My First Blogiversary celebrated with Blueberry Orange Muffins

This time 365 days ago I sat down to write my first blog post on Hope in the Kitchen. 187 posts later, I am thrilled with the results. I've tried cooking some things I've never cooked before, visited some great restaurants and met some fun people. I hope my writing has been a source of entertainment for you all, if nothing else.

It is my 2010 New Year Resolution to publish more posts. Since I've met Adam, our lives have been so wonderfully busy. And then we added to our little family when we brought Baxter home 6 weeks ago. I just get caught up with the greatness of my friends, family and boyfriend, that I don't make time to cook. I'm going to work harder to spend more time in the kitchen with my trusted (and handsome) assistant and our little (but growing quickly) pup at our feet waiting for scraps to fall (sometimes directly into his mouth).

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I want to do a series on 20 Healthy Foods. I was thinking 20 Foods in 20 Days but then I got to thinking harder, and more realistically, then reconsidered. So this 20 foods project will be featured along with a recipe but it may take more more than 20 days. These 20 Healthy Foods series is inspired by an article in Oprah's January 2010 edition of the O Magazine.

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Today is the first day of 20 Healthy Foods and I am featuring blueberries, which are packet full of wholesome nutrients. Maybe muffins aren't the best way to eat these sweet little bluies, but I couldn't resist the recipe.

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In addition to containing high levels of age defying antioxidants, from O I've learned blueberries contain anthocyanins, a plant compound that may have antidiabetic effects. Also, through new research, blueberry nutrients have showed to protect heart muscle from damage.

So this morning I was feeling extra ambitious and surprisingly woke up at 6 am to make blueberry orange muffins. These rather healthy muffins are less sweet than traditional blueberry muffins and have a rather long and diverse ingredient list. The use of brown sugar makes the sweetness more pleasant than white sugar.

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Adapted from Eating Well.

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 large egg
1 large egg white
2/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 cup nonfat plain yogurt
2 teaspoons freshly grated orange zest
1/3 cup orange juice
2 tablespoons canola oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups blueberries (I used Dole frozen blueberries, thawed)
1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 400°F. Line 12 muffin tin with liners.

Whisk all-purpose and whole-wheat flours, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in a large bowl.

Whisk egg, egg white and brown sugar in a medium bowl until smooth. Add yogurt, orange zest, orange juice, oil and vanilla; whisk until blended.

Make a well in the dry ingredients; add wet ingredients and stir with a rubber spatula until just combined. Fold in blueberries.

Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups. Sprinkle tops with granulated sugar. Bake until tops are golden and spring back when touched lightly, 20 minutes - be sure not to overbake because they will get very brown very quickly. Carefully remove muffins from pan and let cool on cooling rack.

Made sure not to let too much of the liquid from the bag of frozen berries into the batter.