Cranberry Orange Muffins

I came up with a healthy recipe for  Cranberry Orange Muffins using whole wheat flour and oat bran hot cereal.  I added freshly squeezed orange juice and fresh cranberries to the batter to give it the fresh fruit flavor. Each muffin has approximately 136 calories.

Cranberry Orange Muffins

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup natural applesauce
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup preferred sweetener (or sugar)
1 egg
1 cup fat free sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
3/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice
orange zest of 1 orange
1 and 3/4 cups fresh cranberries
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup oat bran hot cereal (I used Bob's Red Mill Organic)
1/4 teasoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.  First I cut 2 oranges in half and I used a small juicer to extract the fresh orange juice.

In a small bowl add vegetable oil, applesauce, honey, egg, preferred sweetener (or sugar), sour cream, vanilla, orange juice, and orange zest.  Mix until combined.

Gently fold in the fresh cranberries and stir to combine.

In a large bowl mix together the whole wheat flour, hot oat bran cereal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Next add the oil, sour cream and cranberry mixture to the flour mixture.  Stir until it is
mixed and thoroughly combined.

Add paper liners to a muffin tin and fill with the muffin batter until about 2/3 full.

Place in the preheated oven and bake for about 25-30 minutes until cooked through.  A toothpick inserted in the center should could out clean.

This recipe yields about 18 muffins.  Each muffin has approximately 136 calories.  Enjoy!

Lemon Poppy Muffins

I came up with a healthy recipe for Lemon Poppy Muffins using whole wheat flour and oat bran.  They are easy to prepare and the natural lemon juice gives them their great taste.  This recipe yields 15 muffins at approximately 132 calories/muffin.

Lemon Poppy Muffins

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup natural applesauce
3/4 cup fat free sour cream
2 eggs
2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup preferred sweetener (or sugar)
zest of 2 lemons
3/4 cup oat bran
3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 Tablespoons poppy seeds
1/4 teaspoon salt

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  Mix together the vegetable oil, applesauce, sour cream, eggs, fresh lemon juice, vanilla, honey, and preferred sweetener (or sugar).

I used a small juicer to extract the fresh lemon juice.

Add the zest of 2 lemons to a large bowl.

Add the whole wheat flour, oat bran, baking powder, baking soda, poppy seeds, and salt to the lemon zest.

Add the oil and egg mixture to the flour mixture.  Mix to combine.

Add muffin liners to a muffin tin.  Fill each muffin about 2/3 full.

Place in preheated 400 degree oven and cook for about 20-25 minutes or until heated through.

Yields about 15 muffins at 132 calories/muffin. 

Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins

I came up with a healthy recipe for strawberry cream cheese muffins using coarse bran, fresh strawberries and fat free cream cheese.  Before baking fresh strawberries are placed on a slice of fat free cream cheese on top of each muffin.  Center of muffins will be soft and creamy because of the cream cheese/strawberry filling.  This recipe yields 18 muffins at approximately 150 calories per muffin.

Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins

1 cup coarse bran (I used Shiloh Farms Coarse Wheat Bran, a.k.a. Miller's Bran)
1 cup boiling water
1/2 cup preferred sweetener (or sugar)
1/4 cup honey
2 eggs
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup natural applesauce
1 and 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 cup fat free sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
2/3 cup chopped strawberries for muffin batter
2 cups chopped strawberries for garnish
8 oz. package fat free cream cheese

Boil water and add coarse bran.  Remove from heat and let stand for 10 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Meanwhile combine honey, eggs, vegetable oil, applesauce, fat free sour cream, and vanilla.

In separate bowl mix together whole wheat flour and baking soda.

Add flour mixture to oil mixture containing eggs, applesauce and sour cream.  Stir to combine. 

Next add the coarse bran.

Chop the 2/3 cup fresh strawberries into small pieces.  Gently fold the chopped strawberries into the batter.

Stir to combine.  Add muffin liners to a muffin tin.  Add batter to muffin tin reserving some batter to cover strawberry and cream cheese filling before baking.  This recipe made enough to yield about 18-20 muffins.

Cut cream cheese into small pieces.

Place a piece of cream cheese on top of the muffin batter for each muffin.

Next add fresh strawberries.

Top with remaining reserved batter.  I recently modified this recipe by adding a thin layer of batter on top of the filling for each muffin before baking.  This helped to reduce the sinking appearance that resulted from the strawberry/cream cheese filling.

Place in preheated oven and cook until muffins are cooked through, about 30-35 minutes.  Muffins are done when toothpick stuck in center comes out clean.  Cream cheese will be moist and soft at the center.

Recipe yields 18-20 muffins at approximately 150 calories/muffin.  Enjoy!