Blueberry Walnut Applesauce Muffins

The other day, in my Spanish class, I had a discussion with my substitute teacher about food, and more particularly, eating healthy. She made one remark which really interested me. The teacher told me that she wants to enjoy life and all of its perks, such as food, so if she was presented cupcakes, she would go for it, but then she told me that eating one cupcake is not the same as eating three of the same.

This conversation prompted me to think about what is truly healthy eating. I have been thinking about it for a very long time and I have discovered a lot of different opinions.

When there are no fats in the recipe.

When you eat the right amounts of food from all the food groups.

Eating more greens and less meat.

Just eating one cupcake.

Considering all the definitions there are on the internet and from what I have learned from the people around me, I have finally come to a conclusion which may not be what I would have thought a year ago, when I first entered the world of healthy eating (or, in informal terms, me judging all food and its benefits/consequences). I think healthy eating is a balanced lifestyle and eating a variety of foods in the right quantities. I don’t follow this rule all the time, especially not at parties where I will literally try every single dish they have there and then take another serving of my favorites. 🙂 I know, I can’t help myself.

But other than those special occasions where I like to indulge, I try to keep my portions at a reasonable size and I eat a lot of vegetables, more white meat than red, and definitely no junk food (sorry chips, candy bars and processed food). Concerning junk food, I have actually found that I do not longer feel attracted to it and I don’t really like the taste of it anymore. Which makes it much easier to eat healthy, although that won’t stop me from eating all kinds of delicious homemade desserts.

And now for my healthy muffins. Sweet blueberries, crunchy walnuts and unsweetened applesauce all play a great role in making this muffin a smart choice for a snack to grab instead of all that processed junk food that is probably sitting in your pantry.

Okay, so actually the reason I made these muffins is because my mom decided to make apple jelly, which meant using the juice from the apples and leaving behind a great big bowl of something that looked very applesauce-like. She was going to throw it away and I hate food waste, so I quickly made these muffins using the ‘applesauce’. And it turned out even better than I was expecting so yay!

• Servings: 12
• Time: 30 mins (Prep 15 mins)
• Difficulty: Easy
• Print

A delicious healthy snack to make loaded with blueberries and walnuts.
Adapted from: Hearty Muffin Recipe with Walnuts, Oats and Applesauce-Dine & Dish
Ingredients:
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup milk
40 g coconut oil, melted
1 large egg, room temperature
1  1/3 cup oats
1  1/8 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 packed brown sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
3/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped
3/4 cup blueberries, washed (can be fresh or frozen)

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 200 °C (400 °F). Grease a normal-sized muffin pan very well with melted coconut oil or butter.
2. In a large bowl, mix the applesauce, milk, coconut oil and egg together. Stir in the oats, flour, sugar, baking powder and baking soda until well combined. Last step is folding in the walnuts and blueberries.
3. Bake for 15 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes before placing muffins on a wire rack. And there you go! You just made yourself some very good muffins. Store up to a week in an airtight container, or in the oven with the door closed (when it’s not hot of course!).