Last week was not so great.  Not bad, but not so great.  Due to circumstances beyond my control, I was away from home for two days and unable to bake or blog.  I have been itching to get back at it all weekend, so today I made these muffins from The Complete Cooking Light Cookbook!

Blueberry-Yogurt Muffins
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup orange juice
2 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 8-ounce carton vanilla low-fat yogurt
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries, thawed
cooking spray
1 Tbsp sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Lightly spoon 2 cups flour into dry measuring cup; level with a knife.  Combine flour, 1/3 cup sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture.  Combine orange juice, oil, vanilla, yogurt, and egg; add to dry ingredients, stirring just until moist.  Gently fold in blueberries.

Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray; sprinkle 1 tablespoon sugar evenly over muffins.  Bake muffins for 18 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove muffins from pan immediately and place on wire rack to cool.  Yield: 1 dozen.

Nutritional Information
Serving size: 1 muffin     Calories: 150     Fat: 3.4g     Protein: 3.5g   Carb: 26.4g     Fiber: 1.1g     Cholesterol: 19mg     Iron: 1mg     Sodium: 161mg     Calcium: 69 mg

These muffins were very easy to make, and my son enjoyed helping me.  I used fresh orange juice simply because we happen to have lots of oranges at the moment.  For the yogurt, I used greek yogurt.  I have no idea if any of these things made a difference in the final product.

I thought, overall, that they were very good.  Instead of being fluffy and light, they are quite dense and very filling.

My oldest scarfed one down in the blink of an eye and proclaimed that they were great.  My daughter took one bite, then realized they were blueberry muffins and decided she was full (the only way she eats blueberries is when she has picked them right off the bush at her grandparent’s house).  Macho Man tried one too and said they were good,  but that he couldn’t really taste the orange flavor. Next time, I think I will add more orange juice. I also want to try substituting whole wheat flour for some of the all-purpose flour.

For me, the thing I like best about these muffins is that not only are they hearty, but they are healthy too.  That means I can eat one and not feel guilty about it later!

Until next time,
Muncho Mom