Sweet eating!

Healthy muffins... Now that is a contradicting word! Lately I have been trying to make more healthy eating choices . Now I definitely do not deny myself of eating treats but I like to get the nutrition that my body needs! I more or less have the mentality that if I eat a healthy breakfast, lunch and snacks than I can totally have a sweet treat and wine in the evening! It's all about balance right?
I love baking and I especially love baking muffins. Today I am going to show you how you can  make any muffin recipe a healthy tasty snack.

Last night I baked some delicious Whole Wheat Lemon Raspberry Muffins.

Here is the recipe below. I substituted the following...
white sugar with honey
canola oil with apple sauce (unsweetened)
all whole wheat flour
add in 1/2 cup flax seed!
This takes out any fats and processed sugar. These substitutions work for almost any muffin recipe. Apple sauce is a great way to take out unnecessary fats and makes a really nice moist muffin! Flax seed is a great source of fiber and Omega-3s.

delicous and nutricous!

Ingredients

• 1 lemon
• 1/2 cup sugar (use honey)
• 1 cup nonfat buttermilk (add 1 tablespoon lemon juice to one cup skim milk)
• 1/3 cup canola oil (use apple sauce)
• 1 large egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup white whole-wheat flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour (use all whole wheat)
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen (not thawed) raspberries

Preparation

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat 12 large (1/2-cup) muffin cups with cooking spray or line with paper liners.
2. Use a vegetable peeler to remove the zest from the lemon in long strips. Combine the zest and sugar(honey) in a food processor; pulse until the zest is very finely chopped into the sugar. Add buttermilk, oil(apple sauce), egg and vanilla and pulse until blended.
3. Combine whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl. Add the buttermilk mixture and fold until almost blended. Gently fold in raspberries. Divide the batter among the muffin cups.
4. Bake the muffins until the edges and tops are golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Let cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning out onto a wire rack. Serve warm.

On another note...Today is FRIDAY! I am off to enjoy a BBQ at my brother and sister in-laws place. Looks like the sun is peeking out just in time. Happy weekend!
I'll leave you with a funny photo that made me laugh out loud!

Mel xo