On January 1, I launched The Healthy Jumpstart, a series of free monthly challenges designed to help you live a healthier life. ← Have you signed up yet? You can also follow The Healthy Jumpstart on Facebook and Instagram for more free daily motivation!
In the first three days alone, over 1,000 people signed up! I was completely blown away by your interest and support. And if you were one of them, THANK YOU! ♥
In addition to basic monthly challenges, I have a lot of fun things planned for The Healthy Jumpstart this year… Including brand new workout guides that will come out this spring! After putting the finishing touches on those programs, I filmed a slew of videos demonstrating how to do each exercise in the guides earlier this month.
Although I’ve been on TV twice (here and here), I felt a little funny standing in front of a camera without a mixing bowl of batter to stir or a plate of brownies to decorate! But after the first couple takes, I felt much more relaxed and fell into an easy rhythm of performing each exercise while staring at the camera lens… And remembering to smile the whole time!
And this past week, I sent along those videos and the first workout guide to a small group of my close friends and family, and they’re currently testing it. Based on their feedback so far, they’re absolutely loving it—and I can’t wait to launch it to you this spring!
To celebrate the first week of their success (and mine, for filming all those videos without falling flat on my face!), I made a batch of these Raspberry Almond Mini Muffins! They taste just like cupcakes, thanks to one special ingredient. But with no butter, refined flour or sugar and just 35 calories, it’s perfectly acceptable to sneak a second!
Or third… Or maybe even fourth… Please don’t judge—I was celebrating! ?
To make these healthy muffins, you’ll start with white whole wheat flour. That sounds contradictory, doesn’t it? Normally white flour and whole wheat flour are two separate things! However, white whole wheat flour is made by finely grinding a special type of white wheat (hence its name!), whereas regular whole wheat flour comes from a heartier variety of red wheat. This gives white whole wheat flour a lighter taste and texture, similar to all-purpose flour, but it still has the same health benefits (like extra fiber!) as regular whole wheat flour.
With just 1 tablespoon of coconut oil, the rest of these muffins’ tender texture comes from one of my favorite ingredients in healthy baking: Greek yogurt! Greek yogurt adds the same moisture to your batter as extra oil or butter for a fraction of the calories. And it gives your muffins a protein boost, too!
Instead of granulated sugar, you’ll sweeten these muffins with a combination of maple syrup (the real kind!) and vanilla crème stevia. Stevia is a plant-based, no-calorie sweetener that’s clean-eating friendly, and it’s highly concentrated. You just need ¾ teaspoon to sweeten this entire batch of muffins! This is the kind I buy because I love its warm vanilla flavor and don’t notice any strange aftertaste like with some other stevia products. You can find it at many health-oriented grocery stores, but I always buy mine online here because that’s the cheapest price I’ve found. (And you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine, too!)
Now for the secret ingredient that makes these taste like cupcakes… Almond extract! It’s actually my all-time favorite extract! It tastes so classy and sophisticated. Almond extract is also stronger than vanilla extract, so you’ll use slightly less of it than you would vanilla. It’s shelf-stable and keeps for ages, and you can find it right next to the vanilla extract at your grocery store (or online here!).
Finally, you’ll gently fold fresh raspberries into the batter just before popping it in the oven. Make sure you dice them finely, no larger than the size of mini chocolate chips! That small size ensures your muffins bake evenly. It takes a little extra time to dice the berries, but I promise it’s worth it!
Ready to eat? 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 mini muffins and feature them in my Sunday Spotlight series!
| Raspberry Almond Mini Muffins | | Print |
- 2 cups (240g) white whole wheat flour or gluten-free* flour (measured like this)
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 tbsp (14g) unsalted butter or coconut oil, melted and cooled slightly
- 2 large egg whites, room temperature
- 1 ½ tsp almond extract
- ½ cup (120g) plain nonfat Greek yogurt
- 2 tbsp (30mL) pure maple syrup
- ¾ tsp vanilla crème stevia
- ½ cup + 2 tbsp (150mL) nonfat milk
- 1 ½ cups (210g) fresh raspberries, finely diced
- Preheat the oven to 350°F, and lightly coat 36 mini muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, and salt. In a separate bowl, whisk together the butter or coconut oil, egg whites, and almond extract. Stir in the Greek yogurt, mixing until no large lumps remain. Stir in the maple syrup and vanilla crème stevia. Alternate between adding the flour mixture and milk, beginning and ending with the flour mixture, and stirring just until incorporated. (For best results, add the flour mixture in 3 equal parts.) Gently fold in the raspberries.
- Divide the batter between the prepared muffin cups. Bake at 350°F for 14-17 minutes or until the tops are firm to the touch. Cool in the muffin cups for 5 minutes before carefully transferring to a wire rack.
Whole wheat pastry flour, regular whole wheat flour, or all-purpose flour may be substituted for the white whole wheat flour.
I highly recommend using this vanilla crème stevia! It’s one of my favorite sweeteners, and you’ll use it in all of these recipes of mine too. If you prefer, 4-6 tablespoons of pure maple syrup, honey, or agave may be substituted for the vanilla crème stevia, and the milk should be reduced by the same volume to compensate for the added liquid.
Any milk may be substituted in place of the nonfat milk.
The diced raspberries should be no larger than the size of miniature chocolate chips to ensure the muffins bake evenly. It takes a little extra time to dice them that small, but I promise it’s worth it!
Frozen and thawed raspberries that have been patted dry to remove any excess moisture may be substituted for the fresh.
Be VERY careful if using liners! Generously coat the liners with nonstick cooking spray before adding the muffin batter. This batter will stick to liners like superglue if they aren’t coated with cooking spray.
If you prefer, this recipe will yield 12 standard sized muffins. Bake at 350°F for 20-23 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean and the tops feel firm to the touch.
{gluten-free, clean eating, low fat, low calorie, lower sugar}
View Nutrition Information
You may also like Amy’s other recipes…
♥ Cranberry Orange Mini Muffins
♥ The Ultimate Healthy Chocolate Mini Muffins
♥ Chocolate Chip Zucchini Mini Muffins
♥ Chocolate Chip Banana Mini Muffins
♥ Chocolate Drizzled Raspberry Banana Bread
♥ Raspberry Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Cookies
♥ Raspberry Cheesecake Oatmeal Cookies
♥ Chocolate Chip Raspberry Banana Bread Brownies
♥ Simple Raspberry Lemon Cake
Can we substitute blueberries instead of raspberries?
Wild blueberries (the really small ones!) would work best. Regular sized blueberries are a bit too big for the mini muffins. However, if you’re making them as standard sized muffins rather than mini ones, blueberries would work fine then. 🙂 I can’t wait to hear what you think of them!
It’s so wonderful how you have explained the benefits of each ingredient. Muffins look perfect
Thanks Maria!
Oh my goodness!! I’m SO excited for your workout videos!! And that’s so awesome that you had 1,000 signups in the first three days!! GO AMY GO!!! <3 <3 <3
Thanks SO much sweet pea!! You’re the BEST! ❤️❤️
What an awesome idea to get everyone involved in some kind of exercise! I’m definitely heading there next to check out that challenge. And of course, the muffins look fantastic. I can’t wait to try them <3
Thanks so much Jess! I’m excited to hear what you think of the muffins, and I really hope you enjoy The Healthy Jumpstart challenges too! 🙂
I need a copy so I can try to make some muffins!
I can’t wait to hear what you think of these muffins Mary! 🙂
OMG Mrs. Amy !!!!!!! i can’t wait to make your muffins!
I’m really excited to hear what you think of these muffins, Susie! 🙂