blueberry yogurt muffins

Summer is coming to a close soon (boo!), which not only means returning to school for teachers + students, but also the end of the fresh produce I yearn for the rest of the year.  With every grocery trip I make, my cart is full of fresh fruits + vegetables.One of my absolute summer staples is blueberries!  I buy a pint each week (regardless of price) and eat them daily in oatmeal, on cereal, as a snack with milk + granola… they are probably one of my favorite fruits (if you don’t count tomatoes as a fruit)!This past weekend, Matt + I made our monthly trip to Costco to stalk up on some of our favorite bulk items.  I always take a spin through the refrigerated produce section (as Matt samples every single meat product available), but usually come out empty handed because I know I can’t finish THAT MUCH produce before it goes bad in my fridge.However, the blueberries were looking extra delicious this time around, and given the fact that I can buy a half gallon for less than I buy a pint at the grocery store, I was sold.  I figured that I could always freeze the ones I don’t get around to eating this week so I know I always have blueberries on hand.With my overabundance of blueberries, I really wanted to highlight them in a recipe.  Muffins sounded delicious, and my head kept wandering back to Tina’s recipe for Raspberry-Lemon muffins that contained Chobani greek yogurt.  Since a 12-pack of Chobani is one of those bulk staples we pick up at Costco, I thought substituting a few ingredients here and there would give me delectably delicious, “healthified” blueberry muffins.Oh, and these are to die for…BLUEBERRY YOGURT MUFFINSAdapted from Tina’s Springtime Raspberry-Lemon Muffins.  Makes 12 muffins.  I didn’t have all the ingredients on hand (applesauce in particular) so I subbed a few things out here or there.  Her recipe looks equally as delicious, so if that sounds more appealing to you, I would totally recommend giving hers a try!1/2 cup granulated sugar6 ounces blueberry Chobani greek yogurt (a small container)1/2 cup vanilla soymilk (or milk of your choice)1/4 cup coconut oil, melted1 tablespoon ground flaxseed + 2 tablespoons water1 teaspoon vanilla extract2 cups whole wheat flour2 teaspoons baking powder1 teaspoon baking soda1/4 teaspoon salt1 1/2 cups fresh (or frozen + thawed) blueberriesPreheat your oven to 400 degrees.  Spray muffin pan with cookie spray and set aside.Combine ground flaxseed and water in a bowl and set aside to set up.  As always, you can always use an egg instead of a flax-egg, but I like my eggs for eating and not in my baked goods.Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl and set aside.In a separate bowl, combine sugar, yogurt, soymilk, melted coconut oil (this CANNOT be in solid form), flax-egg, and vanilla.  Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and pour the wet ingredients into the well.  (Tina shows the step-by-step on her blog if you need more instruction than that.)  Fold together until everything is combined – do NOT over mix unless you like really tough muffins!  Gently fold in the blueberries.  Don’t worry about keeping them whole… it will be impossible, I promise.Dish batter evenly into your muffin pan.  Bake for 15 to 20 minutes (mine took about 17 minutes) or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.*If you do not have coconut oil, you can substitute any other oil (although I’m not sure I would use EVOO).  Applesauce like Tina uses in her recipe, or melted butter would also work.**I used less oil in my recipe than she used applesauce in hers because I used more yogurt.  I didn’t want my batter to be overly runny, so that is why I cut down on the oil.I was a little worried at first when I went to combine my wet with my dry ingredients.  My coconut oil started to harden!  (It gets hard at room temperature.)  However, it worked out just fine and these muffins turned out moist and fluffy!The nutrition profile isn’t too bad either…Serving Size:  1 muffinCalories:  168Carbohydrates:  28 gramsFat:  5 gramsProtein:  5 gramsSure, applesauce would’ve lightened up the fat a bit, so don’t be afraid to use applesauce instead of the oil if you want a low-fat muffin – I just didn’t have any on hand to use, so I went the ol’ oil route.  In the end, it’s only about a teaspoon of oil in each muffin, so it’s not going to kill you to have a little fat added to your muffin – I promise it won’t add to your muffin top! Enjoy this as an afternoon snack, a carb with your dinner, or crumbled on top of some oatmeal like I will be doing!