Vita muffins and other alternative store bought muffins?
Vita muffins? Does anyone eat these? I still can't seem to read labels, it says cane sugar as #2 ingredient, that can't be good can it? They sure taste good but cost a lot.
What are the alternatives? I'm trying to eat clean, wish I could find a low calorie healthy muffin for those am's when I'm on the run - to have fruit with...
Or do I have to learn to cook and actually use the muffin tin I just bought?
I really like Zen Fiber Cakes. I find them at Trader Joes. I usually only eat the blueberry ones -- they are 80 calories, 13 grams of fiber and taste really really good. They are a really dense muffin. They cost something like $4.50 for 6. I've never eaten a Vita muffin, but I hear those are really good too.
I love Meg's recipe for Fiber One Muffins. I sub pumpkin puree for the applesauce, skim milk for the buttermilk, baking powder for the baking soda (baking soda doesn't work with skim milk), add fruit of some sort, and add two teaspoons of pumpkin pie spice. I also divide the recipe into ten muffins instead of 12. With the various substitutions, and using splenda instead of sugar, it still comes out to less than 80 calories per muffin.
I also love Penny's Low Fat Muffins, which are slightly larger than the Vitamuffins but not any cheaper. But I am really bummed that they've cut back on the varieties they offer and no longer offer an assortment. Such a bummer.
I tasted a sample of Miracle Muffins at a neighborhood street fair and they also seemed pretty good. But I haven't actually ordered the mix yet. I guess I'll be trying it now that I can't get my fav muffin varieties from Penny's any more.
Cane sugar is a better ingredient than what MOST store bought baked good (and candies, sodas, etc.) use-high fructose corn syrup.
Basically, if you are going to have something sweet-it is better to have something sweetened naturally (cane sugar, honey, brown rice syrup, etc.) than with HFCS, because it has been chemically altered by scientists, and is a "cheap" material.
I just bought a pack of freezer Vita Muffins a few weeks ago, and I find them perfect for when I'm craving something carb-y and sweet but don't want to spend a ton of calories. Just had one for breakfast with an orange, actually Yum!
I sugar, SUGAR though, cane or NOT? That's what I'm wondering. Some items say Sugar Cane and I read somewhere it doesn't make a difference, it's SUGAR and I'm trying to cut back on it for me and my boy. These Vita Muffins might be too good to be true, I mean "vitamins" in the label/name but sugar as number 2? It's a buyer beware world isn't it? When you see a "healthy" label maybe it's not. I paid like $6.50 for 4 muffins, that's insane if they aren't REALLY good for you, like CLEAN EATING I'm trying to do. I think I need a mix or my own recipe, or to modify the one above.
Barbara, what a great tweak for my muffins -- I can't wait to try them your way!!
Oops! Caught messing with the master's recipe! Thank you so much for posting the original recipe--these muffins are an absolute staple in my diet. I make a new batch every couple weeks and I eat a muffin almost every day. I hope you like the tweaked recipe as much as I do.
horsey-I don't think that anyone was saying that Vitamuffins were "healthy".
I was just stating that when the occasional sweet craving happens-that many prefer to have something with real sugar in it, over processed and altered ingredients.
Basically-if I need something sweet-I would rather bake something myself (I often alter ingredients using applesauce instead of oil, egg whites instead of whole eggs, etc. to make it not QUITE as bad.) and at least know that it contains whole ingredients-rather than eat, say, a store bought donut that contains HFCS, hydrogenated oils, food coloring, etc.
For myself and others, there is even a "cleanmeter" for the occasional sweet.
Yes, it still has sugar in it, but I would rather have that on occasion, than something loaded with 20 things no one can pronounce.
Vita muffins and other alternative store bought muffins?
Yum!
Oops! Caught messing with the master's recipe! 
Thank you so much for posting the original recipe--these muffins are an absolute staple in my diet. I make a new batch every couple weeks and I eat a muffin almost every day. I hope you like the tweaked recipe as much as I do.
