Healthy Blueberry Muffins

 

During my recent trip to the grocery store, I saw blueberries on sale. I grabbed two pints without hesitation, one for munching and one for baking. I didn't know what I wanted to do with the blueberries but I was certain I could find something! I opted to make blueberry muffins because it is one of my sister's favorite things to eat. While I've made Blueberry Crumb Cake before, I wanted to make a yes, healthy recipe. Instead of using my oat bran muffin recipe and incorporating blueberries, I decided to research a different recipe. It's good to change things up every once in awhile, right? I proceeded to Google 'healthy blueberry muffins' in the search engine and clicked on the first recipe that came up. Thank goodness I did because it turned out to be an excellent recipe. The main ingredient in the recipe was wheat bran so the muffins provide a great deal of nutrients and fiber. One of the first steps was to soak the wheat bran in milk to give the muffins bulk and it helped release the nutrients in the wheat bran.

The muffins turned out great! The muffins had the taste and texture of a muffin, crisp on the top but moist on the inside. Honestly, I wouldn't notice this was a healthy muffin. What I enjoyed most about the muffin was the taste. The muffins had just enough sweetness from the brown sugar. Also, the brown sugar brought out the molasses flavor, which gave the muffins a distinctive and addictive taste. I contemplated the familiarity of the taste for hours. I've eaten a muffin with this taste but I couldn't think of when and where I had the muffin. Finally, I remembered a few months back, my dad bought a muffin from a local bakery and told me to try it to see if I could recreate it. I believe this recipe is very close to what my dad wanted. I guess I should save him one for when I see him this weekend...if I don't eat them all beforehand! This muffin gives my oat bran muffin some competition. I'm already thinking of the variations I can make with this recipe. But bringing it back to this recipe, give it a try. While it is a healthy muffin, you won't notice a difference. I promise!

Healthy Blueberry Muffins
compliments of AllRecipes

Ingredients
1-1/2 cups wheat bran
1 cup milk
1/2 cup applesauce
1 egg
2/3 cup brown sugar
3 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup blueberries

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 F. Line muffin tins with cupcake holders or grease with cooking spray
2.  Combine wheat bran and milk in a bowl. Let mixture sit for ten minutes.
3. Combine all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a medium bowl.
4. In another bowl, mix applesauce, egg, brown sugar, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract. 
5. Add bran mixture to to applesauce mixture. Add flour mixture until just combined.
6. Toss blueberries in one tablespoon of flour and add to muffin mixture.
7. Fill muffin tins 2/3 full.
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until top springs back and toothpick comes out clean.