Things I am grateful for: pizza, iced tea, my family, and MUFFINS. Maybe not in that order. But I would definitely put muffins way up there on my gratitude list. And there is everything to love about these healthy lemon blueberry muffins because they are 21 Day Fix / Portion Fix and Weight Watchers friendly! And when I say 21 Day Fix-friendly, I mean you have have three…yes, THREE…muffins for one yellow container.
And if you’re on Weight Watchers? They’re only ONE point per muffin.
WINNING!
Healthy Lemon Blueberry Muffins
These are based off of two popular muffin recipes I have – the Banana Cherry muffins and the Pumpkin muffins. So if either of those appeal to you, be sure to check them out!
Can I have muffins on the 21 Day Fix?
YES! You most definitely can. However, you can’t have just any muffins. They must be made with whole wheat. Also, they can’t have a bunch of added sugar or oils that you often find in muffins. So you need to look very, very closely at the recipe to make sure all of the ingredients are approved before you indulge.
Can I have muffins on Weight Watchers?
YES! You can definitely have muffins on Weight Watchers, and there aren’t any restrictions to the ingredients. However, as you’ll find out once you start calculating points, most muffins will have a ton of high point ingredients, which means they are usually very high in points, too. So choose your muffins wisely, my friend.
On both programs, 21 Day Fix/Portion Fix and Weight Watchers, you can also have butter…but don’t forget to add it when you’re tracking your food!
Can I freeze these muffins?
YEP! And they freeze beautifully. Make a huge batch and freeze a bunch. Set them out to thaw overnight or reheat in the microwave for about 45 seconds when you’re ready to eat them.
These are a definite favorite in this household. In fact, these muffins and my recent pizza recipe have me pretty much convinced I just need to be a healthy pizza and muffin blogger from here on out. There’s a niche for that, right?!
A note about this recipe: I get feedback that these aren’t sweet enough, so I want to clarify on how to make them sweeter! First of all, go for very to overripe bananas. My mom always used to say brown bananas make the best banana breads and I concur! You can also add honey or raw sugar to this recipe. And one more thing…frozen blueberries will make it sweeter, too. I’m not sure why this is, but frozen fruit is generally extra sweet when thawed (this is probably because it’s frozen at the very peak of freshness and as it thaws, all those sweet juices are released).
Healthy Lemon Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 c whole wheat flour
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 2 ripe bananas mashed
- 1 tsp lemon zest
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 c Greek yogurt lowfat
- 1/2 c blueberries frozen (fresh is fine too)
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325.
- Spray a muffin tin with non-stick cooking spray, or line with paper liners.
- In a medium bowl, mix the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.
- In another medium bowl, mash the bananas. Add the yogurt, egg, lemon zest, and lemon juice until blended together.
- Add the banana mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until everything is wet. Fold in blueberries.
- Divide evenly into 12 muffin tins. Bake for 20-25 minutes, depending on your oven. You'll know they're done when they are a pretty golden color and the toothpick stuck in a muffin comes out clean and dry.
Notes
Nutrition
I’m showing the container counts for these three different ways (because some of y’all might want one, or two, or three). The container sizes are a little wonky on the single and double muffin servings, so personally, I just go for three because I like simple math. 😉 But you can use this information however you see fit! I’m rounding all numbers (since I feel like it’s not helpful to say one muffin is .3333333 yellow…you get the idea!).
Disclaimer: Sometimes my math is wrong, so always double check yourself!
21 Day Fix Container Counts:
1 MUFFIN – .3 yellow, .4 purple, .2 red
2 MUFFINS – .7 yellow, .75 purple, .3 red
3 MUFFINS – 1 yellow, 1 purple (actual purple is 1.125, but…), .5 red
Weight Watchers Freesyle Points – 1 point per muffin (WHAT WHAT!)
Looking for more healthy muffins? I’m your girl! Start with one of these:
- Banana Cherry Muffins
- Pumpkin Muffins (with optional chocolate chips)
Hi there, these muffins look sooo good, can I use almond flour instead of whole wheat flour, please let me know when you can and thank you!!!
Can I use almond flour
I have not tried them with almond flour, but here’s an almond flour lemon recipe that you could add some blueberrie to! <3 https://staging.carrieelle.com/gluten-free-lemon-muffins-21-day-fix-keto/
Hi Jenni! I haven’t tried them with almond flour – but I do have a lemon muffin recipe with almond flour that you could add blueberries to! https://staging.carrieelle.com/gluten-free-lemon-muffins-21-day-fix-keto/
Carrie, these muffins are amazing! So easy to make too! I was looking for a blueberry muffin recipe that was fix approved, so glad I stumbled across this! Absolutely perfect. Thank you! 😊
So happy you liked them Samantha! <3
What size are the muffins? Mini or standard?
They are standard size! 🙂
Plain or vanilla Greek yogurt?
I used plain. Vanilla would also be awesome, but you might need to change the container counts or points based on any changes you make.
Sorry, but these muffins are bland and lack sweetness. I’m all about healthy eating and have tried other Weight Watchers dessert recipes and this is by far the worse. The whole family agreed. All you could taste is salty baking soda and blueberries! We threw them all in the garbage.
Wow! Brutal. Sorry these didn’t work out for you.
Sorry, didn’t mean to come off harsh. The texture was great and they were super moist, but just didn’t have any sweetness at all. Maybe using more ripened bananas or a vanilla flavored yogurt would make them sweeter? Open to suggestions!
No worries – I responded before I had caffeine so I was a little short! And yes, you are defintely right about the bananas…I usually have very ripe frozen ones that I use, and that could definitely make a difference! 🙂
Thank you! I have over ripened bananas in the freezer too. I just used store bought ones so they probably weren’t sweet enough. I will give them another try and see if that makes them sweeter. Like I said, I liked everything else about them!
I hope it works! You could also try more honey, but that would obviously change the points for them.
I put honey or maple syrup on them after cooked to make them sweeter. I can’t live without these muffins! They are the best! They make me happy to have them first thing in the morning with my coffee. So thank you!
This makes me so happy to hear! Thank you for sharing. And honey or syrup…yum!! Great idea!
I loved these!! Made them last week! Any suggestions on storing them if you plan to eat them all in a week ish? I stored them in a covered pyrex dish but noticed they seemed to get too moist? Have you kept them in the refrigerator or do you recommend just throwing them all in the freezer and reheating as needed?
All in all, amazing muffin. I used almond flour and it came out perfectly. Serious;y so delicious!!
Yay! So glad you liked them! And glad to know the almond flour worked. That is probably why they are so moist (the almond flour). I normally use a whole wheat flour and they don’t get too moist. If they are, I’d stick them in the fridge or like you said, even store them in the freezer.
I agree with the comment about the lack of sweetness, (although maybe not as harshly 😉) Definitely important to use super overripe bananas, which I will do next time for sure! I think I would maybe add some a teaspoon or so of vanilla extract, and a teaspoon or two of honey or raw sugar, making adjustments for counts as needed. They are good, but I think if I made them again I Would tweak them just ever so slightly. 😊 Your blog is great and I have enjoyed learning and trying quite a few of your recipes.
Thank you for the feedback – I’m going to amend the instructions to mention this since sweetness seems to be what these are lacking! 🙂
Making these this weekend! Can I use coconut flour?
I haven’t tried it, but I feel like it would make the muffins really dense. I belive there is a formula for swapping out whole wheat flour for coconut – I’d check that out first! 🙂
could you subsitute the greek yogurt with a cocnut based/dairy free yogurt? or dairy free cream cheese?
Yes! I haven’t done either, but I think you would be fine.
Can you use any fruit in this recipe? I have some concord grapes I need to bake lol
Definitely!!
How much applesauce would you use in place of the bananas?
Generally, you would use 1/2 cup applesauce for each banana. 🙂
How many points for Blue Plan: 1 muffin, 2, 3?
Hi! Is the calorie count for 1 muffin?
Hi Alyssa! Calorie counts are for 2 muffins. 🙂
I love these muffins. Like any recipe with ripe bananas, the sweetness can vary. I added pure Stevia. Watch the size of your banana, unless u you or want a strong banana taste. I also put a few blueberries on the top. I also made 8 as I like larger muffins. 2 WW points. If you make 10, they are 1 point for one, 3 points for 2.
Thank you for sharing!! And thank you for the WW points!