Fit Fare

Note: This post is the second in a series of twelve reviewing the 12 Best Foods Cookbook.

According to Dana Jacobi (12 Best Foods Cookbook), blueberries are the best fruit because they contain the most antioxidants, significantly less pesticides are used in their cultivation, and they are the least perishable of all berries. They are high in vitamins A, C, and E, and contain significant amounts of potassium, manganese and magnesium. Recent studies have shown that eating blueberries may improve memory, intelligence, and coordination.

Consuming blueberries au naturel is a good idea, since heat diminishes the benefits of the phytonutrients they contain. (Health experts agree that eating cooked berries, fresh or frozen, still provides significant benefits.)

When I have fresh blueberries, I usually just throw them into my fat-free vanilla yogurt, where they provide a fresh burst of flavor. Occasionally, I’ll make muffins or a cobbler, but it seems counterintuitive to put all that blueberry goodness into something so relatively unhealthy.

So when I saw the recipe for Blueberry-Polenta Muffin Tops in the 12 Best Foods Cookbook, it seemed like a nice compromise. It has relatively low amounts of sugar and flour, and has the added bonus of the cornmeal in the polenta.

One drawback, however, is that the recipe calls for a muffin top pan, which doesn’t strike me as something your everyday cook has on hand. (Although I did recently come very close to acquiring one, but that’s another story.) So I decided to make these more like muffin-top bars, using an 11 x 7 inch rectangular pan.

The end result was mixed. The orange and polenta added a fresh twist to the flavor, and the polenta added a pleasantly grainy texture. They were a little too thin to hold their shape, though.

I would make them again, but I would double the recipe and just make muffins with them. They would make a great treat for a lazy Sunday brunch, or a bridal or baby shower.

Blueberry-Polenta Muffin Tops

1 large egg
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup orange juice
1/2 tsp grated orange zest
1/4 cup canola oil
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 cup quick-cooking polenta
1 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1-1/4 cups fresh or frozen blueberries, or 3/4 cup dried

Place a rack in the center of the oven. Preheat the oven to 350 deg. F.

Coat an 8-cavity muffin-top pan with cooking spray.

In a mixing bowl, using an electric mixer on medium-high speed, beat the egg with the sugar until thick and pale, 2 minutes. Mix in the juice, zest, and oil. Stir in the flour, polenta, baking powder, and salt. Mix in the blueberries. Spoon the batter into the prepared pan, filling the cavities to the top.

Bake 15 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin top comes out clean and the tops are rounded and browned around the edges. Cool the muffin tops in the pan for 2 minutes. Unmold and cool on a wire rack.

Serve warm or at room temperature. Tops keep for up to 3 days wrapped in foil.

Makes 8 muffin tops.

Per muffin top: 187 calories, 8 g fat, 1 g saturated fat, 3 g protein, 27 g carbohydrates, 2 g fiber