Blueberry Coconut Macadamia Muffins

Goodness gracious, are these muffins delicious!  They're packed with lots of different flavors that blend very nicely into a moist, crunchy but yet soft, delicious muffin.  I found the recipe on EatingWell.com, through a google search looking for healthy but yet delicious brunch-type items.  I gave this recipe a try last night and on all accounts, it is a fabulous recipe.  I didn't have any problems with the batter, not baking time.  The only problem I had was waiting the suggested time after they came out of the oven.  I still burned my mouth a little because I couldn't wait, but it was definitely worth it!

Topping
1/4 c. unsweetened coconut
2 Tbl. flour
2 Tbl. brown sugar
2 Tbl. chopped macadamia nuts
1 Tbl. oil

Muffin
3/4 c. flour
1/2 c. brown sugar
3 Tbl. chopped macadamia nuts
1 Tbl. canola oil
1 c. whole-wheat flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/8 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cinnamon
1 large egg
1 large egg white
3/4 c. nonfat buttermilk
2 Tbl. butter, melted
1/2 tsp. coconut or vanilla extract
1 1/2 c. fresh or frozen (though not thawed) blueberries

1.  Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Coat a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray.  I used baking liner cups and sprayed them with spray.
2.  Combine all topping ingredients and set aside.
3.  Mix together flours, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon in a medium bowl.
4.  Whisk brown sugar, oil, egg, egg white, buttermilk and extract in a (different) medium bowl until well combined.
5.  Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and pour in the wet ingredients and stir until just combined.
6.  Add blueberries and remaining macadamia nuts, stir just to combine.
7.  Divide batter among the muffin cups (about 1/4 c. of batter per muffin).  Sprinkle and gently press the topping on the tops of the muffins (about 1 tsp. per muffin).
8.  Bake muffins about 20 minutes, or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
9.  Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove from pan and let cool on a wire rack at least 5 minutes before serving.

Nutrition Facts (per muffin)
calories: 204
total fat: 8.8g
sat. fat: 2.6g
cholest.: 23mg
sodium: 44mg
carb.: 28.9g
fiber: 1.8g
sugar: 13g
protein: 4g

Blueberry Muffins

Zak and I love blueberry muffins, so naturally, when I got a big box of them last week, decided to make some. I looked around for awhile for a healthier version, and finally stumbled across the one I tried out. They were delicious, moist and will be made again soon. Plus, they are under 100 calories for each muffin, not bad at all!

1 3/4 c. flour

3/4 c. light brown sugar

1/2 c. whole wheat flour

2 tsp. baking powder

1 tsp. baking soda

1/4 tsp. nutmeg

1 tsp. cinnamon

1 1/4 c. low fat buttermilk

1 1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce

1 large egg

1 tsp. vegetable oil

1 tsp. vanilla

1 1/2 - 2 c. fresh blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees; lightly coat muffin pan with cooking spray, or place baking cups in pan.

2. Mix together 1 1/2 c. flour, sugar, whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, nutmeg and cinnamon in large bowl. Make a well in the center of the mixture.

3. Whisk together buttermilk, applesauce, egg, oil and vanilla in a medium bowl.

4. Lightly coat the blueberries by tossing them with the 1/4 c. flour in a small bowl.

5. Pour the buttermilk mixture into the flour mixture and stir until batter is just moistened. Fold in the blueberries.

6. Divide the mixture evenly among muffin cups. Bake for about 20 minutes.

This recipe made 24 beautiful, similar-sized muffins.

Banana Nut Muffins

I found this recipe online and decided to give it a try, since we had a ton of bananas about to go bad. They were easy to make and very yummy! I froze some, I hope they freeze well! I've been playing around lately with making recipes with whole wheat flour, applesauce...so far everything I've tried has worked out, and no one even notices!

1 c. white flour
1 c. whole wheat flour
1 tsp. baking soda
2 Tbl. baking powder
1/4 c. salt
3 c. mashed banana
1/2 c. white sugar
1/2 c. nonfat plain yogurt (I only had vanilla at the time, still worked fine)
2 eggs
3/4 tsp. vanilla
3/4 c. chopped walnuts (optional)
1 -2 dash cinnamon
dash nutmeg

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease muffin pan.
2. Mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, beat together banana, sugar, egg and vanilla.
4. Stir in the yogurt.
5. Add banana yogurt mixture to flour, stir until just combined.
6. Scoop batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake in preheated oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into center of a muffin comes out clean. Let cool before serving.
Makes 24 muffins.

Cream Cheese-Filled Pumpkin Muffins

I made these with all the leftover pumpkin I had last fall. They were pretty delicious!

Filling
4 oz. cream cheese
1 egg yolk
2 Tbl. sugar

Batter
1 c. sugar
1+ c. flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 tsp. baking soda
1 egg
3/4 c. pumpkin
1/8 c. oil
1/2 tsp. vanilla

Topping
2 Tbl. flour
2 Tbl. sugar
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1 Tbl. butter

1. Preheat oven to 375-degrees.
2. Beat the filling ingredients until smooth.
3. In a separate bowl, beat sugar, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, salt, and baking soda.
4. Beat in remaining batter ingredients until smooth.
5. Fill paper muffin cups 1/2 - 2/3 way with batter.
6. Add about 1 Tbl. filling on top of batter--be careful to not let it touch the sides of the pan.
7. In another bowl, cut in butter with the topping ingredients; mix until even.
8. Sprinkle on top of muffins, bake for 20 minutes.
*makes about 10 muffins, more or less

yum!