Blueberry muffins with a sweet (good for you) secret
I love the sweetness that flax seeds add to my food. It's not for everyone, I suppose, but I add flax seeds (in various forms - usually milled) to just about everything. I even throw a few tablespoons into my smoothies and salads.
Flax seeds are high in all the B vitamins, but they are also a great source of Omega-3 fatty oils, of fiber and of phytochemicals, including lots of antioxidants. And they add a sort of sweet flavor.
Steve, who is an avowed junk food junkie, likes the taste of the flax seed in the muffins, but he reports that they are "a little drier - less fluffy" than the white bread sort of muffin you'd get from the bakery. He says they are, however, "very good" for healthy food. I think that's a five-star compliment from someone who is adverse to a healthy diet.
While whole and ground flax have the same nutritional content, your body gets far more benefit from ground flax, because the goodness in flax is wrapped up in a hard, shiny seed coat that's hard to crack, even with careful chewing. Grinding or roasting flax breaks this seed coat making all the nutrients easy to digest.
Give these a try...yes, they are not as fluffy as the old-fashioned white bread sort, but they are not the dried muffin you get from the whole wheat sort either. They are sweet and soft and surprisingly good for you.
- •Preheat the oven to 400º.
- •Grease your muffin pan.
- •Combine the first five ingredients.
- •Pour the oil into a 1 cup measuring cup; add the egg and enough milk to fill the cup.
- •Mix this with flour mixture. Fold in blueberries.
- •Fill muffin cups right to the top, and sprinkle with crumb topping mixture.
- •To make the crumb topping: Mix together the brown sugar, the flour, the butter, and the cinnamon. Mix with fork, and sprinkle over muffins before baking.
- •Bake for 20 to 25 minutes in the preheated oven.
Vegetarian
