A Berry Good Muffin

Last week I decided to try a recipe from Conscious Cuisine by Cary Neff. He is a chef who works at the Mirival spa and has good tasting healthy recipes. I thought it was a pretty cookbook and that I might use it when I bought it. This is only the second recipe I have done from it, but both of them have been very good!

He gives a basic batter recipe for a low-fat muffin and then you can choose what you add in . I was in the bood for a fruit muffin but fruit has gotten expensive around here. So, I used some frozen blueberries and the few strawberries I had left (before they went bad, I think I had forgotten they were in there!). These muffins ended up being really good. I only made slight modifications because of what I had on hand. Because blueberries are full of antioxidants, this is my entry for Sweetnicks ARF Tuesday!

Low-Fat Muffins - Strawberry and Blueberry variety
Conscious Cuisine
1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
pinch sea salt (I used regular)
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon nutmeg
2 large egg whites
2/3 cup fat-free milk
2/3 cup plain, fat-free yogurt (I used vanilla)
1 1/4 cups raw can sugar (I only used 2/3 cup)
1 tablespoon pureed banana (I didn't have this, so I omitted)
2 teaspoons canola oil
1/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I probably used more)
1 cup blueberries
5 sliced strawberries (that's all I had!)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 C). In a mixing bowl, combine the flours, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg. In a separate bowl, mix together egg whites, milk, yogurt, sugar, oil, and vanilla. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients; pour in the egg mixture and stir until just moistened. Stir in blueberries and strawberries.

Scoop 1/3 cup batter into prepared muffin cups. Bake for 30-35 minutes (I checked at 25 minutes and they were ready) or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove and let cool for 5 minutes.