Apple Walnut Whole Wheat Muffins

On a cold Sunday night I was itching to warm up my kitchen and fill my apartment with a homely smell. Yes, a candle was burning in the living room, but that just didn't seem to suffice. Knowing I had dried fruit and nuts in the cupboard, I went in search of a muffin recipe (which was likely spurred by my recent rant of the oversized muffins available at every street corn in America.) I decided to make Apple Walnut Muffins. With some changes kept in mind for next time I use this recipe, overall these are pretty tasty. (Original recipe can be found here.)



Apple Walnut Whole Wheat Muffins
Yield: approx 20 muffins

Ingredients:
1.5 cups whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1.5 tbsp cinnamon
*1 tsp salt
*1 tsp nutmeg

1 egg
1 cup 1% milk
2 tbsp dried sugar cane (or brown sugar)
*2 tbsp white sugar (I actually only used 1 tbsp)
1 tsp pure bourbon vanilla extract

1/2 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup raisins
2 apples washed, peeled, and diced

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees
2. Grease muffin pans with spray or oil
3. Mix whole wheat flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in large bowl. Set aside.
4. Mix egg, milk, cane sugar/brown sugar, white sugar, and vanilla extract in medium bowl.
5. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients until dry ingredients are dissolved. Avoid over mixing.
6. Stir in nuts and fruit.
7. Fill muffin tins 3/4 full.
8. Bake in preheated oven for 12 minutes. Muffin tops should be light brown when done.
9. Let cool for 5 minutes in tin. Transfer to wire rack and let cool completely!
10. Enjoy!

Commentary:
*When I baked these muffins, I did not use salt; however, next time around I will be sure to include it. All of my ingredients were salt free. If your nuts have salt in them, then you might not need to add additional salt. The muffins are good overall, but in addition for the need of salt, I think they could also be a tad sweeter. Don't get me wrong, I'm not looking to turn these muffins into a sugar avalanche, but less than 1/4 cup of total sugar for me is not enough for this batch of muffins. Using about 1/4 cup total sugar should suffice to add that sweet satisfaction I was looking for without an excessive amount of empty calories. A possible substitution would be to use sweetened, dried cranberries, which I did ponder using instead of raisins. If sweetened dried fruit is used, additional added sugar wouldn't be necessary. Finally, while taste testing these muffins, I felt as though they were missing something (other than salt and sugar.) I think a little nutmeg would give these muffins that warm, autumn taste and bump them up from a mediocre good to a fantastic, hits-the-spot kind-of muffin!

Nutritional Facts:
Each muffin is approximately 80 calories! How great is that?! These muffins are 100% whole wheat, low calorie, low fat, low sugar, and low sodium WITHOUT use of anything artificial!!!! It's all about portion control. (Now compare that to your average 500-700 calorie Dunkin Donuts muffin !)

Breakfast ideas:
-1 or 2 muffins, 1 reduced fat yogurt or glass of milk, and a piece of fruit
-1 or 2 muffins, low fat cottage cheese, applesauce
-1 or 2 muffins, glass of low fat milk, small handful of trailmix
-1 or 2 muffins, 1 or 2 hard boiled eggs, bowl of chopped fruit

Vegetable Medley Leftovers

The Vegetable Medley from yesterday's post can leave you with a bit of leftovers. If you're like me, then eating the same food day after day is unappealing. So, what to do? Well, why not have a medley of foods for your meal. I combined the leftover vegetables with a slice of toast (with butter/oil as you prefer), 2 hard boiled eggs, sharp cheddar cheese, and a sliced apple. Voila! Who knew a healthy, balanced meal could be so quick (and tasty, of course)?! :)