Blueberry...Actually Raspberry Muffins

This really has been the weekend of cooking. I've found that baking actually really relaxes me, and it pleases me when I see people enjoying the food that I have made. Food really does bring people together. So anyways, while I was searching for a new recipe in the low-iodine cookbook, I came across Blueberry Muffins (which lives on the same page as the Oat Bran Applesauce Muffins in the thyca.org low-iodine cookbook). We get an organic box of fruits and veggies every week through Los Poblanos organic farms here in Albuquerque. We pick it up every Monday and have delicious, ripe and in-season produce. Raspberries have been one of the things we've been getting a lot lately. I wanted to use them right away because raspberries are the first to mold in the fridge. So I substituted the blueberries for raspberries in this recipe. They're delicious!

Blueberry (or Raspberry) Muffins

2 egg whites

1 cup water

1/4 cup vegetable oil

2 cups flour

1/4 cup sugar

3 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt (Kosher)

1 cup fresh blueberries (or raspberries)

Heat oven to 400 degrees F. Beat egg whites. Stir in water and oil. Mix in flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt until moistened. Gently fold in berries. Pour batter in the paper-lined muffin pan. Makes 12 muffins.

Contributed by Cathy T.

See something missing in this recipe?? I sure do. How long do you cook them for? I kept an obsessively close eye on them until they started to smell good, puff up, crack and brown. They were cooked perfectly. I think it was around 15-20 minutes.

I cut up the raspberries into fours. They seemed a little large to keep whole in a muffin.

Folding in the chopped raspberries into the batter.

Batter in paper liners before baking.

And after. I peeked inside the wrapper to see if they were done, that's why the front one is a little indecent.

These muffins are delicious and perfect for a low-iodine diet. Make them. Now!

Oat Bran Applesauce Muffins

Since my sister has to be on a low-iodine diet before her radiation, we have all been scrambling to find things that she can eat. She has never been much of a cook, so we have all been making her things. This muffin recipe is from a low-iodine cookbook that is available as a free PDF on thyca.org. I attempted these first sometime last week, and my sister loved them so much, I made another batch on Saturday!

Oat Bran Applesauce Muffins

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1 1/2 cups oat bran cereal

1 1/2 cups white flour

1/2 Tablespoon baking powder

1/2 Tablespoon baking soda

1/2 Teaspoon salt (Kosher is ok for low-iodine. sea salt and regular is NOT)

4 egg whites

1 cup applesauce, chilled

1 Tablespoon vegetable oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. Blend together dry ingredients. Add egg whites, chilled applesauce and vegetable oil. Mix well until blended. Spoon batter into muffin cups. Let stand for 10 minutes. Bake 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Yield: 12 muffins

Contributed by Elaine J.

These muffins are really easy to make and bake up beautifully. Here's what mine looked like:

Muffins before going into the oven.

Muffins after. They puffed up and browned perfectly!