Skinny Blueberry Buttermilk Muffins

But muffins are tricksy little things. You think they are healthy for you because they have bran or bananas or some other fruit, but they are sneakily full of hidden calories. Oil, butter, nuts, fatty (but delicious) streusels and glazes. Sometimes they have chocolate. Not that there’s anything wrong with chocolate!

Today I have for you a healthy muffin that you can feel really great about starting your day with.

Packed with blueberries. Rich moist tangy buttermilk. Zesty lemon. A crunchy coarse sugar sprinkling on top. And only 127 calories each!

In addition to having only 127 calories, these muffins are half whole wheat flour. No butter. A scant 1/3 cup of sugar. Despite these facts, these muffins are not flavourless, dense, dried out little teeny weeny mini muffins.

I have a few secret weapons hiding in these muffins. I started with my normal muffin recipe and cut the sugar not just in half, but nearly in 3! I replaced part of the sugar with unsweetened applesauce. They are not overly sweet, but between the blueberries and the coarse sugar topping, there is plenty enough sweetness in these babies.

Then I cut out the vegetable oil and replaced that with 2% greek yogurt. I can honestly tell you that these guys are not missing the oil, at all. They are very moist!

Finally, I replaced regular milk with 1% buttermilk. Buttermilk gets a bad rap. It has the word ‘butter’ in it’s name. Therefore it is not good for you, right? WRONG! It is actually cultured milk, which gives it a thicker texture. In most cases it actually has fewer calories and less fat than regular milk! Buttermilk gives these muffins such a wonderful, moist, rich texture. It pairs perfectly with the blueberries and lemon zest.

I sprinkled the tops of these muffins with coarse sugar, which gives the tops a pretty, sparkly shine, and a nice, sweet note when you bite into the muffins. Since I only used 2 tsp, that’s 30 calories, and divided by 12 muffins, well that’s 2.5 calories per muffin. You are welcome to cut out the coarse sugar, but if you ask me, it’s worth the 2.5 calories