Low Fat Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

I was supposed to make zucchini muffins today, but silly me, forgot to bring the home-growth zucchini from my parent's house.  I have some fresh blueburries in the fridge...hmm...why not use them instead?  Found a recipe on Betty Croker, let's give it a try! 

Low Fat Whole Wheat Blueberry Muffins

(12 servings ~ 113 calores each, 0.6g fat)

recipe adapted from here

Ingredients:

1 tbsp packed brown sugar

1/8  tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 cup non fat milk
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce                 
1/4 cup honey
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 cup fresh blueberries

Directions:
1. Heat oven to 400°F.  Place a baking pan with water on the middle rack of the oven.  Place paper baking cup in each muffin cup.  In small bowl, mix brown sugar and cinnamon; set aside.

2. In large bowl, beat milk, applesauce, honey, vanilla extract and egg with spoon. Stir in flours, baking powder and salt just until flours are moistened.  Gently fold in blueberries.






3. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups (cups will be full). Sprinkle with brown sugar mixture. Bake on top rack (above the water bath rack) about 20 minutes or until golden brown. Immediately remove from pan.

Made two muffins with no brown sugar on top for my dad :)



It's probably not sweet enough for most people
but I like natural sweetness from blueberries
and honey :) 0.6 grams of fat, how can you
beat that?!

Taro buns

My mom loves taro.  This purple root vegetable is full of fiber and vitamins.  It's often used in dim sum and dessert in Asia.  The texture of taro is like potato, but the nutrition value in taro is better than potato.  Yum :)  I've been wanting to make some taro bread, then I saw a can of taro in my pantry.  So let's use it to make taro buns!  I substituted one cup of whole wheat flour in this recipe.  Nobody could tell the difference :p Whole wheat does the body good!

Taro Buns
(15 servings ~ 165 calories each)

Ingredients:
Basic white bread dough
(substituted one cup of whole wheat flour with one cup of bread flour)
one can of prepared taro

Directions:
1) Prepare basic white bread dough with a bread machine.
2) After the dough cycle is completed, punch dough, then divide dough into 15 pieces and cover with plastic wrap. Let it rest for 15 minutes.

3) Meanwhile, open the can of prepared taro, drain the syrup, and mash the cubed taro with a fork/spoon.  Set aside.

4) Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface. Put about 1 tbsp of the filling, then wrap it up.

I made them into little piggy :) So Cute!

5) Place the filled dough on baking paper, round side up, cover with plastic wrap and let it raise for another 30-40 minutes or until doubled.










6) Preheat oven to 375F.
7) Prepare egg wash by mixing 1 tbsp of water with 1 egg yolk (optional). Brush egg wash on top of the buns right before you put them in the oven.

8) Bake at 375F for 13-16 minutes until golden brown.