Makes 12

Hands up ~ who was raised on blueberries? You know, those big plump juicy berries that stain your clothes as soon as you inadvertently drop one on your new white t-shirt. My hand is up, way up, especially in the staining of the clothes department.

Growing up in Vancouver I only ate conventionally grown blueberries, officially known in the farming business as High Bush blueberries. I didn’t even know there was such as thing as wild blueberries until I moved to Toronto. Those sweet little gems are fabulous albeit expensive because they’re harvested by hand in the wilds of Ontario, Quebec and the Maritimes. But worth every blessed penny, I might add. I think wild blueberries should only be eaten fresh in a salad, as is, over yogurt or ice cream. Baking them just seems like a blueberry tragedy.

But having said all of that, use whatever blueberry you want to.

If using frozen berries, I prefer the frozen wild blueberries because they are smaller. Take note – the batter will be purple.

 

Recipe:

2 cups fresh local blueberries, rinsed and patted dry OR frozen – add to batter frozen

Wet Ingredients:

1 cup canned lentils, rinsed and drained

1 cup 1% buttermilk

¾ cup packed dark brown sugar

½ cup wheat bran

1 – omega-3 egg

Dry Ingredients:

1 cup whole wheat flour

¾ cup flaxseed meal

2 Tbsp natural wheat germ

1 Tbsp cinnamon

1 Tbsp lemon or orange zest

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

 

1. Make sure the rack in the oven is in the middle. Preheat oven to 375°F. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with X-large paper liners or Jumbo paper liners. Set aside.
2. Prepare the Wet Ingredients: In the bowl of a handheld immersion blender or in a stand blender, puree the lentils and buttermilk, until you can’t recognize the lentils. Pour into a medium bowl, whisk in brown sugar, oat or wheat bran and egg. (if you were lucky enough to have taken Home Ec. 8 you’re probably thinking brown sugar and oat bran aren’t wet ingredients. And you’d be right. In this recipe, they need to be added to the true Wet Ingredients so they can absorb some of the liquid before adding them to the Dry Ingredients. Insert *I’m a Baking Scientist*here)
3. In another medium bowl whisk together the Dry Ingredients: flour, flaxseed, wheat germ, cinnamon, lemon or orange zest, baking powder and baking soda.
4. Pour the Dry Ingredients into the Wet Ingredients. (the reverse of the muffin method) Stir together using a rubber spatula or a large wooden spoon. Add the blueberries and gently fold in.
5. Using a ¼ cup ice cream scoop with a release button, scoop out a heaping ¼ cup of the batter and fill each of the muffin cups. You are going to be tempted to make 16, don’t even think about it. I use whole grains and dense fibre rich ingredients, as a result, the muffins don’t raise up very much.
6. Bake in the oven for 23-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of the muffin comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire cooling rack for 2 minutes. Remove from the pan and continue cooling on the rack until completely cooled. Store in an air tight container for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 3 months.

Makes 12

One serving = 1 muffin

Per Serving: 193 Calories, 4.6 g Total Fat, 0.7 g Saturated Fat, 0 Trans Fat, 17 mg Cholesterol, 237 mg Sodium, 30.3 g Carbohydrate, 4.7 g Fibre, 16.8 g Sugars, 14.1 g Added Sugars, 6.2 g Protein, 257 mg Potassium

Carbohydrate Choice = 2 choices

Professional Home Economist tips:

I like the smaller canned lentils, check out the picture on the can, and choose the tinier whole lentils. The larger canned green lentils work well, but they don’t quite disappear into the batter.

To use the leftover lentils, toss into a green salad or into a soup.

To make this recipe lactose free, use original soy beverage plus 1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar instead of buttermilk.

Adapted from Peace, Love and Fibre

Recipe from Peace, Love and Fibre (appetite Random House 2019)