Operation Disco Pants: The Breakfast Swap

One of my absolute favourite work breakfasts pre-diet was a caramel latte and blueberry muffin from Costa.  However, when I found that this breakfast costs me a massive 715 calories and 33.2g of fat, I knew I had to change my bad breakfast ways.  As always, whenever I need food inspiration, I turned to Skinny Taste and found this amazing recipe for wholewheat blueberry muffins.  

Ingredients 

• 1 cup of unsweetened applesauce
• 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1 tsp baking soda (bicarb for us Brits)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 cups of blueberries
• 1 large beaten egg
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 tbsp melted butter or margarine

If like me you live in the UK, it can sometimes be difficult to finding all of the ingredients needed for Skinny Taste recipes.  In this case, for the flour I used one cup of wholemeal flour and one cup of plain flour.  If you are unable to find unsweetened applesauce, head to the baby food aisle! 

The muffins are unbelievably easy to make.  Combine the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a bowl, mixing well.  If like me you are using two different types of flour, sift these together first to ensure they are combined evenly.

In another bowl mix the egg, applesauce, melted butter and vanilla extract together before adding to the flour mixture.  Stir until combined and then gently fold in the blueberries.  I was a little apprehensive about the consistency at this point as it was quite thick but don't worry, this seems normal after reading the comments on Gina's original post.  I've included a photo below demonstrating the texture of the mixture.

I lined a muffin tin with cases and spooned equal amounts of mixture into each case (you should be able to get 12 muffins).  I've found with a lot of low fat cakes, that they have a tendency to stick to their case, so you may want to lightly spray the cases with a cooking or baking spray first.

Pop the muffins in a preheated oven at 160 degrees for 25 minutes.  The muffins should rise and be golden brown when ready. To make sure they were cooked I pierced one of the muffins with a cocktail stick - it should come out clean when cooked.

To replace my caramel latte, I've been teaming my morning muffin with a cup of 'Smooth Caramel' Flavour Collective from Douwe Egberts with a splash of milk.

I normally pair my muffin with some more fresh fruit if having it for breakfast, however they also make a perfect afternoon snack for days at home like today!  If not eating on the day, I normally refrigerate my muffins, you can also freeze them and pop them in the microwave for 30 seconds in the morning for a healthy breakfast on the go!  I want to experiment with different flavours next - cranberry and orange, apple and cinnamon - I could go on!

Calorie Swap 

Costa Blueberry Muffin and Regular Caramel Latte: 715 Calories, 33.2g of Fat
Skinny Taste Blueberry Muffin and Caramel Coffee: 147.3 Calories, 2.7g of Fat

In total I've saved 568 calories and 30.5g of fat!  

Let me know if you try these muffins!

Love Nicola

xx