Low-fat Blueberry Muffins

My father is a connoisseur of blueberry muffins. He cannot be tricked into eating muffins made from a mix no matter how many extra blueberries are added or whether you sprinkle cinnamon and sugar on the top or not.

Imagine my mother's dilemma when my father was informed by his doctor that he needed to cut back on the fat in his diet. One might think, "What's the big deal about a full-fat muffin once in awhile?" Well, the big deal for my father is that he does not have blueberry muffins occasionally. For my father blueberry muffins are a staple of his diet.

My family set out to find a low fat blueberry muffin recipe that could live up to my father's expectations. Most of the low-fat recipes we found called for applesauce to be used in the place of the fat, but these were the ones my father liked least of all. He is big on texture and the applesauce made the muffins sticky and chewy. While it took a lot of recipes, and a lot of blueberries, we finally found a winner with the following recipe:

Low-fat Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoon cinnamon
3 cups fresh blueberries
2/3 cup sugar
1/2 cup nonfat sour cream
1 cup non-fat milk
2 large eggs
3 teaspoons vanilla

Directions:

1. Set oven to 350 degrees.
2. Spray with no-stick cooking spray or line 12 regular-size muffin tin with paper liners.
3. In a large bowl mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
4. In another bowl beat sugar, egg and vanilla until just blended.
5. Add sugar mixture, sour cream, and milk to the dry ingredients bowl and mix until moistened.
6. Gently stir in the blueberries.
7. Scoop/divide the mixture between the muffin tins.
8. If desired, sprinkle the tops of the muffins with cinnamon and sugar.
9. Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the muffins test done.

While most of the low-fat recipes we tried had a good flavor they did not have a texture that was to my father's liking. We had to mix sections from different recipes in order to get a muffin that met with my father's approval. We found that this recipe was flavorful and had a texture that my father said was most like the "real thing". If you have a muffin connoisseur that needs to cut the fat from his/her diet then this recipe is the one you need.