Whole Wheat Lemon Blueberry Muffins

These nutritious, whole wheat lemon blueberry muffins low in added sugar are perfectly sweet!

I’m not sure about you – but baked goods have my heart! Now, we all know that muffins are usually just bald cupcakes (cue Jim Gaffigan)… but we can healthify it so it doesn’t have to be such a not-so-often food. You are going to love these whole wheat lemon blueberry muffins!

How I Healthified This Recipe

I did a few things to healthify this recipe:

1. Used whole wheat flour to bump up the fiber content.
2. Reduced the amount of sugar.

Fortunately the recipe I’ve adapted this from was already much lower in fat (and subsequently calories) than most! Usually muffins are made with a lot of butter… no like, a lot. When I made this, I also increased the protein content by using a high protein, fat-free milk mixed with lemon juice rather than using buttermilk.

Whole Wheat Lemon Blueberry Muffins

What’s White Whole Wheat Flour?

Instead of using regular whole wheat flour, I used white whole wheat flour. Not to be confused with regular, refined flour, white whole wheat flour is a whole grain flour made from white wheat! White whole wheat flour is milder in flavor and texture than regular whole wheat flour, which is made from red wheat. White whole wheat flour tends to not need as much added sweetener because of the milder flavor (this is because it doesn’t contain the same phenolic compounds as red white, if you want to get nerdy about it). Aside from being able to lessen the added sugar, using white whole wheat flour in these these muffins increased the fiber content – always a win.

Lemon & Blueberries

Using fresh lemons and blueberries in this recipe is definitely preferable! Fresh blueberries will help you avoid bleeding blue. The juice from frozen berries, if not prepared properly, will cause streaky muffins that are tainted blue. If you already have frozen blueberries on hand you want to use, rinse them first and pat them dry before adding them.

You will need a fresh lemon anyhow for the lemon zest, but certainly use lemon juice from fresh lemons for the icing! Fresh lemon juice significantly enhances the flavor over stored lemon juice. If you don’t already have one, *here’s a durable, easy-to-use zester.

What to Serve These With

For a complete meal, I’d suggest serving these with a high protein food like an egg and veggie scramble, quiche (you can try this one of mine!), Greek or Icelandic Skyr yogurt, milk or soymilk.

I hope you love this recipe! Write a comment below or send me a message here to let me know what you’d like to see from me next! 

Disclosures:We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. | This post was not created in partnership with any product or brand.  

Whole Wheat Lemon Blueberry Muffins

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Prep Time 20 mins

Cook Time 10 mins

Total Time 30 mins

Course Breakfast, Brunch

Cuisine American

Servings 24 mini-muffins

Calories 93 kcal

Ingredients

  

1x2x3x

• 2 Tbsp canola oil (or you can use non-stick cooking spray)
• 2 c white whole wheat flour
• 1/3 c sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 c chilled butter, cut in small pieces
• 1 1/4 c lowfat buttermilk (or I used 1 1/4 c high protein milk mixed with 1/2 Tbsp lemon juice - allow to sit out ~5 min until milk begins to curdle)
• 1 Tbsp grated lemon zest
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1 c blueberries
• 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 c powdered sugar

Instructions

 

• Preheat the oven to 400°F. Prepare muffin tins by dipping a paper towel (or towel) in a small cup with canola oil and spread on muffin tins. Alternatively, you may use a non-stick cooking spray.
• In a mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add in butter by cutting in with a pastry blender or two knives, until the mixture looks like a coarse meal. In the center of the mixture, make a small well..
• In a separate bowl, whisk together the buttermilk, lemon zest and egg.
• Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients by gradually adding using the well method (add wet ingredients to well, mix, create another well, add to well and mix, and so on). For fluffy muffins, do not over-agitate the flour. Carefully fold in blueberries.
• For 24 mini-muffins, bake for 10 to 12 minutes (10 minutes for soft, lighter muffins or 12 minutes for slightly firmer, more golden muffins). For 12 large muffins, bake for 18 to 20 minutes.
• While muffins are cooling, prepare icing by combining lemon juice and powdered sugar in a small bowl and beating well. Take a small plastic baggy and cut the corner (about a quarter inch). Add the icing to the plastic baggy, squeeze the icing down to the cut corner, and drizzle on top of muffins.

Nutrition

Calories: 93kcalCarbohydrates: 13gProtein: 2gFat: 4gSaturated Fat: 1gPolyunsaturated Fat: 0.1gMonounsaturated Fat: 0.5gCholesterol: 6mgSodium: 109mgPotassium: 4mgFiber: 1gSugar: 7g

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