For a healthy start...

I was feeling slightly ambitious for New Year's Eve, so in addition to making some very simple canapes, I also made muffins! With all my foccacia testing, I had nearly run out of all-purpose flour, so I had no choice really but to make healthy muffins! Most people think muffins are by default healthy, but it is amazing the amount of fat and sugar they usually have. Watching what I eat has taught me that subbing oil for butter, whole wheat for regular flour, honey or lightly sweetened yogurt for sugar, can really affect the nutritional value of the muffin, without really sacrificing taste.

So, as a blueprint, I went the way of the blueberry, or rather Nigella's Blueberry Muffins from How to be a Domestic Goddess. Instead of buttermilk, though, I used strawberry yogurt and reduced fat milk, and instead of blueberries, dried cranberries. The flour content was half regular/half whole wheat. I really love making muffins because it is just a matter of mixing dry with wet ingredients; it took mere minutes to put together and bake, and the kitchen smelled fantastic.

We had these during our New Year's Eve party, and also the next day for our New Year's Day brunch at home. It's definitely a recipe I will continue to play around with in the future. Really good muffins, and really good for you too!