Grandma Swanson’s (healthier) Lemon and Ginger Muffins

Thank you for inviting me to the Mystery Lovers’ Kitchen. Today I'm going to share one of my grandmother's recipes, but I’ve given it a makeover in order to make it a little healthier.

Although my grandmother was originally a pastry chef, she ended up spending most of her life as a farm wife. Unlike my husband and I who work hard, but do it sitting in front of a computer, Grandma, Grandpa, and their five children did strenuous chores involving a lot of physical labor. Crops and livestock do not raise themselves.

This meant that her great recipes were loaded with ingredients that wouldn’t be a problem if you spent twelve hours a day toting that barge and lifting that bale. But for those of us who only write about hard work, they really pack on the pounds. Adjusting savory dishes is pretty easy, but breads and sweets are a bit more of a challenge. Of course, those are my favorite foods, so I had to give it a try.

When I was forced to change my diet due to food sensitivities, the item that I really missed was Grandma’s fabulous Lemon Ginger Muffins. So I did a little tinkering, and the makeover version is what I’m sharing with you today. When these are in the oven, the smell is literally mouthwatering.

Grandma Swanson’s (healthier) Lemon and Ginger Muffins

Yield: 12

1/3 cup softened Smart Balance® Omega-3 Buttery Sticks

½-cup sugar

½-cup Truvia sugar substitute

4 egg whites

2 Tablespoons Gourmet Garden minced ginger

2 Tablespoons grated lemon peel

2 cups flour

1-teaspoon baking soda

1-cup plain Greek yogurt

Preheat the oven to 375°F.

Mix softened butter, sugar, and sugar substitute until well blended. Beat in egg whites. Add ginger and lemon peel and stir. Combine flour and baking soda. Alternate adding the flour mixture and the yogurt. Mix until smooth. Pour into muffin cups coated with nonstick cooking spray. The cups should be 3/4 full.

Bake at 375 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool for 5 minutes before removing the cups from the pan.

In my upcoming book, Murder of the Cat’s Meow, Skye doesn’t have time to cook since she’s busy solving the mystery of who killed the cat show judge. But the Jade-ite cookie crock that’s broken in the first chapter was inspired by my grandmother’s jar. Hers was always filled with homemade treats, but Skye’s usually contains Oreos. 

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New York Times bestselling author Denise Swanson started writing in Kindergarten where she got into trouble for using up her entire Big Chief tablet to create her own alphabet book. Today she writes two series—the Scumble River mysteries and the Devereaux’s Dime Store mysteries. Visit Denise at her website and at Killer Characters.