Lemon-Poppy Seed Muffins

Hope you’re having a fabulous Thursday. I’m blogging to you as I sip my first glass of wine for the night – a yummy California Chardonnay:

Backing up to last night’s jewelry party, we had a fun relaxed ladies’ night. Besides the chocolate Kahlua cake I talked about yesterday, we had a few other goodies:

Roasted Red Hummus Platter –

Champagne punch bowl –

FYI, that fun ice/strawberry ring in the middle is pretty & decorative for the punch bowl, but not very practical. We had trouble getting it out of the way to scoop out punch with the ladle. [Note to self: come up with a smaller ice chiller next time!]

My best friends Meaghan and Danielle came to the party:

And this close-up photo of Meg and me is hilarious (Thanks for the photography styling, D!):

Moving onto today’s creation…

When I spotted a recipe for lemon muffins in the March issue of Fitness magazine, I ripped it out and threw it in my pile of  things to try. Knowing that my mom’s birthday would happen while I was visiting in NJ (and that she loves lemon), I brought the recipe with me to try out and make something fun for her. I’ve never baked with lemon curd before, and when I asked my grandma if she had any, at first she said she didn’t know what that was… and then she pulled it out of her fridge! Apparently someone gave it to her and she’s had it hanging around in her kitchen. If you don’t have a handy grandma to steal lemon curd from like me and can’t find it at your food store, you can use fruit preserves instead. I slightly modified the original recipe based on what I had available, and they came out very yummy!

Lemon-Poppy Seed Muffins

Makes 12 

Ingredients:

• 1/2 c all-purpose flour
• 1/2 c whole-wheat flour
• 1 c rolled oats
• 1/2 c sugar
• 1 TBSP baking powder
• 1 TBSP poppy seeds
• 1/2 TSP lemon extract
• 1/4 TSP salt
• 1 large egg, slightly beaten
• 3/4 c low-fat or nonfat milk
• 1/4 c canola oil
• 1/4 c lemon curd
• Powdered sugar, for dusting

Preheat the oven to 375. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with baking cups.

In a medium bowl, stir together flours, oats, sugar, baking powder, poppy seeds and salt.  Make a well in the center of the flour mix.

In a small bowl, combine egg, milk, oil and lemon extract. Add wet mix to dry mix, and stir just until moistened.

Pour batter into the muffin cups evenly. Spoon a bit of lemon curd on top of each muffin.

Bake until tops are lightly browned, 15-20 minutes. Cool muffins in pan on a wire rack for a couple minutes. Remove from pan, then dust with sifted powdered sugar.

Per muffin: 170 calories, 7 g fat, 3 g protein, 25 g carbs

I’m spending the rest of my night hanging out with my parents and younger siblings, drinking wine, and possibly going for a dip in the hot tub. We have a few bottles to choose from. 😉

If you’re wondering why I’m a wine lover, it’s clear that the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree!