Moist Whole Wheat Blueberry Swirl Muffins

Cute and fluffy, these moist whole wheat blueberry swirl muffins make the perfect healthy on the go breakfast or mid-day snack.

As much as it may look like I cook from scratch every day, I sure don’t. I know it’ important to eat healthy, but it’s really hard for me to find the time to incorporate more healthy foods into my diet. So how do I solve this problem? Make ahead recipes are a great solution, like this one I created- Moist Whole Wheat Blueberry Swirl Muffins! These muffins will help you eat a healthy breakfast or snack that you can make ahead! Freeze some to make them last even longer. Grab ‘n go one of these beautiful muffins for breakfast throughout the week and own this healthy eating thing!

How to make Moist Whole Wheat Blueberry Swirl Muffins

Start out with 2 cups of whole wheat flour, salt and baking soda. Wheat flour is heavier than white and usually turns out squat, dumpy, dense baked goods. So, to get these muffins nice and fluffy, a secret ingredient must be added- Vital Wheat Gluten. Wait don’t click away! Vital Wheat Gluten is easier to find than you think. Walmart, Kroger (Smiths for me), and Albertsons Market all have online ordering services that are seriously life altering. It’s easy to get ingredients that may be out of the ordinary for you when someone at the store can just get it for you :0) Vital wheat gluten is made especially for baking with whole grain flours. It gives some extra ‘oomph’ or lift to your baked whole wheat goods.

You’ll be adding some extra wheat bran into these Moist Whole Wheat Blueberry Swirl Muffins too (I told you I made them super-extra-healthy) which usually makes for really really dry muffins. The bran likes to soak up moisture meant for the flour. So we’re going to solve that problem by soaking the wheat bran in some hot water before it’s added to the wet ingredients like eggs, butter, oil, sugar etc.

Speaking of sugar, I have switched over to using a sugar substitute (no, not aspartame!) to help me cut calories. I now use Truvia baking blend (a stevia product) and I really like it! By using it in this muffin recipe, it cuts the  sugar down to a mere 3.5 grams per muffin. If granulated sugar is used, there would be 26 grams of sugar per muffin! That’s your whole daily recommended allowance of sugar in one muffin. If using any kind of sugar substitute gives you the willies-no worries I get it- I have written instructions in the notes of the recipe for substituting good ol’ granulated sugar in these muffins. With either sweetener you choose, these muffins will be delicious!

After mixing the wet and dry ingredients together, along with some fresh blueberries, fill a muffin tin with the batter; each one almost to the rim. If you want that classic muffin top shape, fill all the way to the top of the rims.

What makes these muffins stand out from the rest is the amazing blueberry jam swirl inside each muffin. Sprinkle a little sugar (or sugar substitute) over more fresh blueberries in a saucepan and let it gently cook on the stove while you prepare the recipe. Now you’ll have fresh homemade blueberry jam to swirl around in these muffins. The swirl gives a more even blueberry taste to the muffins without overcrowding them with berries.

As with my original Blueberry Swirl Muffins recipe, swirl the jam just a few times in each little cup of batter with a wooden skewer or toothpick to spread it around. Gotta love those blueberry swirls!

Blueberry and lemon make the perfect pairing, each flavor giving balance to the other. So I zest one lemon and mix the zest with sugar and sprinkle it over the tops, like a streusel. It’s just to die for, don’t skip it!

Here’s the freshly baked result- delicious, wholesome, healthy, tasty cute muffins that you can grab and go for those crazy mornings. We all have them. Yep, mine are pretty much daily.

These muffins are worth the effort- so moist, fluffy tasty and delicious! Have fun with them and do some baking this weekend! I love reader comments, so please let me know what you think about these :0)

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Moist Whole Wheat Blueberry Swirl Muffins

Prep 20 hours

Cook 17 mins

Total 20 hours, 17 mins

Author Emily

Yield 12-14 muffins

The very best Goldilocks Kitchen Blueberry Swirl Muffin recipe converted to a healthier, heartier version. These muffins make a great on the go healthy breakfast option and they're easy to freeze so you can stock up on them for longer storage.

Ingredients

Lemon Streusel Topping

• 2 tablespoons +2 teaspoons of Truvia Baking blend sweetener
• 1 heaping tablespoon finely grated lemon zest

Muffins

• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons Truvia Baking Blend sweetener
• 1/3 cup wheat bran
• 1/3 cup water
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 3 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 tablespoons vital wheat gluten
• 2 large eggs
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter melted and cooled
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil
• 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Instructions

1. Stir together the lemon zest and sugar in a small bowl and set aside. Set your oven to heat to 425, move a rack the upper middle position and spray the insides and top of a clean muffin tin with cooking spray or fill with cupcake liners and just spray the top.
2. Measure out the sugar. Place scoop out one tablespoon and place it in a small saucepan with 1 cup of fresh blueberries. Set the saucepan over medium heat, stirring and smashing the berries often until jam-like, approximately 10 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. While the berries are cooking, stir the wheat bran and water together in a cup. Microwave for about 30 seconds, stir again and set aside.
4. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt and vital wheat gluten in a large mixing bowl and set aside.
5. In a medium sized mixing bowl, whisk the rest of the sugar and eggs together until smooth, then whisk in the melted butter, vegetable oil, buttermilk soaked wheat bran and vanilla.
6. With a rubber spatula, gently mix the liquid ingredients and the blueberries into the dry ingredient mixing bowl. Mix until just moistened; the batter should be very lumpy with a few white streaks of flour remaining. Do not overmix.
7. Fill muffin tin cups almost to the top with batter. Spoon 1 teaspoon of the blueberry 'jam' you cooked on the stove earlier into the center of each muffin. Gently swirl the jam around with a wooden skewer or toothpick just a few times for each muffin. (The idea is to have swirls of jam in the muffin, not mix it completely into the batter.) Sprinkle each muffin cup with the lemon streusel on top and bake until the muffins are just golden around the edges and a skewer comes out with just a couple crumbs, 15-17 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through.
8. Cool the muffins in the pan for 5 minutes, then remove and cool on a wire rack. Freeze if desired when completely cooled, about 45 minutes, in large zipper lock freezer bags.

Notes

Regular granulated sugar can certainly be used instead of Truvia baking blend. Streusel topping sugar would be 1/3 cup; the amount of sugar in the muffins would be 1 and 1/4 cups granulated sugar, and you will mix 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar into the stovetop berries to cook.

Courses Breakfast

Cuisine American

Nutrition Facts

Serving Size 1 muffin

Amount Per Serving
Calories 231
% Daily Value
Total Fat 9 g		14%
	Saturated Fat 3.2 g	16%
Cholesterol 9 mg		3%
Sodium 193 mg		8%
Total Carbohydrates 38.8 g		13%
	Dietary Fiber 4 g	16%
	Sugars 3.6 g
Protein 9 g		18%

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2,000 calorie diet. Your daily values may be higher or lower depending on your calorie needs.

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