It’s hard to find a snack that is healthy AND delicious. These whole wheat oatmeal blueberry muffins will satisfy your hunger and your sweet tooth while providing you with a source of fiber. Blueberries have antioxidants in them (which protect cells against damage through neutralizing free radicals in the body. According to the National Cancer Institute, free radical damage may lead to cancer). Antioxidants are also great for your skin. The whole wheat flour in this recipe will give you your fiber and using applesauce instead of oil makes the muffins almost fat free. Feel free to substitute the blueberries for apples, raspberries or any other fruit that you can think of if you don’t like blueberries. If you want a little more of a treat, sprinkle some brown sugar on top of the muffins halfway through cooking for a crunchy topping.
Whole Wheat Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 15 minutes
Yield: 1 dozen muffins
1 ¼ cups quick cooking oats, ½ cup all-purpose flour, ½ cup whole wheat flour, ½ cup brown sugar, 1 tablespoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt, 1 cup milk, 1 egg, ¼ cup apple sauce, 1 cup fresh blueberries, rinsed and drained (2 cups if frozen, small berries)
Directions:
- Combine oats, flours, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Mix in milk, egg, and oil; mix just until dry ingredients are moistened. Fold in blueberries. Fill greased muffin cups 2/3 full with batter.
- Bake at 425 degrees for 15 to 20 minutes.
- Once cooled in muffins pan, remove and place on cooling rack until completely cooled. For best results, refrigerate the ones you don’t manage to gobble down while they’re cooling.
Next up, a delicious dessert also with berries full of those great antioxidants we just talked about.
Frozen yogurt is a great alternative to ice cream; it is lower in fat and offers healthy bacterial cultures that ice cream does not. It also has the delicious flavour that you would expect from ice cream. Frozen berries are great because they’re still wonderfully ripe even out of season and they can be a lot cheaper than buying fresh fruit. There are almost 3 grams of fiber in ½ cup of blueberries which is excellent. Blueberries are much higher in antioxidants than peas, apples, squash, carrots and broccoli!
Vanilla Frozen Yogurt with Warm Berries
Prep time: 5 mins
Cook time: Approx 5 mins
Yield: 2 servings
½ cup frozen blueberries, ½ cup frozen raspberries, 1 ½ teaspoon sugar or honey, 2 servings low fat vanilla frozen yogurt
- In a small pot, combine the frozen blueberries and raspberries and cook over medium-high heat until a juice begins to form and starts to boil
- Add the sugar or honey and stir continuously to avoid the berries sticking to the pot. The sugar will create more of a juice and if you like things sweet you can add more.
- Place a serving of frozen yogurt in a bowl and pour the berry mixture over top.
The dessert may seem hot but you can enjoy this dish right away. If you prefer one berry to the other, simply use one type. Add more berries for more sauce and less for one serving. This is super quick to make, reasonably healthy and absolutely delicious!
Next issue: a one dish chicken dinner full of flavour and nutrients!
