Muffin Mania

I have been delaying posting these recipes waiting to take some pictures, but my life is crazy right now so I unfortunately haven’t been able to get to it.  In the meantime, I don’t want to keep these AH-MAZ-ING recipes from you, my loyal readers, any longer. These are both really really delicious, almost non-fat (traces of fat from fruits & egg substitute) and right around 100 cals each. How can you go wrong?

Wheat Bran Banana Muffins

• 4 Bananas, very ripe
• 1/2 c unsweetened applesauce
• 1/3 c brown sugar
• 1/3 c splenda
• 1/3 c egg substitute (or egg whites)
• 3/5 c skim milk, soured with 1 Tbsp white vinegar
• 2 c whole wheat flour
• 1 c wheat bran
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips (approx)

1. Preheat oven to 375. Spray muffin tin with non-stick spray.
2. In a large bowl, mash bananas. To bananas, add applesauce, sugar, splenda, egg whites, skim milk with vinegar added to it.
3. In a separate bowl, mix flour, bran, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
4. Add dry ingredients to wet, and stir until just combined. Do not over beat.
5. Divide evenly between 18-24 muffin cups, sprinkle with about 5 chocolate chips each muffin, and bake for 18-22 minutes, until lightly browned and knife inserted comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack.

Mango Coconut Muffins

• 2 c whole wheat flour
• 1/4 c sugar
• 3/4 c splenda
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 3/4 c egg substitute
• 1/2 c unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 c skim milk
• 1 Tbsp vinegar
• 2 tsp coconut flavoring
• 2 cups diced mango (about 3 mangos)
• 1 medium banana, mashed

1. Preheat oven to 350. Generously spray muffin tins with cooking spray (these tend to stick a bit)
2. In a large bowl, combine the first 5 ingredients (dry ingredients).
3. In a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients except the mango and banana.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until just moistened.
5. Stir in mango and banana. Bake for 20 minutes until a toothpick comes out clean.

Nonfat Whole Wheat Carrot Craisin Muffins

This amazing little muffin is surprisingly moist and light in texture for being nonfat and whole wheat! Even my husband (who doesn’t usually go for muffins all that often) loves these. I found a random recipe online and did a bunch of “doctoring” until I made it my own lightweight version of the muffin. It’s lovely. I highly recommend you go try it asap. And go check out the nutrition stats at the bottom. Shocked? Yep. I was too. Those little numbers (pun intended) make me very happy. 🙂

Prep time: 15 mins
Bake time: 18-20 mins
Makes 12 muffins

• 1 1/4 c white whole wheat flour (or whole wheat)
• 1 t baking powder
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1/2 t salt
• 1 t cinnamon
• 1/4 t ginger
• 1/2 c brown sugar, packed
• 1/2 c unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 c light orange juice (Trop50)
• 1/4 c egg substitute (Egg Beaters)
• 1 1/2 c grated carrots
• 1/2 c dry, sweetened cranberries (Craisins)

1. Pre-heat oven to 375 F. Spray a 12 cup muffin tin lightly with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Sift (or mix with a whisk) the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and ginger together in a bowl.
3. In a separate bowl, combine the brown sugar, applesauce, orange juice, and egg beaters together.
4. Add your dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until almost combined. Fold in the carrots and cranberries. (do not over beat!)
5. Divide the batter evenly in 12 muffin cups. Reduce the oven temperature to 360 and bake for 18-20 mins until a toothpick inserted into the center of the muffin comes out clean.
6. Let cool 5 mins in the pan, then carefully transfer the muffins to a wire rack to continue cooling.  (Letting them cool out of the pan allows the edges to not become soggy.)

Nutrition: 105 calories, 0g fat, 25g carbs, 2g protein, 2g fiber