BAKERY-STYLE BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

 

BAKERY-STYLE BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

These muffins bake up with a fabulous, tender crumb and are filled with lots of pockets of jam-like blueberries throughout. I like these muffins freshly baked at room temperature and then enjoy them chilled with a firmer texture (yet still moist) the next day. Super!  This recipe makes 16 large muffins.  My husband approved of these.  By the third day, there were only 4 left!!! By the way I used frozen, unsweetened blueberries, so these muffins can be enjoy year-round.

3¹/₄ cups Gluten-Free Bake Mix 2, OR  (800 mL)

 3¹/₂ cups Keto Bake Mix (875 mL)

3 tsp baking powder (15 mL)

¹/₄ tsp baking soda (1 mL)

¹/₂ tsp cinnamon (2 mL)

¹/₄ tsp salt (1 mL)

3 large eggs

¹/₃ cup butter, melted, cooled (75 mL)

¹/₃ cup light-tasting olive oil (75 mL)

Liquid sweetener to equal 1¹/₄ cups sugar (300 mL)

²/₃ cup sour cream (150 mL)

¹/₂ cup cream and water mix, OR almond milk (125 mL)

1 tsp vanilla extract (5 mL)

1¹/₂ cups frozen, unsweetened blueberries (375 mL)

2 tbsp Gluten-Free Bake Mix 2, OR Keto Bake Mix (30 mL)

 

Preheat the oven to 425°F (220°C).

 

In large bowl, combine 3¹/₄ cups  (800 mL) Gluten-Free Bake Mix 2, OR 3¹/₂ cups (875 mL) Keto Bake Mix,  baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.

 

In medium bowl, whisk together eggs, butter, olive oil, liquid sweetener, sour cream, cream and water mix, OR almond milk and vanilla extract.  Add to well in dry ingredients and mix well. 

In medium bowl combine frozen blueberries and 2 tbsp (30 mL) Gluten-Free Bake Mix, OR Keto Bake Mix.  Fold them gently into the muffin batter.  Fill 16 muffin cup molds in a muffin tin almost to the top.  Bake 5 minutes, reduce heat to 350°F (180°C) and bake a further 10 minutes, or until muffins are brown at the edges and a knife in center of muffins comes out clean.

Yield:  16 muffins

1 muffin

228 calories

5.4 g protein

19.3 g fat

0.5 g fiber

7.0 g net carbs 

ANOTHER RECIPE YOU MAY ENJOY 

BLUEBERRY SOUR CREAM MUFFINS WITH CREAMY LEMON GLAZE

CALORIES IN AND CALORIES OUT THEORY

 

There was a debate going on in a low-carb Facebook group where I am a member.  The argument started when someone said – simply eat less and you will lose weight.  True, one can lose weight that way, but how do you keep it off long term? 

Jackie Beevers said, “The calories in, calories out model is outdated and debunked. Sure, you can restrict calories, but we’ve all seen what happens after the latest “cabbage soup diet” fad - people gain it all back and then some (remember Kirsty Allie and Oprah’s yo-yo dieting in the 90’s?) It’s about our body’s hormonal response to food - that’s why 100 calories of broccoli will never have the same effect as 100 calories of cookies. You never hear of someone eating their weight in broccoli and getting fat versus cookies and soda which trigger a much greater insulin response.  This is why you’ll see people eat 1-3 pounds of meat on carnivore - fatty, calorie dense meat- and not get fat. There’s virtually no insulin response.”

If one's blood sugar is higher due to eating carbs, it is more difficult to lose weight. Low-carbing helps people who are insulin resistant and whose bodies no longer metabolize sugars as well as before, whether diabetic or not. Intermittent Fasting also helps greatly to reduce fasting blood sugar as well as caloric intake in 24 hours.  The older one gets, the less well our bodies metabolize sugar and slowly over the years fasting blood sugar will be higher some days and lower others depending on the carbs consumed.  In a younger person or someone who does not have a carbohydrate-impaired metabolism, the foods consumed will matter much less, as the body keeps a steady fasting blood sugar each day, regardless.

Most people instinctively know that eating a lot of junk food, fast foods, sugary foods and simple carbohydrates will increase body weight over time.  I knew this, pretty much instinctively, as a young woman with as yet a healthy, normal metabolism, and I steered clear of cinnamon buns, chocolates, cookies and such, unless it was an occasional splurge.  I also rarely ate fast food, which is not just about the carbohydrates, but it is the trans fats that are also unhealthy and can contribute to weight gain because of the inflammatory response in the body.  I kept a very good figure in my twenties and slowly in my thirties the weight was beginning to creep up when I started writing my low-fat, diabetic-style dessert cookbooks which still used white flour, and worse yet, used margarines.  I would gain nearly 10 lbs with each cookbook!!  Soon after that I discovered low-carbing, and switched my focus to writing low-carb cookbooks.  Today I have 21 cookbooks in total.

I remember in my twenties, every Christmas time, gaining about 5 lbs.  What was the culprit?  Regular, sugar chocolates and indulging in them.

The wonderful thing about low-carb and keto diets or those diets combined with Intermittent Fasting is that one can still enjoy desserts and sweet treats, and more frequently than one could if the desserts were higher carb.  Of course, having too many sweet treats will add up as extra calories, so there is that to consider, but typically with compromised carbohydrate metabolisms, we can still happily indulge.

Whatever method you use to lose weight, maintenance will be similar, just a bit more liberal.  Go off any diet, and the weight comes back frighteningly fast!

Disclaimer:  I am not a doctor, so please check with your doctor before taking any advice you find on this blog.