Lightened up: Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

I love lemon poppyseed bread, but I'm not sure I love the nutritional stats! We love snack foods and breads around here, so I decided to try out Skinny Chef's version of the lemon poppyseed muffin. I originally saw this on Lovestoeat, who swapped orange for the lemon, which sounds like a good idea too! I decided to do half orange and half lemon. With the lemon, I added almond extract and with the orange, I used pineapple Malibu as my "extract"/flavoring! We had some sitting around and orange and pineapple sounded like a good combo.

The texture of these is great (like a dense cake), and the flavor combos worked out pretty well! I will be doing these again.

On a similar note (I guess?), I am considering searching for a copy of Bethenny Frankel's book...anybody read it and recommend it? She seems a little neurotic..I wonder if the book is the same way.

Lemon Poppyseed Muffins

From Skinny Chef

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup low-fat, trans-fat free margarine, melted and cooled

1 egg white

1/4 cup low-fat, sour cream

1/4 cup fresh lemon juice

1 teaspoon lemon extract (optional)

1 tablespoon lemon zest

2 tablespoons poppy seeds

Directions:

Heat oven to 350º F. Grease and flour a 12-cup muffin tin or line with paper liners. Combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a large bowl or zipper lock bag. Stir well to combine.
In a medium bowl, mix sugar and margarine until smooth. Stir in egg white, sour cream, lemon juice, extract, lemon zest, and poppy seed. Add flour and mix until a batter forms, about 10 strokes with a wooden spoon. Don’t over mix, otherwise your muffins will be tough.
Fill muffin tins three-fourths full. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until muffins spring back to the touch. Cool completely before storing in an air-tight container for up to 3 days.