Lemon Berry Muffins

This weekend I received the new Penzey's spices catalog. Although I do not buy their products I do quite enjoy them (my mom will buy them and mail them to me! Have I mentioned how much I love my mommy???). Often I will save a few of the recipes included in the catalog, but usually don't get around to trying them. This one definitely stuck out and I made sure to try it. I am not a huge muffin fan, but the kids are, and this recipe is a nice way to use up any berries that might be getting old in the fridge.

I changed the recipe to make it a bit healthier. Since we try to stick to Weight Watchers points system, I had to tweak the recipe, also I did not have some of the ingredients, so I changed it for what I did have in the house. They turned out pretty good!! Here is the recipe I did:

2 1/8 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup sugar
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp salt
1 6oz container fat free lemon yogurt
1/2 cup applesauce (can use oil if you prefer)
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
6-8oz berries (any berry, alone or mixed; about 1 1/4 cups total)

Struesel topping:
(I cut this in half.. if you don't mind extra calories and want more of a topping, double the topping recipe)
1 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1 1/2 Tbsp sugar
1/8 tsp vanilla
1/8 tsp lemon juice
1/2 Tbsp cold butter

Preheat oven to 375F. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. Make a well in the center of the mixture. Stir together yogurt, lemon juice, applesauce, eggs, and vanilla. Pour into the well and stir until moistened. Fold berries into batter. Spoon into lightly greased muffin pans (or into muffin cups) until 2/3 full.

For Topping: combine flour, sugar, vanilla, and lemon juice. Cut the butter into the mixture until crumbly. Spoon evenly over the batter in the muffin pans.

Bake for 18-22 minutes or until golden. Remove from pans and cool on wire rack.

Yields 15 muffins.