Guest Author - Jill Valente

People often think that muffins are healthy and with names like Bran, Carrot, Banana, Corn and Blueberry I don’t blame them! The truth is though most store bought muffins are usually packed with butter and sugar plus nowadays they are ENORMOUS!! A muffin should not be the size of a football, more along the lines of a tennis ball. Muffins are super tasty though and there is no reason to eliminate them from your life completely. Use my recipe for Blueberry Muffins which combines whole wheat flour with all-purpose flour for extra fiber and replaces most of the sugar with apple sauce.

Blueberry Muffins
Blueberries are a good source of vitamin C, vitamin E and fiber. They are also packed with antioxidants which can protect against Alzheimer’s disease. If blueberries aren’t your thing though, feel free to substitute them with chopped strawberries, fresh cranberries or even some dried fruit and nuts.

Ingredients

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 2/3 cup whole wheat flour
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp baking soda
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 cup fat free milk
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• 3 tbsp butter, melted
• 2/3 cup no sugar added apple sauce
• 1 cup blueberries, fresh or frozen
• Cooking spray

Directions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl combine all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. In a medium bowl combine fat-free milk, egg, butter and apple sauce. Add the milk mixture to the flour mixture and stir until moist. Fold in blueberries.

Spoon the batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake for 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when lightly touched. Makes 12 servings. 3 points per serving.

Notes
I always add the blueberries last and fold them in gently because the more you stir them the more their color will bleed and there is nothing worse then a batch of purple muffins! For a little something special, after the muffins are in their pans I sprinkle a combination of brown and white sugar over the top along with a few extra blueberries.