No Added Sugar Blueberry Muffins
Photography by Simeon Crofts
DIETARY - No Added Sugar, Diabetic-friendly, Vegetarian
I get more requests for sugar-free treats than any other food I make. Some people are trying to watch their sugar intake or want more of a guilt-free snack, while others have diabetes and are seeking a well-thought-out, controlled treat that won’t spike their sugar levels too much. As many of you know, my husband has type 1 diabetes and, in his case, he tries to keep snacks to around 15-20g of carbohydrate in between meals. This range of carbohydrates means he either does not need to inject or he injects a very low number of units. Of course, that doesn’t mean it’s the same for every person with diabetes, but when I developed this recipe I wanted to make life a little easier for diabetics, which is why I have also included the nutritional information per muffin below. Whether you have type 1 or 2 diabetes, these muffins provide a tasty treat without the high sugar content usually found in cakes and muffins, helping you to control those all-important blood glucose levels.
If you’re not a fan of blueberries you can, of course, switch to another fruit, just be mindful this will alter the nutritional make up of the recipe slightly, depending on which fruit you choose. I picked blueberries as they’re a personal favourite of mine in a muffin and they’re also a well-known superfood packed with antioxidants, vitamins and fibre. Plus, they’re low-GI (Glycemic Index), which means blueberries are more slowly digested and absorbed by the body, causing a slower rise in blood glucose levels.
You’ll notice I use erythritol in this recipe, and that’s for a few reasons, one being it isn’t quite as sweet as sugar; it has around 70% of the sweetness, which makes it easier to control in a recipe compared to say stevia, which is over 250 times sweeter than sugar. Erythritol also has almost the same mouth feel as sugar and doesn’t bear an artificial aftertaste unlike sweeteners such as stevia – and the taste is pretty important to me when I’m developing recipes! Another important factor, especially for someone with diabetes, is that erythritol doesn’t raise blood sugar levels, and, even more of a bonus, it causes far fewer digestive issues and stomach upsets than can happen when consuming large quantities of other sugar alcohols like xylitol, for example. This is because when erythritol is consumed, most of it gets absorbed into the bloodstream before it reaches the colon.
But what is erythritol made from? Though the name makes it sound like a processed chemical, erythritol is, in fact, a 100% natural sugar alcohol produced by mashing and fermenting the natural starches found in foods such as melon, pear and corn.
Now, let’s talk more about the making method for these muffins. As with most cake recipes, I advise you cream together the butter and sugar (in this case sweetener) before adding any other ingredients, but why? Well, to put it simply, this is to aerate the mix. By beating the two together you are creating small air pockets that will ultimately help your muffins to rise – and boy do they rise! You’re looking to combine the two ingredients well, and you should notice the butter take on a lighter colour. I recommend beating the two together for around 5 minutes for the best result. The rest of the recipe method is straightforward, making it an excellent bake for those less confident in the kitchen.
Nutritional information (per muffin):
159 calories
15g carbohydrate
1g sugar (naturally occurring)
9g fat
No Added Sugar Blueberry Muffins
Ingredients:
- 2 cups plain flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 1 cup (210g) erythritol
- 110g butter, softened
- 2 eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- ¾ cup milk
- 190g blueberries
Method:
- Pre-heat your oven to 180°C (160°C Fan)/350°F/ Gas Mark 4 and line a 12-hole muffin tin with paper cases.
- In a bowl, mix the flour, baking powder and salt until combined.
- In a separate bowl, cream together the butter and erythritol using an electric hand or stand mixer, or a spatula.
- Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat again.
- Add the milk and vanilla extract and mix until combined. You should have a nice smooth, thick batter.
- Finally, fold in the blueberries until mixed through.
- Spoon your mixture into your pre-prepared muffin cases, filling ¾ of the way up each case.
- Bake for approximately 25 minutes until well risen and golden and a knife comes out clean when inserted into the middle of a muffin.
- Leave to cool in the tin for 10 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.