Blueberry Muffins

I visited my in-laws recently, and my sister-in-law made these delicious muffins. She's into healthy foods, and also likes to experiment with changing things up to make them healthier. So, this is an adaptation she came up with from a regular blueberry muffin recipe. It's been altered by substituting almond flour for some of thelowering the amount of carbs and increasing the protein. Plus, she substituted stevia for some of the sugar, lowering sugars. Finally, she decreased the amount of oil by using applesauce in place of half of the oil. These really are quite delicious, she made them in the afternoon thinking they'd be good for breakfast the next morning. However, they had almost disappeared by the next morning.

You may not have some of these ingredients. For example, you probably don't have almond flour on your shelf. How many people do? You can easily make your own by simply putting some almonds in a strong blender or a food processor, and grinding them until they resemble corn meal. Don't overgrind, or you'll end up with almond butter, delicious but not a good substitute for flour! Stevia is available in the health food aisle, and is the ground up leaf of the stevia plant. It's much sweeter than sugar, and has the added benefit of not going through the extensive processing required for making sugar. I've included the amount of sugar for you, too, because stevia is another of those uncommon ingredients that aren't regularly in pantries. Finally, when substituting applesauce for olive oil, be sure to use natural applesauce, preferable unsweetened.

Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour

1 cup almond flour (ground almonds)

1/4 cup sugar

2 tsp stevia (if you don't have stevia, increase the sugar to 1 cup total)

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup soy or fat free milk

2 eggs

1/4 cup olive oil

1/4 cup applesauce

1 tsp orange zest

1 cup fresh blueberries

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375degrees F. Mix the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl. Add the milk, eggs, oil, and zest and mix until well blended. Fold in the blueberries.

Oil a muffin tin by spraying with cooking spray or olive oil, or use paper muffin cups. Fill muffin cups 2/3 full, and bake for 25 minutes.

Makes 6-10 muffins, depending on size.

Stealthy Cooking Tip: Substitutions can make some of your family favorites healthier. It's even better when the family can't tell that your new, healthier version is any different from their old favorite!