Apple Spice Wheat and Flax Muffins

Good Morning! Summer is winding down for us in the US. As fall starts to roll in, that means apple season is starting! Fresh apples are such a delicious treat and while the majority of the apples are not ready quite yet for picking and eating, our local supermarket had a great deal on some apples that I just couldn't resist. I also had made a promise to my aunt that I would try my hand at a recipe she had found for whole wheat and flax seed apple muffins. I finally got up the courage to try making these muffins, making only a couple of changes from the original recipe. I also used calorieking.com to calculate the calories, fats, carbohydrates, and proteins in this recipe, since the box didn't have that information available. Too bad, since the recipe is actually quite reasonable in terms of calories, fat, and carbs! The basic recipe can be seen here, if you look at the back of the box. You need:

1/4 cup Milled Flax Seed
3/4 cup Whole Wheat Graham Flour
3/4 cup White Flour
1/2 cup Sugar
2 tsp Baking Powder
1/2 tsp Baking Soda
1/2 tsp Salt
1 tsp Cinnamon
1/2 tsp Nutmeg
1/4 tsp Ground Ginger
1/4 tsp Ground Clove
1 Egg, beaten
3 Tbsp Canola Oil
1/2 cup Skim Milk
1-1/2 cup Finely Chopped Apples
1/2 cup Chopped Nuts (optional; I did not use)

Heat oven to 400F (204C). Blend flax seed, flours, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and clove in medium bowl. In large bowl, combine egg, oil, and milk. Carefully blend the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, stirring until the ingredients are just wet. DO NOT OVER STIR. That is the key to tender, yummy muffins. If you keep stirring after the dry ingredients are moist, the muffins will be tough. I find using a wooden spoon seems to work best to stir muffin batter without over stirring it. Finally, fold in the apples and nuts (if you're using nuts). Batter is very thick! Line your muffin tin or spray the tin with non-stick spray, fill 2/3 of the way up with the batter, and bake for 18-20 minutes or until the top springs back when touched. Makes 12 muffins.

When I put the ingredients into calorieking.com, I found the entire batch as I made it (no nuts) has 1,755 calories, 57.4 grams fat, 212.5 grams carbohydrates, and 38.4 grams protein. Now, I know I wouldn't eat all 12 muffins at once, but would eat one. Dividing the batter by twelve, each muffin has approximately 146 calories, 4.78 grams fat, 17.70 grams carbohydrates, and 3.2 grams protein. Not bad, all things considered! In addition to the muffin, I had some turkey bacon, a 3-3/8 ounce apple, and a 6 ounce container of Yoplait light yogurt. Together, that's approximately 48g carbohydrates, for which I take 2.5 units Humalog.

If you decide to add in walnuts (for example), each muffin will have approximately 178 calories, 7.95 grams fat, 18.38 grams carbohydrates, and 3.94 grams protein. Adding nuts does increase the fat content, but for people who are not quite used to restricting their fat to around 5 grams per serving, the nuts will make the muffins seem more moist and more like what they are expecting their muffin to taste like. Be aware, though, that the more fat you consume, the longer the carbohydrates will stick around in your system, which will keep your blood sugars higher for a longer period of time, so keep that in mind.

Enjoy!!