Cooking Done Light

I am sad to say that, where I live, it is getting to that time of year when the fabulous summer fruits that I have been enjoying for the past several months are slowly starting to reach the end of their peak. When I get home from the farmer’s market to unpack, and I discover less-than stellar berries, I always try to use them up as quickly as possible. Luckily, John is a huge fan of raspberries, so this weekend when I came home with an already ripe batch, I made them into these fantastic light raspberry muffins.

I made a simple glaze to drizzle on once they were cooled (1/2 cup powdered sugar, 1/2 tablespoon lemon juice and 1 tablespoon skim milk), but most people seemed to enjoy them more without the glaze. The muffins themselves have a nice subtle sweetness, so the glaze is completely optional.

1/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup skim milk

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

2 tablespoons canola or olive oil

1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 egg whites

1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1/3 cup granulated sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups fresh raspberries

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees and spray a 6 cup jumbo (or 12 cup standard) muffin pan with nonstick cooking spray.

Mix the brown sugar and cinnamon together in a small bowl and set aside.
Combine the milk, applesauce, oil, vanilla and egg whites in a large bowl and whisk together well. In a separate (smaller) bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder and salt.

Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients mixing until just moistened (batter will be lumpy). Fold in the raspberries.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups and sprinkle the brown sugar/cinnamon mixture evenly over the tops. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes (or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean).

Cool in the pan for at least 10-15 minutes.

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Makes 6 jumbo (or 12 standard muffins). Per jumbo muffin: 264 calories, 2 g total fat, 0 g saturated fat, 0 g trans fat, 27 g carbohydrates, 4 g fiber, 7 g added sugar, 4 g protein, 236 mg sodium, 0 mg cholesterol