Whole Wheat Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls

I have been craving cinnamon rolls for about six months straight. The first time I made them, in October, I used a recipe full of butter and sugar. They were delicious, but were definiately not something I could treat myself with often. Since then I have been experimenting with healthier cinnamon roll recipes. Over superbowl weekend, I used my bread machine to mak these blueberry cinnamon rolls and, if I do say so myself, they were delightful. I took them to a girls night and the super bowl party we went to. They take a bit of time, but are totally worth it!

Whole Wheat Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls

Ingredients

Dough:

1 1/4 c. water

4 egg whites

3 Tbsp. canola oil

1/3 c. sugar

2 1/2 c. whole wheat bread flour

1 1/2 c. white bread flour

3 tsp. dry active yeast

Filling:

3/4 c. unsweetened applesauce

3/4 c. fresh or frozen blueberries
1/3 c. packed brown sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp. cinnamon

Icing:

1/2 c. light cream cheese

1 c. powdered sugar

1/4 c. skim milk

Directions

To start dough, combine wet ingredients in bread machine. Add dry igredients. Make a well into the dry ingredients and add yeast, making sure it doesn't touch the wet ingredients. Run dough setting on the bread machine until your dough has completely risen (this usually takes about an hour and a half.) While your dough is in the bread machine, combine filling ingedients into a small bowl and mix completely.

Preheat oven to "warm" or the lowest setting (around 150 or 200 degrees). Clean and cover your counter in a thin layer of flour. When dough is complete in the bread machine, roll out the dough with a rolling pin into a large rectangle, approximately two feet long and one foot wide. Spread filling mixture thinly and evenly over your rectangle of dough.

Slowly and gently, roll dough up into a long tube. Spray two 9 x 13" cake pans with cooking spray.  Cut your tube of dough into 24 1-inch rolls.

Place your rolls into the cake pans, 12 rolls in each pan. Place your cake pans into the warm oven for about 20 to 30 minutes to allow your dough to rise a second time. Check your rolls every 10 minutes or so. They are ready when they are fluffy and touching eachother.

Once they have reached this point, turn the heat on the oven up to 350. Bake for about 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from oven. Allow to cool for 5 to 10 minutes. While they are cooling, make icing by putting cream cheese into a small bowl and softening it in the microwave for 30 seconds on medium heat. Add milk and stir until combined thoroughly. Slowly mix in powdered sugar until you have a thin, yet consistent icing.

Drizzle icing over cinnamon rolls using a spoon or knife.  Serve and enjoy your work!

Notes

Best served warm. They can easily be frozen and reheated in the oven at 300 degrees for about 20 minutes. Each cinnamon roll is 4 WW PointsPlus.

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

I guess I have been on a blueberry and breakfast kick lately. I originally got this recipe off of the Weight Watchers website, but then a modified it and actually got it down a point from their recipe. I didn't try these myself, but I made these and sent them with Zac to rehearsal and all of the feedback was great. I don't think people knew they were a "healthy" recipe. Try them out!

Blueberry Streusel Muffins

Ingredients

1 1/4 c.  all-purpose flour, divided

1 c. whole wheat flour
1/2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. table salt
2 large egg whites

3/4 c. sugar, divided
1/2 c. reduced-fat sour cream
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 c. skim milk

1 c. fresh or frozen blueberries
2 Tbsp. butter, melted

Directions

Preheat oven to 375ºF. Place muffin liners in a 12-hole muffin tin or coat tin in cooking spray. In a large bowl, combine 1 cup of all-purpose flour,  whole wheat flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt; set aside.Using an electric mixer, beat egg whites with 1/2 cup of sugar in a large bowl until light and fluffy. Add sour cream and beat until thoroughly combined; blend in vanilla extract. Add wet mixture and milk to dry mixture; beat until combined into a batter. Fold in blueberries.  Fill each muffin liner about 3/4 full of batter; set aside. To make streusel topping, in a small bowl, combine remaining 1/4 cup each of sugar and flour. Pour in melted butter and combine with fingertips. Divide crumb mixture over muffins; gently press into top of muffin batter with fingertips. Bake about 25 minutes or until slightly golden and a toothpick inserted in center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool in pan for about 10 minutes, then transfer muffins onto racks to cool completely. Yields 12 servings with 5 WW Points Plus per serving. You can substitute blueberries for any type of berry you prefer.

I used weightwatchers.com's picture for this post.

Blueberry Oat Pancakes

I made these for Zac for breakfast this morning. Very yummy!

Ingredients

1 c. Whole Wheat Flour

1/2 c. Rolled Oats

1/3 c. Splenda or Sugar

1/2 tsp. Baking Powder

1/2 tsp. Baking Soda

1 c. Skim Milk

2 Large Egg Whites

1 tsp. Vanilla Extract

3/4 c. Blueberries

1 Tbsp. Whole Wheat Flour

Directions
Combine dry ingredients in a lage bowl  except blueberries and the 1 Tbsp of flour. In a small bowl combine and whisk wet ingredients . Mix wet ingredients into the large bowl with dry ingredients until  it's a thoroughly mixed batter. In a separate bowl coat blueberries with the 1 Tbsp. of flour. Fold blueberries gently into batter to keep batter color. Scoop in 1/4 c. portions onto a griddle at 325 degrees or a skillet on medium heat. Cook throroughly on both sides until golden. Makes 6 pancakes.

Notes
Each pancake is 4 WW PointsPlus. According to the Weight Watchers site, it didn't make a difference point-wise if I used Splenda or sugar, so I say go for the sugar!

Whole Grain Banana Blueberry Muffins

I had to go buy a muffin pan just for this recipe, but it's a FABULOUS muffin recipe. Not too difficult either. I started with a recipe from Green Lite Bites (a healthy food blog I love and highly recommend) then added blueberries and made a few other changes like including oats. They are divine.

Whole Grain Banana Blueberry Muffins

Ingredients:

2 c whole wheat flour

1/2 c quick oats

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 c. brown sugar

4 egg whites

2 large over-ripe bananas

1 c low fat vanilla yogurt

2 tbsps honey

1/2 c apple sauce

1 tsp almond extract

1 1/2 c fresh (or frozen) blueberries

1 tbsp whole wheat flour (extra or separate than from above)

2 tbsps quick oats (extra or separate than from above)

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Mix the 2 cups flour, 1/2 cup oats, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into a mixing bowl. Set aside.

In a separate, larger bowl, mash up the bananas with a fork until they are a paste. Add the egg whites, yogurt, honey, molasses, applesauce, brown sugar, and almond extract. Whisk together until well blended.

Pour the dry mixture slowly into the wet mixture. Don't over mix.

Put blueberries into a small bowl. (If you are using frozen berries, DO NOT THAW.) Mix the berries in the extra tbsp of flour, covering them completely. Gently add the berries to the batter and fold in with a spatula. Do not mix heavily. This keeps the berries from turning the batter blue.

Spray a 12 muffin pan with non-stick cooking spray. Evenly distribute the batter into the muffing tin cups. The batter should be level with the pan. Sprinkle the tops with the extra 2 tbsp of quick oats. Bake for 18 to 20 min. Enjoy!

Whole Wheat Banana (Nut) Pankakes

I get some of my recipes and inspiration from different blogs and webistes. One of my favorites is www.greenlitebites.com . This morning I took her recipe for banana pancakes and mophed it a little bit into my own. I also took her recipe for blueberry topping and changed it into stawberry topping, since I only had frozen stawberries, not frozen blueberries. I will put this recipe in a separate post. I mention this blog because I always want to give credit where credit is due. Not all of these recipes are my own of course.

Whole Wheat Banana Pancakes

Ingredients:

1 large very ripe banna

3/4 c skim milk

1 large egg

1/2 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 c whole wheat flour

1/4 c whole oats

1/2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 c walnuts or pecans (optional)

Directions:

Cut banana is into small pieces and, in a large bowl, mash them. If you like some chunks (like I do) leave some chunks; if you don't, mash the banana completely. Add milk, egg and banana and wisk. In a separate bowl, mix dry ingredients. Slowly wisk dry ingredients into wet ingredients. Cook on a griddle sprayed with non-stick spray at 325 degrees or on a skillet on medium heat.

Notes:

Makes about 6 meduim-sized pancakes.

* I took a pic, but can't get it off the camera right now so when I can or make them again I will post a picture.