Nothing makes you want to bake like being snowed in. Snow drifts pushing up into the house on all sides, wind blowing clumps of snow from the tree branches into the windows, and not even the mail delivery to make you feel connected to the outside world. (Yep, that’s right, they’re not even delivering mail today in the Philly area — my grandmother would be so ashamed!)

After feeling dazed for a day, not knowing what to bake, today I succumbed to a long-time craving for peach muffins. Late last summer, the Little Mister, the Boy, and I went peach picking at Linvilla Orchards. I cut and froze a few pounds of peaches (because I still haven’t gotten my act together to learn how to can) and they’ve been calling to me lately. But I’ve been cautious about baking much of anything, because since January I’ve been carefully watching what I eat in an attempt to finally shake the baby weight I’ve been hanging on to for a year and a half.

Fortunately, I found this very simple recipe for Peach Muffins in Bakin’ Without Eggs (a recipe book I tried last summer & eventually bought when we found out that the Boy hadn’t outgrown his egg allergy):

wheaty-peachy-muffins

2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp all spice
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 cup nonfat sour cream or yogurt
2/3 cup peaches, fresh or canned, drained & chopped

The recipe was particularly intriguing because it doesn’t call for alot of sugar or fat, thereby offering a somewhat healthier (or at least a less unhealthy) treat. I upped the healthy quotient a touch by substituting 1/2 of the all purpose flour with wheat flour. I’m not sure if it’s because I used wheat flour (which is supposedly “thirstier” than white flour), but I needed to add an extra 1/2 cup of yogurt to get the mixture wet enough that it actually resembled muffin batter. I used low fat, instead of no fat, yogurt because that’s what I had. I also subbed 1/8 tsp of cinnamon, 1/8 tsp of cloves & pinch of nutmeg for the allspice. I’d say it could have used a touch more spice (maybe 1/2 tsp spice altogether, rather than 1/4 tsp). I’d also say it could have definitely taken a full cup of peaches. But otherwise, this recipe was spot on.

The result is a fluffy, filling muffin that is less than 150 calories. I found it to be far less sweet than a store bought muffin (which often have the little top crust of sugar), but very delicious and very satisfying. The Little Mister said it was exactly what you want in a muffin. They would go particularly well at breakfast with a cup of coffee or tea. You could also mix it up a little by tossing in a handful of chopped nuts. This recipe is definitely a keeper.