Carrot Oat Bran Muffins

I've been on a healthy muffin kick lately. Here is my latest recipe. These come out to 2 WW points each and are supper yummy like carrot cake, but healthier and chock full of fiber. (And would be delicious with some low fat cream cheese icing-- just saying....) FYI-- This recipe makes twelve muffins.

**Note-- this is the first time I made these and they were good, but: next time I would increase the baking powder to a tablespoon, as they did not rise as much as I would have liked.

You could also throw in a handful of chopped walnuts or pecans, but note that this will affect the point/calorie count.

Carrot Oat Bran Muffins

3/4 cup boiling water
1/4 cup rolled oats
1/4 cup Fiber One (original)
1/2 cup raw sugar
1/4 cup applesauce (unsweetened)
1 Tbsp. olive oil (ordinary)
1 egg
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. freshly ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp. salt
3/4 cup soy flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 cup golden raisins
1 cup shredded carrot
1 cup shredded zucchini
1 Tbsp. raw sugar (for sprinkling)

• Preheat oven to 350 F and prepare a muffin tin by lining with paper liners sprayed lightly with nonstick cooking spray (or you can do what I did which is grease/flour/pray).
  
• Pour the boiling water over the oats and Fiber One. Let this hang out for 8-10 minutes.
• Combine everything including and up to the baking soda with the oats/Fiber One mixture.
• Gently fold in raisins, carrot, and zucchini.
• Scoop batter evenly in muffin cups and sprinkle with sugar.
• Bake for about 30-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the muffins comes out clean.
• Enjoy!

*Sorry there is no photo! It was accidentally deleted! I will update when I make these again!*

Double Chocolate Raspberry Muffins

These muffins are wheat, dairy and almost fat free, and oh so yummy! According to my calculations these are three points each! (Please know that I am in no way an employee or representative of Weight Watchers. I do point calculations for my own use on most recipes, and so I share that info. Please recalculate yourself to be sure.)

Double Chocolate Raspberry Muffins

3/4 cup soy flour
1/3 cup raw sugar
1/3 cup cocoa powder
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
2 egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp almond extract

1 cup raspberries (frozen will work fine here if not in season)
1/3 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

7 almonds, slivered (or 1 Tbsp. packaged slivered almonds)

• Preheat oven to 350 F. Prepare a muffin tin by lining with 6 paper cupcake liners, and spraying lightly with a nonstick cooking spray.
  
• Combine all except the last three ingredients quickly in a bowl with a wooden spoon or rubber spatula, being careful not to over-mix. The batter will be very stiff.
  
• Fold in raspberries and chocolate chips.
• Spoon evenly into 6 muffin cups.
• Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the slivered almonds.
• Bake for 25-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of one of the muffins comes out clean.
• Let cool thoroughly, then remove from muffin tin. These have a shelf life of 3-4 days when stored at room temperature (up to two months frozen).
• Enjoy!

(FYI- This photo does not do these muffins justice. It is incredibly hard to take a good photo of a chocolate muffin with normal household lighting.)

Rasberry Almond Bread Pudding

This super quick and easy dessert was inspired by a recipe I saw Nigella Lawson make several years ago. Mine is just a lightened up version. If you want to make this a bit more of a decadent treat, spread the bread with the jam and some mascarpone cheese.

Raspberry Almond Bread Pudding
8 slices whole grain bread
4 Tbsp. low sugar raspberry jam
2 cups light soy milk
3 eggs
4 Tbsp. sugar
1 tsp. almond extract
1 tsp. butter, sliced thinly into little bits

• Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a glass loaf pan.
  
• Make 4 jam sandwiches. Cut them in half diagonally, to form 8 triangles. Line these guys point side up in your loaf pan.
  

• In a bowl, whisk together eggs, soy milk, sugar, and almond extract. Pour custard mixture over the sandwiches in the loaf pan, then dot the tops of the sandwiches with the butter.

• Let it sit and hang out for a few minutes so the bread can soak up the custard. Then bake for about 45 minutes to an hour, until the custard is set.
• Serve warm for dessert with a bit of whipped cream. (Or for a yummy breakfast the next morning, serve with some butter and maple syrup!)
• Enjoy!