Lemon Raspberry Muffins

So today I have some news to share. You may have noticed that my blog entries have decreased a bit since January.  The reason? Well, I've been exhausted and sick.  Just the thought of most food makes my stomach uneasy.  Yup, that's right:  I'm pregnant!  Baby #2 is expected in early October.  I had a very tough first trimester, but now that I'm finally in the second trimester, I can start to feel my appetite and motivation trickle back.  Woo!


In celebration of reaching the second trimester, I wanted to make something related to my pregnancy cravings.  Last pregnancy all I wanted was carby-sweet, like pancakes.  This pregnancy, I still want carbs, but instead of sweet I want tart.  I've never liked the tart flavor until now.  I even find myself putting lemon juice in my water, which until a few months ago, I considered a crime against water.

I follow a wonderful blog called 100 Days of Real Food, which focuses on feeding your family unprocessed food.  This week she shared a recipe for Whole-Wheat Lemon Raspberry Muffins and it was like she made it just for me!  Talk about my perfect pregnancy craving food.  I of course immediately made them, and then ate 3 before they were even cool.  Oh my goodness, so good!  The best part?  My daughter, who hates any types of berries (it's a texture problem), gobbled them up too.

I changed the original recipe a tad, to fit my own preferences (coconut oil instead of butter, honey instead of maple syrup, upped the vanilla).  Also, I think you could easily adapt this recipe to make it vegan, by using 1/4 cup of applesauce instead of the egg, and use almond milk instead of cow milk.  Let me know if anyone tries this!

Whole-Wheat Lemon Raspberry Muffins

Recipe Adapted from 100 Days of Real Food
Yields 12

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour

1 tsp Baking Soda

1/2 tsp Salt

Zest of 1 Lemon (about 1 1/2 to 2 tsp)

1/2 Cup of Coconut Oil, softened

1/2 Cup Honey

1/2 Cup Milk, room temperature
1 Egg, lightly beaten

1 1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

1 Cup of Frozen Raspberries, defrosted enough to not be stuck together

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 12 tin muffin pan (or put down liners).

2.  In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest.

3.  In a large bowl, cream together coconut oil, honey, milk, egg, and vanilla.  Slowly whisk in the small bowl of dry ingredients into the large bowl of wet ingredients.  Stir until combined.  Fold in the raspberries.

4. Evenly distribute the batter between the 12 tins in the muffin pan.  Bake for 17 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

NUTRITIONAL INFORMATION

Serving Size: 1 Muffin

Calories: 191

Fat: 10

Carbs: 24

Protein: 3