gigi said...

Wow, healthy muffins packed full blueberries ...count me in! Thanks for the recipe.

LisaRene said...

Your muffins look lovely, very nice crown!

Gretchen Noelle said...

I am in need to breakfast right now and these look great! Just wanted to let you know that I tagged you Just wanted to let you know that I have tagged you here.

La Cuisine d'Helene said...

They are so nice. I usually like muffins that are lighter than heavy, but those look good.

Jaime said...

i'm always terrified of changing up a baking recipe! these blueberry muffins look like they're exploding with blueberries! yum!

Brilynn said...

I just picked up some blueberries today and am planning on making lemon blueberry muffins!

Lisa Turner said...

What a fantastic recipe! I like that the muffins contain very little sugar. I'll have to try this at some point. Blueberries are one of my all time favorites.

I too used to be nervous when it came to modifying recipes, but now I do it all of the time, and sometimes come up with my own recipe from scratch.

test it comm said...

Those muffins look so good!! And they sound nice and healthy. I have use the replace the oil with apple sauce trick before. The apple sauce helps keep it moist and adds some flavour.

Johanna GGG said...

these look delicious but I always have problems with applesauce which I never have about - i was wondering about trying prune puree instead which wendy from a wee bit of cooking put me onto recently - because I do want to try these as they look great and I have berries to use up in my freezer!

aforkfulofspaghetti said...

I love the way these are just stuffed full of blueberries - fantastic!

Habitual Hunger said...

They are in the oven :) i'll let you know how they turn out after I eat one tomorrow!!!!! I like my muffin's cold I can't wait.

~b

Habitual Hunger said...

Thanks so much for this recipe, mine didn't look nearly as yummy as yours out of the oven. How did you get the blueberries to break/explode into the surrounding batter like that? Is that a characteristic of baking soda which I didn't use? However they taste amazing!!!!!!!! :) i'm eating one with my morning coffee right now.

Thanks
~b

Megmee said...

Milk is not Vegan. Milk comes from grieving mother cow. I substitute soy milk. Please don't call it vegan when as a tag when its not. It looks good though.

Thank you

eatme_delicious said...

Megmee: I know that milk isn't vegan. I made a note on the bottom that said you can substitute the milk for soy milk to make the muffins easily vegan (since there's no butter or eggs in them). I was not intending to imply that cow's milk is vegan.

AMY said...

Just made these and they're really really good. The high temp gives them delicious crispy bits and the oats make them really interesting. SO GOOD.
I had to add extra soy milk because my batter looked super dry.

Erika said...

I can't wait to try these. I'm a little confused though as to where/when to include the milk. It's never mentioned in the directions, just in the ingredients list. Thanks!

eatme_delicious said...

amy: Yaey glad you liked them! Yea I do prefer my muffins to be a bit drier and I found the blueberries made the batter really wet.

erika: Oops sorry! I just edited it.

Christina said...

Wow, these are so delicious!!

I made them and everyone who tried them just fell in love and asked me immediately for the recipe!!

Even just by the picture, posted on my Facebook, my friends say they are salivating.

Thank-you so much for this recipe!! I'm looking forward to trying more of your recipes as they all look fantastic!

Anonymous said...

These muffins are so good and my 18 month old son LOVES them (and so do I). Definately something I feel good about feeding my son! I did have to make a double batch since it doesn't make a bunch, I knew we would eat them too fast! I also ground the almonds to a powder so my son could chew them easier. Thank you for the great recipe.

Lynna said...

Do you think I could use white flour instead of the whole wheat pastry flour and just use a bit less? Also what about one egg instead of the "flax eggs"? I don't have diet restrictions and sometimes those things can be hard to get.

Thanks for the recipe!

LB

eatme_delicious said...

laliub: Yup you could definitely use white flour. Though if I were to make this recipe now, I'd just use all whole wheat flour and no whole wheat pastry flour (so 1 cup total of whole wheat flour). And yes you could use 1 egg instead of the flax egg. Hope you like them!

Anonymous said...

I used brown sugar instead of white, with a little honey, half blueberries half diced peaches, they're awesome!

Unknown said...

getting ready to bake these in the morning but note that cinnamon is listed twice.

eatme_delicious said...

karen: Hope you like them! Thanks for letting me know about the cinnamon.

Meghan said...

I found your recipe via a Google search and it was amazing! I substituted white all purpose flour for the whole wheat pastry flour and used fresh instead of frozen blueberries and they turned out fine. Also, based on personal preference, I used a bit more than a cup of blueberries, a tad more cinnamon, two more spoonfuls of applesauce (for moisture) and a splash more of milk (for moisture). I added the extra milk and applesauce at the end because the batter was so thick.

Thanks for the wonderful recipe! My husband and friends loved it and I will definitely be sharing with others!

Leanna said...

I haven't tried one yet, but my kids (7&5) christened them "super-yummy." Love it when "super-yummy" and "super-healthy" meet up! They look wonderful - I need to go pick more berries!

eatme_delicious said...

Meghan & Leanna: I'm so happy your families and friends liked these muffins. =)

Anonymous said...

I have tried dozens of whole wheat muffin recipes and I have tried substrituting wheat for white without any happiness until today. These are awesome and perfect. They taste just like a muffin should. Fantastic!!

eatme_delicious said...

Nicole: Aw I'm so happy you liked them!! =)

Anonymous said...

Hi there,

I made these muffins tonight, and they were really nice.

I used one egg instead of the "flax eggs", and added 2 tbs of poppy seeds, 1/4 cup of fresh lemon juice, and the zest of one lemon, and it was pretty tasty!

Unknown said...

i just made these and they are fantastic. i did use 1 cup milk because i thought the batter was too dry.

however mine are sticking to the muffin cup liners. can i try making these without the liners? thoughts??

glad to find an everyday muffin that isnt a dessert.

eatme_delicious said...

wendel: Glad you liked them! =) Yea you could try making them without the liners but I'd make sure to oil the muffin tin sufficiently.

Jocelyn said...

I just want to say thank you for the great tips on how to make these healthier! Most blogs similar to this one won't really acknowledge healthy options in baked goods. Thanks again!

eatme_delicious said...

Jocelyn: Hope you find the tips useful. =)

Sabrina said...

I followed this recipe exactly and my family loves them!:-)

Kathleen said...

These muffins were delicious. I used an ice cream scoop to drop them into the pan and got 10. I used white wheat instead of whole because it's what I had. I have terrible luck making delicious healthy muffins and you really have a winner here. I plan on having it for breakfast and slathering almond butter and jam on one side and butter and jam on the other. I am excited just thinking about it, yummy!

eatme_delicious said...

Sabrina: Happy to hear your family loves them. :)

Kathleen: I'm so happy you enjoy them so much! Great idea to slather then with ab&j and then butter&j on the other side mmm.

Anonymous said...

Pretty nice post. I just stumbled upon your blog and wanted to say that I have really enjoyed browsing your blog posts. In any case I’ll be subscribing to your feed and I hope you write again soon!

Anonymous said...

I just made these, they were delicious! The only problem was that they really stuck to the paper liners. Other than that they taste great. Thanks!

Amee said...

Very very VERY delicious! I couldn't find wheat pastry flour anywhere, very strange.. So I used white cake flour since they didn't even have wheat. Since the wheat flour I have is super thick I used 1/2 cup of that and 1/2 cup cake flour. I also added a table spoon of flax meal in to the flour mixture. And I used soy milk. Anyone who says a healthy wheat muffin sounds gross, needs to try these because they are fabulous!

eatme_delicious said...

Amee: I'm so happy you enjoyed these! Yea whole wheat pastry flour isn't the easiest ingredient to find. Grocery stores like Whole Foods have it.

Diana Z. said...

Could I use almond milk to make these muffins? I will be making them because they look so good. thx

eatme_delicious said...

Diana Z: Yea you definitely could. :) Hope you enjoy them!