Whole Grain Wednesdays- Whole Wheat Apricot Muffins

Happy Wednesday!  I did a bunch of baking yesterday since it looked as though it was going to be the "coolest" day this week.  I don't like to heat up our house by turning on the oven for a long time on really hot days because we rely on a swamp cooler for cooling.  Don't get me wrong, I love the fact that the swamp cooler uses way less electricity than an air conditioner!  It works very well, but I don't like to run it for a long time since it does sometimes make our house more humid than I like.

Anyway, my daughter had a bunch of friends over yesterday so I made these muffins for snack.  This was a recipe that was originally from Cooking Light magazine, but I modified it some. If you don't have dried apricots, you could easily substitute any dried fruit that you do have.  The muffins were a hit with my daughter and her friends.  Hope you enjoy them too!

Whole Wheat Apricot Muffins
2/3 cup enriched all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour (or whole wheat flour)
1/2 cup sugar
1 1/4 teaspoons grated orange rind
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup low-fat buttermilk
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 large egg
1 cup finely chopped dried apricots

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Lightly spoon the flours into dry measuring cups and level with a knife.  In a large bowl, combine the flours, sugar, orange rind, baking soda and salt.  Stir well with a whisk.  Make a well in the center of the mixture.  In a small bowl, combine the buttermilk, water, butter, vanilla, and egg.  Stir well.  Add the buttermilk mixture to the flour mixture.  Stir until just combined.  Fold in the apricots.

Coat 12 muffin cups with cooking spray.  Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, dividing equally.  Bake the muffins for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown and muffins spring back lightly when touched.  Cool for 5 minutes, then remove muffins from pan and cool on a wire rack.

Crediting information:  Makes 26 servings. Each serving creditable for 1 bread/bread alternate at any meal or snack for 3-5 year old children.



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