Homemade Blueberry Muffins

Over the years, I've looked for ways to make family favorite recipes work with whole grain flour. We have a mill and grind our own wheat to make flour. I also like to use natural and less refined sweeteners in baked goods. This recipe makes 12 full sized muffins which are hard on the outside but moist on the inside. The blueberries pop with their natural flavor.

My family prefers plain blueberry muffins but they can be topped with millet or a granular sugar such as Sucanat or Demerara. Millet will give the muffins some crunch while a sugar topping will make them sweeter. I sometimes increase the cinnamon but that is definitely a "to taste" ingredient.

2 ½ cups of hard red wheat flour*
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup canola oil
½ cup honey
1 cup vanilla yogurt
1 egg
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon nutmeg
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 pint fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Combine flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir in oil and honey then slowly add in yogurt. Add egg and mix thoroughly. Add cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla. When all the other ingredients are mixed together, gently stir in blueberries, slowly adding them to the mixture. Try not to break the blueberries so they remain whole - a few turns around the bowl should be enough.

Spray muffin pan with non-stick spray or line with paper baking cups. Fill muffin cups with batter. The batter will be thick but not lumpy - with the exception of the blueberries. Bake at 400º for 15 minutes. Allow to cool another 15 minutes before removing from muffin pan.

* This recipe is for freshly milled flour. However, it can work with whole wheat flour bought from the store.