Pear and Oat Bran Walnut Muffins

I came up with a recipe for pear walnut muffins using oat bran, whole wheat flour, and fresh pears. I added Organic Pear Juice with no added sugars for some additional flavor.  The result is a light muffin with a mild pear flavor.  As prepared each muffin contains approximately 98 calories.  If light brown sugar had been used instead of the Xylitol (Ideal Brown), the calorie count per muffin would be about 108.

Pear and Oat Bran Walnut Muffins

3/4 cup unsweetened Pear Juice
1 egg
1/4 cup honey
1 cup fat free sour cream
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup natural applesauce
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup Ideal Brown sweetener (or light brown sugar if preferred)
1 cup Oat Bran Hot Cereal (I used Bob's Red Mill)
1 cup Whole Wheat Flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1 cup chopped pears (I used 1 Red Anjou Pear)

My local supermarket sells R.W. Knudsen brand Organic Unsweetened Pear Juice.  I found it in the Health Food Section. 

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.  In a small bowl mix together pear juice, egg, honey, sour cream, vegetable oil, applesauce, vanilla, and ideal brown sweetener until smooth.

In a seperate large bowl mix together Hot Oat Bran Cereal, Whole Wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, salt and chopped walnuts.

Add sour cream and egg mixture to flour mixture and stir to combine.  Gently fold in chopped and peeled pears.

Add muffin liners to a muffin tin.  Add muffin batter until each is about 2/3 full.

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

This recipe yields about 24 muffins containing approximately 98 calories per muffin.  Enjoy!

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. 

Banana Bran Muffins

I am in love with this banana bran muffin recipe.  The addition of the yogurt to the batter yielded a deliciously moist and flavorful muffin, also in thanks to the mashed banana.  I purchased Shiloh Farms Organic Unprocessed Bran and this recipe appeared on the back of the package.  This recipe yields 12 muffins at approximately 218 calories per muffin. 

Banana Bran Yogurt Muffins

1 cup boiling water
1 cup Coarse Bran
1/4 cup Honey
2 large eggs
1/2 cup oil
1 and 1/2 cups whole wheat flour ( I substituted whole wheat for unbleached flour)
1 and 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 cup plain yogurt (I used plain greek yogurt)
1/2 cup raisins
2/3 cup mashed banana

In a small saucepan mix bran and boiling water  Remove from heat and let mixture stand for 10 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Combine the honey, oil and eggs in a large bowl.  Add the whole wheat flour, baking soda and greek yogurt.  Stir in the bran mixture, raisins, and banana.  Do not overmix.

Spoon batter into paper lined muffin pan until about 2/3 full.  Bake at 350 degrees between for about 25 minutes.

Yields 12 muffins.