Cooking Done Light

These muffins taste like big, soft, chewy oatmeal raisin cookies! Replacing the oil in baked goods with applesauce adds a great flavor and texture, and that is especially true in this recipe. I also played around with the proportions of flour until I finally achieved the perfect texture with a nice moist crumb. These muffins are unbelievable served warm right from the oven, but also serve as a great afternoon snack. They do contain slightly more sugar than I normally use in my recipes, so if you are diabetic or careful of your blood sugar, replace the granulated sugar called for with unsweetened apple (or other fruit) juice or a ripe mashed banana. In the fall, I sometimes substitute canned pumpkin in this recipe – it adds a whole new flavor dimension to these muffins.

1 3/4 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1/4 cup all purpose flour

1/2 cup light brown sugar, firmly packed

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon allspice

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 cup oats (instant and “quick cook” work fine)

1 cup raisins

2 egg whites

1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 cup milk

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Heat oven to 375 degrees. Grease a six tin jumbo muffin pan with cooking spray ( or you can make 12 regular-sized muffins instead).

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, sugars (if using fruit juice- add that to the wet ingredients), baking powder, allspice, and salt. Stir in oatmeal and raisins. In a separate bowl, combine applesauce, egg whites, milk and vanilla. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry – being careful not to overmix or muffins will be tough. Fill each muffin cup 2/3 full and bake for 25 minutes. Remove to a wire rack to cool for at least 10 minutes before removing from pan.

Makes 6 jumbo muffins. Per muffin: 267 Calories, total fat: 7 g, saturated fat: less than 1 g, trans fat: 0 g, Carbs: 36 g, fiber: 8 g, added sugar: 11 g, protein: 6 g, sodium: 117 mg, cholesterol: 12 mg, calcium: 116 mg