Lemon Poppy Seed Muffins

A new spin on an old favorite! These muffins have about half the calories and fat of the muffins you will find in places such as Starbucks, but they still taste fabulous.

Cast of Characters:
- 1/2 cup unbleached flour
- 1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
- 1 cup rolled oats
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1 Tbs baking powder
- 1 Tbs poppy seeds
- 1 Tbs grated lemon zest
- 2 egg white (or 1 whole egg), beaten
- 3/4 cup nonfat milk
- 1/4 cup canola oil (vegetable oil would work, too)
- 1/3 cup lemon curd (raspberry preserves would also probably work if you cannot find lemon curd)

Directions: 

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees and line a 12-cup muffin tin with baking cups.
2. In a medium bowl, sift together unbleached flour, whole-wheat flour, sugar, and baking powder. Stir in oats, poppy seeds, and lemon zest as well.
3. In a separate bowl, combine egg, milk, and oil.
4. Add the egg mixture into the flour mixture. Stir just until incorporated (If you stir for too long, you will in up with rubbery muffins).
5. Divide the batter evenly into the 12 baking cups. Put about 1 tsp. of lemon curd on the top of the batter in each cup.
6. Bake for 15-17 minutes or until the tops are lightly browned.
7. Enjoy!

Nutritional Info:
Servings: 12
Calories: 165
Fat: 6 grams
Carbs: 25 grams
Protein: 4 grams
Fiber: 3 grams

Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Anyone who knows me, knows how much I love Starbucks! They have a banana chocolate chip muffin there that I absolutely love, so I just had to try to create my own.

Cast of characters:

• 1 1/2 cups of mini chocolate chips
• 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup granulated white sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3 large ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1. Preheat Oven to 350 degrees.
2. - Cut butter into small pieces and melt in the microwave (about 30-45 seconds should do it) and then set it aside to cool
3. - In a large mixing bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nuts using a fork or a whisk. Set aside.
4. - In a medium mixing bowl, combine the mashed bananas, eggs, melted and cooled butter, and vanilla.
5. - Using a rubber spatula, fold banana mixture into your flour mixture just until combined. Do not overdo it because then you'll end up with tough muffins.
6. - Spoon batter evenly into 12 paper-lined or greased muffin cups and bake for 18-22 minutes.
7. - Allow to cool on a wire rack.

Nutrition Info:

Calories: 328

Fat: 15g

Carbs: 48g

Protein: 4 g

Banana Nut Muffins

Apparently I'm on a bit of a muffin kick, but these are DELICIOUS!

Ingredients:

- 1 cup pecans (you can also use walnuts)

- 1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour

- 3/4 cup granulated white sugar

- 1 tsp. baking powder

- 1/4 tsp baking soda

- 1/4 tsp salt

- 1 tsp ground cinnamon

- 2 eggs, lightly beaten

- 1/2 cup unsalted butter

- 3 ripe large bananas (the riper they are, the sweeter the muffins will be), mashed

- 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

- Cut butter into small pieces and melt in the microwave (about 30-45 seconds should do it) and then set it aside to cool

- In a large mixing bowl, mix together flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nuts using a fork or a whisk. Set aside.

- In a medium mixing bowl, combine the mashed bananas, eggs, melted and cooled butter, and vanilla.

- Using a rubber spatula, fold banana mixture into your flour mixture just until combined. Do not overdo it because then you'll end up with tough muffins.

- Spoon batter evenly into 15 paper-lined muffin cups and bake for 18-22 minutes.

- Allow to cool on a wire rack.

These muffins are fabulous right out of the oven! Enjoy!

Nutrition Facts:

Calories: 233

Total Fat: 13g

Carbs: 28g

Protein: 3.4g

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

Ingredients:

- 1 cup milk

- 2 eggs, lightly beaten

- 1 tsp pure vanilla extract

- 3 cups all-purpose flour

- 1 cup granulated white sugar

- 1 Tbsp baking powder

- 1/2 tsp salt

- 1/2 cup unsalted butter

- 2 cups fresh blueberries (frozen blueberries can be used)

- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted

Directions:

- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Muffin Batter:

- In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

- Cut cold butter into small pieces and blend in using your hands (using a mixer will result in a big mess) The mixture should look like coarse crumbs.

- Remove one cup of the mixture and set aside to use as streusel topping.

- Add milk, beaten eggs, and vanilla to the mixture and blend just until combined (blending for too long will make baked muffins tough)

- Finally, gently fold in blueberries.

Streusel Topping:

- drizzle melted butter over the flour mixture you set aside earlier

- use a fork to mix together (mixture should be crumbly)

- Line 18 muffin cups with paper liners

- Spoon muffin batter into cups evenly

- sprinkle a couple of teaspons of the streusel mixture over each muffin

- bake for 18-22 minutes

- Enjoy!

Nutritional Info:

- Calories 197.7

- Fat 7.2 g

-Carbs 30.1 g

-Protein 3.5 g