Skinny Lemon Blueberry Muffins

I know, I know - even if it feels like April outside, it's still February, and I should be baking pumpkin pie and maple bread pudding and warm and cozy apple crisp. But I saw a picture of blueberry lemon bread the other day on the cover of a magazine - all bright and colorful and delicious - and thought, why not? I bought a small container of blueberries on my way home from work and tossed these muffins together before I even had a chance to kick off my flats and change out of my work clothes. I chose muffins because I'm always a fan of forced portion control (ok fine, I might have had two, but it's still better than an entire loaf), but this recipe works just as well for a bread.

The muffins came out perfectly: incredibly light, lemony and just sweet enough to satisfy my sweet tooth. They'd be perfect to have with coffee in the morning, or as a little something sweet before bed. They're healthy and easy to make - so forget about February and try them! Hope you enjoy them as much as I did.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
Sprinkle of salt
2 tsp dried lemon peel
5 tbsp butter, at room temp
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs (I used egg beaters)
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cup skim milk (I used almond milk)
1 1/4 cup fresh blueberries

Directions:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, and spray 12 muffin cups with cooking spray
Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, then beat in eggs, vanilla and milk.
In a separate bowl, combine flour, baking powder, salt and lemon peel.
Slowly add the dry ingredients to the wet, stirring until just combined.
Stir in blueberries.
Distribute batter evenly into 12 muffin cups, and bake for 14-18 minutes, or until just beginning to brown on top. Let cool in muffin tray at least 2 or 3 minutes before popping muffins out onto a cooling rack.

*Can also be made as a bread, using a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan

12 muffins

Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Custards

These are my new fall favorite. They take about three minutes to throw together, half an hour to cook, and taste like the inside of a pumpkin pie but even better, thanks to the addition of the mini chocolate chips. They're around 70 calories each, depending on the type of milk (I think fat-free works fine) and sugar (I use real sugar, but you can certainly replace it with artificial) you use, and the amount of chocolate you add. I don't know that I'd make these for company (go for the whole pie!) but they're a perfect, entirely guilt-free treat to whip up with whatever extra pumpkin you happen to have around. I also love that they're in single servings - I'm far less likely to eat eight of these than I am to eat half a pumpkin pie!

Ingredients:
1 cup pure pumpkin puree (I use Libby's)
3/4 cup fat-free evaporated milk
2 egg whites
3 tbsp sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp ginger
1/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Combine all ingredients and stir until smooth
Divide batter into four small ramekins
Place ramekins into a larger baking dish, filled about a quarter of an inch deep with warm water
Bake 30-35 minutes, or until just set on top (will solidify more as they cool)

4 servings (about 70 cal/serving)


* I'm not sure what the definition of a 'custard' is, but I'm pretty sure it isn't this. If you can come up with a better description (pudding? gooey deliciousness?) let me know!

Chocolate Zucchini Cake

This is the kind of cake you'll dream about. Rich and gooey, with a deep, dark chocolate flavor and a handful of melted milk chocolate chips, it's made (I kid you not) with absolutely no butter or oil. The secret is the cupful of fresh, shredded zucchini. Along with the tiny bit of applesauce, the zucchini adds the same moistness that oil typically provides, with about 1/8 of the calories. Because nearly all of the fat has been removed, this cake only lasts a day or two, but it's unbelievably, dream-worthy good and - even better - good for you.

Ingredients:
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup cocoa powder (I use hershey's special dark)
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1/3 cup unsweetened applesauce
1 cup grated zucchini
1 cup chocolate chips (I like milk chocolate, to counter the dark chocolate cocoa powder)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Sift together the dry ingredients (through cinnamon)
In a separate bowl, combine eggs, sugar, vanilla and applesauce
Add wet ingredients to dry and stir until just combined
Add zucchini and chocolate chips, mix well
Pour batter into a well-greased 8x8 inch baking dish
Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until just set in the center
Allow to cool completely on cooling rack before serving

12 servings

100 Calorie Chocolate Chip Cookies

This week is my brother's last week in New York, so we celebrated last night with a picnic dinner on the terrace of my parent's apartment building, overlooking Herald Square. I'd wanted to try this cookie recipe for a while, so I figured it was the perfect excuse. The recipe comes from Cook's Illustrated Healthy Recipe book. For 100 calories a cookie, I think they're great: light and cake-y, with a strong vanilla taste. My brother and I certainly had no trouble eating through half the batch. I'd recommend using quality chocolate chips (I used hershey's mini dark chocolate kisses, but ghirardelli would be even better), to add a little decadence.

Ingredients:
1 1/4 cups flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
4 tbsp butter, melted and cooled
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla (try trader joe's vanilla bourbon extract - phenomenal!)
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Combine flour, baking soda and salt
In a separate bowl, mix melted butter, egg, vanilla and sugar until smooth
Sift in flour mixture
Stir in 1/3 cup chocolate chips
Drop by tablespoonful onto foil-lined baking sheets (~12 cookies per sheet)
Press the remaining chocolate chips into cookies (~2-3 per cookie)
Bake, one sheet at a time, for 10-13 minutes, or until just set in the center
Allow to cool 5 minutes on baking sheet, then serve
Will last two to three days, stored in an airtight container

  
24 cookies

Pumpkin Muffins

This recipe is adapted from Cooking Light, one of my favorite low-cal, low-fat cooking magazines. My version came about by accident: I wanted the muffins, but didn't have butter or sour cream in the apartment. So, out of sheer curiosity (and because I have the patience of a two-year-old and didn't want to wait until the next day), I substituted in 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt. I think it's even better this way. The muffins are super light and moist thanks to the pumpkin and the yogurt, and the extra sprinkle of sugar on top lends a fantastic texture contrast, as well as a delicious caramelized and burnt sugar taste.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup nonfat vanilla/original yogurt
1/4 cup nonfat milk
1/8 cup canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 egg
1/2 tbsp sugar
1/2 tbsp brown sugar

Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Combine dry ingredients (through cinnamon)
In separate bowl, combine wet ingredients (through egg)
Add wet to dry, stirring with a spoon until just combined
Spoon batter into 9 greased muffin cups
Combine 1/2 tbsp granulated sugar and 1/2 tbsp brown sugar,
and sprinkle on top of muffins
Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until just set in center
Remove immediately from muffin tin and let cool on cooling rack

9 muffins

Chocolate Fudge Cookies

My roommate and I decided to watch an episode of Cupcake Wars late last night and unsurprisingly were both overcome with intense sugar cravings before the second round even started. I couldn't decide if I wanted to run out for tasti d-lite (the guy at the place on my block has become a good friend) or throw something together in the kitchen. Maddie, my roommate, offered a deal: if I baked, she'd vacuum. Easy decision. So I went through some recipes and settled on this one for a number of reasons. 1) It's remarkably healthy (79 calories/cookie), 2) it requires only a microwave, a spoon, and a mixing bowl, and 3) the cookies, start to finish, take only 15 minutes. The original recipe comes from Cooking Light, but I eliminated a bit of butter and added chocolate chips (I think, calorie-wise, this comes out about even). Both my roommate and I thought these cookies were incredible. The outside is crispy but the inside is soft and fudgy, thanks to the addition of the yogurt. Half the batch was gone by the time Cupcake Wars was over. Best served warm, with milk.

Ingredients:

1 cup all purpose flour

1/4 tsp baking soda

4 tbsp butter

7 tbsp dark chocolate cocoa powder

2/3 cup white sugar

1/3 cup brown sugar

1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt

2 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup milk chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Melt butter in microwave (be sure not to burn)

Stir in cocoa powder, sugars, vanilla and yogurt

Stir in flour and baking soda

Stir in chocolate chips

Drop by tablespoons onto a greased baking sheet (I use a silpat)

Baking for 10 minutes (cookies will still be gooey)

Allow to cool on hot baking sheet until firm

24 cookies

(Cheating) Chocolate Muffins

The easiest muffins you will ever make. The batter comes out thick, but DO NOT add eggs, water or oil as the mix box suggests. The pumpkin is a low-fat and low-cal replacement, and makes the muffins super moist. I hardly ever use boxed cake mixes, but these are great for a quick and easy snack.You'll hardly taste the pumpkin.

Ingredients: 
1 box Duncan Hines Devil's Food Cake Mix
1 15 oz can pumpkin
1/2 cup chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees
Combine ingredients until smooth
Distribute equally among 12 greased muffin cups
Bake 15-20 minutes, or until just set in the center

12 muffins

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Muffins

My favorite food as a little kid was succotash. I'm totally serious. I've always loved vegetables, but I have lots of friends who don't. Baking with zucchini is an easy way to sneak in some veggies and (even better) to make muffins that are both moist and fluffy with hardly any added butter or oil. I created this recipe recently and have received only compliments - the muffins are light and sweet, and last for up to a week stored in an airtight container. I thought they were chocolate-y enough with a few chocolate chips sprinkled on top, but if you want the muffins to be a bit richer, add 1/2 to 3/4 cup to the batter before baking. Could easily be made into a bread, too.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup vegetable oil
2 eggs
1 1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup fat-free milk
1 1/2 cups grated zucchini (pressed, to eliminate excess water)
semi-sweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees
Grease 10 muffin cups / line with muffin liners
(as you can see, I tried both - either works!)
Combine dry ingredients in large bowl
Beat sugar, butter and oil in smaller bowl
Add eggs, then vanilla, milk and zucchini to wet ingredients
Add wet ingredients to dry, and stir until just combined
If desired, add 1/2 to 3/4 cup chocolate chips to batter
Divide among muffin cups
Sprinkle chocolate chips on top of batter (I did 5-6 chips/muffin)
Bake 15-20 minutes, or until center is just set

10 muffins