Warm sweet and fluffy muffins bursting with blueberry flavor. These easy healthy blueberry muffins are like eating an oatmeal cupcake!
Earlier this week the boys and I headed up the 101 to visit one our favorite organic produce farms. Along the way we passed by our blueberry picking farm which is closed until blueberry season (around June and July). Well that got me craving some delicious homemade blueberry muffins! I took the best blueberry muffin recipe – tweaked it and added chocolate and oats. I wanted to make sure I crammed in as much for fiber, iron and heart healthy nutrients (well maybe not from the chocolate) as possible! And blueberries are so nutritious they are known to help lower weight and blood pressure.
I’m going to go on a tangent here… Just so we are clear I really don’t spend all day in my kitchen prancing around with perfectly gorgeous hair and makeup surrounded by beautifully displayed snacks and gourmet healthy dinners. The kitchen being always perfectly clean with the laundry folded and put away before leaving the house each morning… would be great if it happened like that every day. Running around with two kids under the age of 5 keeps me busy outside of the kitchen, for sure. So planning helps accomplish half of the cooking and taking care of myself takes care of the other half because it makes time efficient to get my “stay-at-home-mom” duties accomplished. I try to make it to the gym about 4 mornings a week. It clears my head, gives me time to myself and helps me plan things out. It is important to feel your best – so no pj’s in public please. Before kids my getting ready routine would be about 1 hour. Now it is about 20 minutes with shower, make-up and all. I don’t have time for fancy makeup, but a dash of concealer, mascara or a swipe of lip gloss can do wonders to your esteem and health. Just work with accentuating your best feature instead of the whole canvas. I remember when my mom was in the hospital for thyroid cancer a few years ago. She had a few days staying in the hospital after surgery. Even know “no one would see her” she still did her make-up every day. And you know what? She felt beautiful and energized and that helped her body heal. The power of positive thinking. It’s funny, because when I was in the hospital for both my C-sections I was in the hospital for 5 days. And I did the same thing my mama did. The kitchen messes I make with the kids (if it’s not cooking it’s them throwing food!). Before each day comes to an end, the dishes are put away and cleaned up and sofa pillows are fluffed and orderly (part of my OCD). I feel it is really important to start each day fresh without yesterday’s baggage. And this mamma sure feels good when waking up and entering each room in the morning with a clean fresh feeling (but don’t worry, the unfolded laundry is in hiding).
Then when I get up the next morning, I have a fresh kitchen for baking. Like these oatmeal blueberry muffins! I have sometimes made them at night then pop them in the oven to bake in the morning. Then you are only dirtying one bowl in the evening instead of pans and cooling racks.
We use fresh wholesome blueberries and added a few chocolate chips into our homemade muffins. Why chocolate chips? Because every girl needs a little chocolate now and again:-) But feel free to leave those out to keep your blueberry muffins healthier.
Now let’s chat about how to make sweet, succulent, and healthy blueberry muffins –
Creaminess: The key to a creamy batter lies in the instant oatmeal. But you can omit the oats and use the same amount of flour in this recipe (totaling 1 3/4 cups of flour) if you don’t have any on-hand. Using instant oatmeal excretes a creamy texture when the oats soak in fluids such as the milk and eggs used. After mixing the batter, let it set for about 5 minutes to settle.
Flavor: Use the best vanilla flavoring, fresh blueberries and fresh zest of lemons. After all, fresh is best! Add the flavors in last. When the batter is setting for the last 5 minutes the vanilla and lemon with seep into the oats and flour maximizing full tang and sweetness combined.
Texture: I love a good muffin! The base of fluffy carbohydrates sinking between teeth to touch the tongue with delight. But then what happens? With muffins you can any experience you want to the base. With blueberry and chocolate inside these there is a gush of blueberry and an explosion of gooey chocolate combined into one. Can we say “party in the mouth”?
These easy blueberry muffins won’t last long! We love them as a healthy snack or for breakfast. They are best served right away and warm. Enjoy!
*If you are looking for a new muffin pan, you should seriously check out the Delightful Mom Food Silicone Muffin Pan! This puppy was was designed to make your life easy when baking. I use mine everyday and I don’t know how I got by without it!
- 1 cup Spelt Flour or Gluten-Free Flour Mix
- ¾ cup quick cook oats (gluten free)
- ⅔ cup Xylitol (or coconut sugar)
- 1 Tablespoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 3 Tablespoons coconut oil, melted
- 3 Tablespoons sour cream
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup plus 2 Tablespoons milk (I use original cashew or almond milk)
- 1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 cup of fresh blueberries
- (1/4 cup chocolate chips are optional too!)
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with paper liners or spray a silicone muffin pan.
- In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, sugar, baking powder and salt. Combine well. Add in melted coconut oil and mix well.
- In a small bowl, whisk egg, milk, sour cream lemon zest and vanilla until blended. Fold egg mixture into dry mixture until moistened. Carefully fold in blueberries (and some chocolate if you'd like!). Let the batter set for 5 minutes.
- Scoop batter into muffin cups about ¾ full. Bake 20-25 minutes until golden on top and a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove muffins from the pan and transfer to a cooking rack to cool.
- Tip: Leaving the muffins in the pan will make them continue to cook and may dry them out. So take them right out from the muffin pan.
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