Three months ago, my friend Brittany shared the story behind her latest half-marathon running race, including how she carbo-loaded on healthy options the day before. When I scrolled down to the first photo in her blog post, I nearly closed my laptop and dashed straight out to Trader Joe’s.
The whole grain mixed berry muffin sitting on her plate, with juicy red raspberries poking out of every inch of the pastry, completely tempted me for a taste!
Later that afternoon, once I scribbled down a grocery list as a guise, I headed across town to check out the TJ’s bakery. I picked up my usual six bananas and Brussels sprouts to avoid appearing too suspicious, then slowly wandered over to the shelves in the back of the store.
Prominently displayed front and center, and the perfect eye level, sat those muffins. I reached for the four-pack, staring at those bright berries, and then glanced at the price tag. Ohmygosh… That much for four muffins??
I always love supporting TJ’s, but as a blogger, I feel intense baker’s guilt bringing home store-bought pastries instead of making them myself. (But six-layer chocolate cake slices are an entirely different story!)
So I carefully put the muffins back on the shelf, but I completely forgot to add “mixed berry muffins” to my baking list when I arrived back at home… Oops!
When I stopped by TJ’s last week in search of tortillas, I spotted those muffins again, practically smacked my forehead in the middle of the store, and strode straight over to the frozen aisle to pick up a bag of their mixed berries.
A few hours later, these Healthy Maple Mixed Berry Muffins sat cooling on my countertop! Soft, tender, and full of juicy fruit, these healthy pastries are still a sweet way to start your day. Unlike other low-calorie muffins, these don’t taste a thing like cardboard, so it can be our little secret that they’re low fat and completely clean-eating friendly!
Just like with my recent brownies and coffee cake, I decided to branch out and try incorporating gluten-free flour into these skinny muffins. I created my own blend with four different types: brown rice, millet, almond, and tapioca. Since gluten-free flours almost never have the same texture as all-purpose or whole wheat, it’s much better to combine multiple varieties to come closer to imitating that same flavor and mouth-feel.
Because any type of berry breakfast reminds me of my childhood weekends where Mom made herself blueberry pancakes with real maple syrup (my brother and I demanded plain with the artificial stuff), I wanted to sweeten these with that same natural flavor. You’ll just detect a hint of that warm taste: not enough to overpower the berries, but the perfect amount to trigger those tender memories of the maple scent wafting through the house as you devoured hot pancakes fresh off the griddle at the kitchen table.
When it comes to baking with berries, I prefer to use frozen and save the fresh for snacking. I picked TJ’s Fancy Berry Medley, a mix of blueberries, raspberries, and blackberries. However, the latter two were ginormous compared to the blueberries, so I chopped them into smaller pieces before folding them into the batter.
Frozen berries generally release a little more moisture as they bake compared to their fresh counterparts, so I left my muffins in the oven for a full 30 minutes. When they’re finished, the tops should look golden and feel fairly firm when you gently tap your finger in the center. If you’re using fresh berries, start checking for doneness about 5 minutes early just to be on the safe side. Nobody likes burnt, dry muffins!
As soon as I popped these Healthy Maple Mixed Berry Muffins from the tin, I sliced one in half and stuck a sliver of butter on each half, watching as it slowly melted into the cracks before I took my first bite… Pure breakfast bliss!
But if you manage to save a few and seal them up overnight, they develop that soft sugary coating on their tops that banana bread usually does. It’s absolutely irresistible! I’ve already gone through five muffins in one day…
I might need to bake more tomorrow!
And when you make your own, remember to snap a picture and share it on Instagram using #amyshealthybaking and tagging @amyshealthybaking IN the photo itself! (That guarantees I’ll see your picture! 🙂 ) I’d love to see your healthy maple mixed berry muffins!
Healthy Maple Mixed Berry Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups (240g) whole wheat pastry flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ¾ tsp baking soda
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp (14g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 1 tbsp (15mL) vanilla extract
- ½ cup (120mL) pure maple syrup
- ½ cup (120g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- ½ cup (120mL) nonfat milk
- 1 ½ cups (210g) frozen mixed berries (such as Trader Joe’s Fancy Berry Medley – and see Notes!)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and lightly coat 12 standard-sized muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl, whisk together the coconut oil or unsalted butter, egg, and vanilla. Stir in the maple syrup and yogurt, thoroughly mixing until no large lumps remain. Alternate between adding the flour mixture and the milk, stirring just until incorporated, beginning and ending with the flour. (For best results, add the flour mixture in 3 equal parts and the milk in 2 equal parts.) Gently fold in the berries.
- Divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups, and bake at 350°F for 29-33 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. (If using fresh berries, check for doneness about 5 minutes early.) Cool in the pan for 5 minutes before carefully turning out onto a wire rack to cool completely. (The berries will still be extremely hot, so don’t burn yourself!)
Notes
View Nutrition Information + Weight Watchers Points
Just made these tonight, they are SOOOO GOOD! Thanks for the tip on chopping the berries, they’re delicious and I’ll be making these again and again!
Have you tried freezing these? Would like to make ahead and freeze.
Thanks
Sue
These muffins freeze quite well Sue! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of them!
Amy,
they turned out perfectly and are super yummy – thanks
I’m so happy to hear that Sue! Thanks for letting me know! 🙂
Hi! I was just wondering if I can replace the maple with honey instead? I dont have maple in hand so I hope it works! Let me know asap thanks.
Yes, honey works in place of the maple syrup! 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of these muffins!
Hi Amy, the maple mixed berry muffins are one of my favorite of your many delicious recipes, I added chopped smoked almonds and orange zest, yum!
I’m so glad you loved these muffins Steve! That means a lot to me. I love the sound of those additions too — yum! 🙂
Hi Amy
As much as I love the Maple mixed berries muffins, I was just wondering if there’s a way to make them lighter and fluffier? I already used white whole wheat flour, next I’m looking forward to trying your blueberry almond donut holes!
I’m so glad you enjoyed these muffins Steve! How did you measure the white whole wheat flour? Did you use a kitchen scale or measuring cups? Too much flour can make them a little denser, so I just wanted to verify that wasn’t the case before making any other suggestions. 🙂
I did use a digital kitchen scale Amy
Okay, great! Try adding an additional ¼ teaspoon of baking powder and an additional 2-3 tablespoons of milk next time. The baking time may increase slightly due to the added milk, but that should help make them a little more light and fluffy! 🙂
Thank you bake angel 🙂
My pleasure!
hi Amy
I ran across some tips for thought on making muffins lighter and fluffier Dash-
Do not melt butter just room temperature soft. Preheat oven to 425 degrees once the muffins are in, reduced to recipe temp, do not open oven for at least 10 minutes.
Maybe try 3 parts cake flour and 1 Part White whole wheat. Batter should be Lumpy – spots where the flower has not been entirely mixed is a good sign. Sift dry ingredients – whisk wet ingredients, combine the two with a wooden spoon 10 to 12 Strokes only.
Thanks for sharing Steve! The softened butter trick won’t work in this recipe. Softened butter is meant to be creamed with granulated sugar to make a batter soft. It won’t have the same effect when creaming it with a liquid sweetener like maple syrup. You’re welcome to use cake flour, but that doesn’t contain the added nutrients as white whole wheat flour (so your muffins won’t be as healthy!). 🙂
can we use liquid vanilla stevia?! like the one you usually use in other recipes?!
I really appreciate your interest in this recipe of mine too, Angeliki! You can substitute 1 ½ teaspoons of vanilla stevia + an additional ½ cup of milk for the maple syrup. I can’t wait to hear what you think of these muffins! 🙂
Hi Amy
I love all the recipes that I’ve tried from you -especially the triple chocolate fudge cookies and the maple mixed berry muffins!, I’ve read that some baker’s suggest putting the batter in refrigerator for at least 1 hour before Distributing in the muffin cups, do you agree?
I’m so glad you’re enjoying my recipes Steve! With my muffin recipes, I don’t agree that putting the batter in the fridge for 1+ hours will help. The main problem is that baking soda, and sometimes baking powder, is immediately activated upon mixing together all of the ingredients, so letting the batter sit will negatively affect its impact on the muffins rising and their resulting texture. Others’ recipes that instruct you to refrigerate the batter for 1+ hours may already take that into account with their ingredients, measurements, and methods. In general, you’ll see the best results if following the recipe exactly as written! 🙂