Blueberry Muffins

For my birthday, my mom got me the Hungry Girl '200 Under 200' cookbook (200 recipes under 200 calories). There are a lot of recipes that look really yummy, although many recipes involve some not-so-basic (for me, anyway) ingredients. I think it will just take a little bit of rethinking my 'basic kitchen staples', and I did a bit of shopping for things like Light Vanilla Soymilk and Sugar Free Pancake Syrup. If you're not sure about the recipes, or don't want to buy the book, sign up for the newsletter - she sends out recipes (some from the book) and tips about once a week. Like I said, a lot of her recipes look great, and I'll try to document and post whenever I try new ones!

Today, I made the Big Fat Blueberry Muffins.

The ingredients, all lined up like ducks in a row (not really). Please note that I am not advertising for any of these companies; this is just what I bought and used. The brown sugar (in the plastic canister) is from Trader Joe's, in case you're looking to brand-copy. The Lucerne carton (back right) contains egg-substitute (a la Egg Beaters). Who knew...the Safeway brand contained less salt (and was cheaper) than the Egg Beaters brand! And yes, the Smuckers brand of syrup was the healthiest option and had less fake-sounding ingredients than the other 4 sugar-free syrups at the store. The email/web-version of the recipe suggests freezing the blueberries so that they don't sink to the bottom of the muffins while baking. I popped my berries in the freezer when I started and pulled them out when it was time to add them, and that seemed to work fine (though they really weren't frozen at all).

The dry ingredients, just because they looked pretty...

Muffins, pre-oven. The recipe makes 6 large muffins, but I think next time I will make 8-12 smaller ones...

Muffins, post-baking! They puffed up a LOT. These things are huge!

Close-up of pretty muffins. I like how the blueberries kind of exploded a little in places, and how the "crust" on top is all crackly.

Artistic Muffin. Actually, this is just what happened when I used my flash, and I thought it looked cool. Also, it shows the semi-mushy inside, which I think is more a by-product of my trying to eat it when it was still steaming hot than of the muffins *actually* being mushy. They're really not mushy at all. Toothpick came out clean and everything.

Like I said, next time I may make smaller muffins, but just one these jumbo muffins could be breakfast. Next up...Chunky Apple-Cinnamon Muffins.