Wild Blueberry Breakfast Muffins

Hello Not on a Diet followers! My name is Kaitie and I’ve been interning with Sumner for the past couple of months. My time with Sumner at Not On A Diet, has been such an eye opening and helpful experience. I have learned so much, not only about nutrition, but also about living a healthy lifestyle. Sumner has helped me to learn more about my obsession with delicious food and focus on my passion for health! So, the other day Sumner and I decided to use some ingredients that we found in her kitchen to try to make some delicious but also healthy muffins! I was a little nervous because baking is not my specialty

For all of you out there that never have time to make breakfast or like me, think you have time but then look at the clock and see you only have 5 minutes before you need to leave – this recipe is for you! You could always make these ahead of time and freeze some for later use. You can spread some peanut butter on the top or maybe add some light cream cheese. The recipe was SO easy and surprisingly only took us about 45 minutes to make!So, many of you may be wondering why we were so proud of this muffin recipe? Well, set aside from the fact that these muffins are delicious they are also nutritious! Each muffin has 3g of fiber, healthy fats from the almond meal, Omega-3s, very little sugar, and are only 140 calories per muffin!  Compare that to a Starbucks “Blueberry Streusel Muffin”, which has more than double the amount of calories (360 calories), 11g of fat – 7g of which are saturated fat- and a whopping 33g of sugar, you will want to have these muffins on hand all the time!

1. Preheat oven to 400°F and grease muffin tins by spraying cooking spray evenly.
2. In a large bowl combine the dry ingredients: whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, almond meal, ground flax, cinnamon and salt. Then whisk to blend the ingredients.
3. In a separate bowl combine the wet ingredients: apple sauce, yogurt, melted Coconut Oil, mashed banana, vanilla extract, and the eggs. Mix with a whisk so that all the ingredients combine.
4. Then add 2 Tbsp brown sugar to the wet ingredients and whisk to dissolve sugar.
5. Make a well in the dry ingredients and mix the wet into the dry with a rubber spatula just until moistened.
6. Using the spatula fold in the frozen blueberries.
7. Use a spoon to put the mixture into the muffin tins – making sure that each one is just over half way filled (should make about 15 muffins).
8. Finally sprinkle a pinch of the 1 Tbsp of brown sugar evenly on top of each muffin for a little crunch and extra sweetness!
9. Bake for 15 – 17 minutes at 400°F. Test with a toothpick, they’re done when it come out clean.

*Almond meal is, as you may have guessed, ground up almonds with the skins left on. It can be used as a substitute for flour and is high in protein, healthy monounsaturated fat, low in carbohydrates, and is also gluten-free.
*Ground Flax is ground up flax seeds, they are high in fiber and rich with Omega-3 fatty acids.
*Unsweetened apple sauce adds moisture without using oil or butter to reduce saturated fat content
*Banana was used to add moisture and sweetness to the muffin without using refined sugar.
*Coconut Oil, as I learned from Sumner today, can replace butter as a healthier type of fat and adds a nice flavor

Nutrition Facts:
Serving Size = 1 Muffin (standard muffin tin size)
Calories: 140 calories
Fat: 7g
   Saturated Fat: 2g
Carbohydrate: 15g
   Fiber: 3g
   Sugar: 5g
Protein: 4.5 g
Cholesterol: 29 mg

Kaitie showcasing the recipe success!