Happy Monday everyone!
I’m very excited to announce that I’ve just redesigned my blog! Some fun, new features you’ll find are:
- Easy subscribe and follow buttons (upper right sidebar)
- My new 7 day plan for clean eating! Be sure to enter in your name and email address in the right sidebar, and you’ll get my 7 day plan delivered straight to your inbox! It basically gives you a roadmap for 7 days of healthy, delicious meals, totaling 1200-1500 calories per day
- Easy to navigate recipe page with a drop down menu if you hover over “recipes”
- A fun way to explore my posts using the buttons under “explore” (scroll down and you’ll see it on the right sidebar)
I hope you like the new design as much as I do!
The launch was the start of an awesome weekend for me, that was full of great weather and baking with my dad. My dad is all about healthy baked goods – and I definitely got my passion for healthy “substitutions” from him.
So I thought a great way to start the week would be to share my guide for healthy baking substitutions with you, along with a recipe for delicious morning muffins that incorporate some of these tips. Hopefully these help to make your baked goods a bit healthier and guilt-free, but still amazingly delicious!
I promise, you won’t be disappointed with the results!
And now, for my Low Fat Breakfast Muffins, made over with these healthy substitutes:
The Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (optional: substitute 1 cup whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour for 1 cup all purpose)
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. salt
- ½ cup sugar (instead of the called for 1 and 1/4 cups of sugar)
- 1 ½ cups finely shredded carrots
- 2 large tart apples, peeled and shredded
- ½ cup raisins
- ¾ cup shredded coconut
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- 3 lightly beaten eggs
- ½ cup vegetable oil (instead of the called for 1 cup vegetable oil)
- 1 cup + 1 Tbsp Unsweetened applesauce (added to compensate for the oil)
- ½ tsp. vanilla
The Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin tins with baking cups; set aside.
2. Sift flour with cinnamon, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Stir in sugar until blended. Then add carrots, apples, raisins, coconut, and pecans until blended. Make a well in center of mixture and pour in eggs, oil, and vanilla all at once. Stir just until mixture is evenly moist.
3. Spoon batter into muffin tins, filling at least ¾ full. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until golden. Serve warm.
These muffins have only 130 calories and 8g fat each! (that’s compared to 180 calories and 12g fat from the original recipe). If you do the whole wheat flour substitute, you add some extra fiber to your muffins as well. Now how’s that for an early morning guilt-free treat?
Low Fat Breakfast Muffins
by Anjali Shah @ The Picky Eater (pickyeaterblog.com)
Each muffin has 130 calories, 8g fat, and 2g fiber (with the whole wheat flour substitution)
The Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (optional: substitute 1 cup whole wheat flour or whole wheat pastry flour for 1 cup all purpose)
- 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 2 tsp. baking soda
- ½ tsp. salt
- ½ cup sugar (instead of the called for 1 and 1/4 cups of sugar)
- 1 ½ cups finely shredded carrots
- 2 large tart apples, peeled and shredded
- ½ cup raisins
- ¾ cup shredded coconut
- ½ cup chopped pecans
- 3 lightly beaten eggs
- ½ cup vegetable oil (instead of the called for 1 cup vegetable oil)
- 1 cup + 1 Tbsp Unsweetened applesauce (added to compensate for the oil)
- ½ tsp. vanilla
The Directions
1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin tins with baking cups; set aside.
2. Sift flour with cinnamon, baking soda, and salt into a large bowl. Stir in sugar until blended. Then add carrots, apples, raisins, coconut, and pecans until blended. Make a well in center of mixture and pour in eggs, oil, and vanilla all at once. Stir just until mixture is evenly moist.
3. Spoon batter into muffin tins, filling at least ¾ full. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes or until golden. Serve warm.
Hello! I'm Anjali. I'm a 20 something living in the SF Bay Area, with a passion for delicious food and a desire to make healthy eating easy, tasty, and fun! Try some of 
{ 18 comments… read them below or add one }
I LOVE your new blog design! It’s beautiful!
And thanks or the substitution ideas. I love subbing applesauce for oil. If you do it correctly, no one can ever tell the difference!
Thank you so much Parita!!
Totally agree with you about the applesauce – it’s one of my favorite secret healthy swaps!
Anjali! Thank you for this! It’s wonderful!
xo R
No problem at all! So glad you like it Rosie!
LOVE this post! I was just browsing the web for a healthy muffin recipe to use a a yogurt topping in the morning, so you answered my calling! Also love the substitutes. I love baking and being able to make it healthier without anyone noticing, so thank you!
Thanks so much Emily!! I’m so glad this is helpful for you! I can’t wait to hear what you think about the muffins!
Love the new site design! The healthy substitutions are great. Don’t forget the cashew cream as a great substitute for heavy cream!
Sometimes I will also substitue ground flax seed for a small portion of my flour. Your breakfast muffins look delish! I will definitely be trying these!
Yay thanks Lindsey! Omg you are totally right – cashew cream is absolutely amazing – it’s great in soups as a sub for heavy cream (and it keeps things vegan which is great!) I put ground flax seed on everything – it’s so good for you and is almost tasteless, so it’s perfect! Using it as a sub for flour is a great idea
Thanks for the tips!
What a fun list! I love that many of the substitutions you suggest are also a better source of fiber. That’s awesome! And your new site design looks great! I love it!
That’s a great point! Not only are they lower in calories, but they’re also higher in fiber and nutrients! So glad you like the site design too!
So true! And with only 1 in 10 Americans getting enough fiber on a regular basis, it’s so important to offer fiber-rich options. Again, I love it!
Thanks Kati! (btw – I had no idea the ratio was that low, crazy!)
What a fabulous recipe, these look absolutely delicious!!
Thanks so much Kelly!! I’m sure you will love them!
Great chart – and good work with the muffins! I often try to make my baked goods more healthy too. The amount of oil and sugar in the original recipe is crazy!
Haha I completely agree – I’ve always thought that muffins are misleading, because even though they look like a healthy option, they’re so packed with butter and sugar they’re practically a cake! I hope you like this recipe when you try it, it’s definitely much much healthier than the original!
These muffins were so delicious! Exactly what I had been looking for in a healthy muffin, yet never found! Will definitely be making these again…..and again! Thanks Anjali!
Yay!! That’s so awesome – I’m so happy to hear that Annabelle!
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