Low-Fat Peach Blueberry Muffins

After recently going through two baskets of peaches and findings ways to incorporate them into breakfast, dinner, and dessert, I vowed never to peel another peach again until next summer. Well, silly me to believe I would be able to resist the baskets overflowing with juicy ripe peaches everywhere I went. I of course broke down and bought another basket, this time using them for an appetizer, snack, and drink. I hope you’re not already peached out, because this batch of recipes was just as amazing as the first!

First up I thought I’d share the snack recipe, for low-fat peach blueberry muffins. I find myself making muffins fairly often because they’re a great way to use up leftover fruit and berries, they take so little time to make and bake, they’re really easy to make low fat, and they freeze well, so I can grab one from the freezer in the morning and it will be thawed out in time for a morning or afternoon snack at school.

These are adapted from a recipe for blueberry strawberry muffins I saw on Eat Yourself Skinny by guest blogger Not Rachael Ray. The recipe only had one tablespoon of oil for 12 muffins, and incorporated other healthy ingredient substitutions like applesauce, skim milk, whole wheat flour, and ground flax seeds. If you’ve never heard of flax seeds before, don’t be scared! They're a good source of fiber and healthy fats, and they carry a lot of other nutritional benefits that make them a great addition to baked goods and smoothies (such as the extremely popular Green Monster smoothie). You should be able to find it in the bulk section of most food stores (it’s also really cheap when you buy it that way!)

I replaced the strawberries with peaches and the lemon zest with vanilla and cinnamon. The smell while these were baking was irresistible and the muffins tasted amazing warm out of the oven. They rose up really nicely, and I loved the bursts of fruit and the hint of cinnamon. I especially loved the fact that these were practically guilt-free! I did find that they were slightly drier the next day, but a quick zap in the microwave fixed that, and I have a feeling the reason for it was that I both overmixed and overbaked them - so be careful not to make those mistakes!

Hope everyone else is still enjoying peach season and the last bit of August!

Low-Fat Peach Blueberry Muffins

Adapted from Not Rachael Ray as seen on Eat Yourself Skinny

Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients:

3/4 cup skim milk
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 egg
1 tablespoon canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 tablespoons ground flax seed
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 cup fresh blueberries
3/4 cup chopped peeled ripe peaches

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners or spray with nonstick spray.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the wet ingredients (milk, applesauce, egg, oil, and vanilla).

In a large bowl, stir together the dry ingredients (flours, flax seed, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon).

Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until just combined. Do not overmix – batter should be lumpy. Gently fold in the blueberries and peaches.

Divide batter among the 12 muffin cups, filling each about 2/3 full. Bake 20-25 minutes until golden brown then let cool on a wire rack before eating.