Healthy Whole Wheat Orange Muffins

The simplest healthy Whole Wheat Orange Muffins! Dairy-free, made with Trop50 juice beverage and ready in 30 minutes. Perfect with breakfast! Vegan-tested and approved.

This post is sponsored in partnership with Trop50. All opinions expressed remain my own, as always. Thank you for your support as I partner with brands I trust and think you’ll value – It helps make Fit Mitten Kitchen Possible!

So by now you know I have a thing for baking. It is what my Pal and I have grown up doing together on our weekends from a very young age. Picking out those 5 star rated recipes from allrecipes.com, reading through the reviews to see how the recipe turned out and what changes people made.

As you get older though, taste buds change. You realize maybe you don’t need an entire cup of sugar in a loaf of quick bread or muffins… So when I started making several changes to more traditional recipes, trying to “healthify” them a little bit, those were essentially the beginning stages of Fit Mitten Kitchen. I wanted to share with people that there was a way to still achieve great results in the kitchen, using some modifications, maybe some healthier ingredients and STILL have the recipes taste good.

And that is actually what Trop50 is all about, too! I’m partnering with Trop50 this season to share with you some tips and different recipe ideas to reduce sugar without the sacrifice – also known as #SugarHacks.

So often in traditional baked goods, there is usually loads more sugar than what is actually necessary for the recipe. While making various creations here on the blog, I will sometimes start with the traditional recipe and make modifications, then test the recipe until I feel good about it. One of the first things I’ve realized is you can typically cut back on the granulated sugar quite a bit when making adjustments.

Healthy Whole Wheat Orange Muffins

Sugar Hack #1 – Trop50 orange juice

I adapted the recipe for these orange muffins from a generic recipe, but used Trop50 instead of regular orange juice – Trop50 gives you the delicious taste of OJ with 50% less sugar and calories.  I also cut back on the dry granulated sugar as well. The muffins still came out moderately sweet, but not bland.

Sugar Hack #2 – Add Spice

Sometimes all we need is a little cinnamon to boost the flavor a bit so you don’t feel as though you’re missing out on the sweetness. Cinnamon and orange is such a great combo, too.

Sugar Hack #3 – Coconut Butter Drizzle

Trade out the traditional powdered sugar glaze for coconut butter. Seriously, it tastes amazing, naturally sweet without added sugar and contains “healthy fats” 🙂 All you have to do is warm up the coconut butter in the jar (if you live in a colder climate) and drizzle it on with a butter knife or spoon. SO GOOD.

These orange muffins are perfect alongside breakfast.

Ingredients needed: 

• Trop50 orange juice
• whole wheat white flour
• sugar
• baking powder
• cinnamon
• salt
• orange zest
• egg 
• oil

Once all the muffin ingredients are mixed together, you fill the muffin tin cavities about 2/3 of the way full. Bake for about 15-20 minutes at 400ºF and BOOM. Healthy orange muffins ready for you!

Oh, but don’t forget the coconut butter glaze 🙂

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How to Make…

Healthy Whole Wheat Orange Muffins

The simplest Whole Wheat Orange Muffins! Dairy-free, made with Trop50 and ready in 30 minutes. Perfect with breakfast! Vegan-tested and approved.

• Prep Time: 10 minutes
• Cook Time: 20 minutes
• Total Time: 30 minutes

• Yield: 12 1x
• Scale: 1x2x3x

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Ingredients

• 1 3/4 cup whole wheat white flour*
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar (or dry sweetener of choice)
• zest of 2 medium oranges
• 2 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 cup Trop50
• 1/4 cup avocado oil**
• 1 large egg***
• 1 tsp vanilla extract (sub orange for more flavor, or even almond)

Optional Glaze:

• 2–3 TBS coconut butter, melted

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with liners or spray with oil. Set aside.
2. In a large bowl combine flour, sugar, orange zest, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Set aside.
3. In a medium bowl gently whisk together Trop50, oil, egg and vanilla extract. 
4. Pour wet ingredients into large bowl of dry ingredients. Use large runner spatula or spoon to gently fold ingredients together. Be careful not to over-mix, as this will result in tougher muffins. 
5. Evenly distribute muffin batter into prepared muffin pan, filling 12 cups evenly – about 2/3 full.
6. Bake muffins for 18-20 minutes, checking center for doneness with inserted toothpick coming out with little to no crumbs.
7. Allow muffins to cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing and transferring to wire rack to cool completely.
8. For coconut butter glaze, simply warm up coconut butter in microwave until melted. Drizzle muffins with coconut butter. Enjoy! 

Recipes Notes:

*Subbing half all-purpose, half whole wheat flour will work here. You should also be able to sub a GF 1:1 all-purpose baking flour

**I used avocado oil here. If subbing with coconut, be sure it is melted and cooled. Also, egg and Trop50 should be room temperature to keep the coconut oil from solidifying again.

***To make vegan: sub 1 TBS flaxseed meal + 3 TBS water. Let sit for 5 minutes before adding in with wet ingredients as directed above.

 Store muffins in airtight container – enjoy within 3-4 days. 

Recipe adapted from here

Nutrition Information:

• Serving Size: 1 muffin
• Calories: 166
• Sugar: 7g
• Sodium: 200mg
• Fat: 7g
• Saturated Fat: 2g
• Unsaturated Fat: 4g
• Trans Fat: 0g
• Carbohydrates: 22g
• Fiber: 1g
• Protein: 3g
• Cholesterol: 21mg

Category: breakfast Method: oven Cuisine: american
Keywords: healthy whole wheat orange muffins, healthy homemade muffin recipe, vegan dairy free muffins
Author: Ashley @ Fit Mitten Kitchen