Berry-licious muffins

These muffins from the Sunlight Cafe by Mollie Katzen is a healthy way to start the day. They are loaded with blueberries and delicately sweet. They are best with some spread like butter, jam, honey or even lemon curd. I love the baked goods from this book because Ms.Katzen lets me use oil instead of butter and even replace some of the flour with soy powder. If you are not a big fan of having berries in each bite, reduce the berries to 1 cup.

Blueberry-licious muffins- 12 medium muffins

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup soy powder ( or use 2.5 cups flour)
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon grated orange or lemon zest
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
2 tablespoons fresh orange or lemon juice
1 large egg
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted or oil
1 1/2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen)


Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly spray 10 standard-sized (2 1/2-inch-diameter) muffin cups with nonstick spray.

Combine the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and zest in a medium-sized bowl.

Measure 1 1/2 cups buttermilk into a 4-cup liquid measure. Add the juice, egg, and vanilla, and beat gently with a fork or a small whisk until smooth. Stir in oil or butter.

Slowly pour this mixture into the dry ingredients. Using a spoon or a rubber spatula, stir from the bottom of the bowl until the dry ingredients are all moistened. Carefully fold in the blueberries at the very end.

Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups. Bake in the middle of the oven for to 20 to 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove the pan from the oven, then remove the muffins from the pan and place them on a rack to cool. Wait at least 30 minutes before serving.

These do not have heavy cakiness of coffee shop muffins nor do they have the toughness that is normally expected from low-fat muffins.