When life gives you lemons, you grab it with both hands ...

On Valentine's day my 7-year old wanted to impress his dad with lemon blueberry pancakes. He employed me as his sous-chef. We immediately got to work sorting dry ingredients and wet ingredients. While I ended up doing most of the "worker bee" work, he faithfully helped me measure and mix the ingredients together with a deft hand to help make the fluffiest pancake! These muffins are inspired from the lemon blueberry pancakes and are also a slight variation from a base recipe I have previously mentioned.

There is something joyful about lemons that makes my heart sing... the mouth-watering sourness, the burst of fresh flavor, the warm color of sun and the heavenly scent of summer infuses my body with happiness. Crisp citrus-y scent awakens my jaded soul and makes me feel alive on the days I need a boost of sunshine... Here's an ode to the clean, refreshing and tangy fruit - a.k.a. lemon...

Lemon Blueberry Skinny Muffins (Makes 4 muffins) 

Ingredients:
1/2 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 heaping teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
a pinch of sea salt
4 tablespoons coconut palm sugar
4 tablespoons coconut oil
1 egg
2 teaspoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon lemon zest
3 tablespoons milk
2 tablespoons fresh or frozen blueberries
Poppy seeds (optional)
Skinny whipped topping (optional, I used Skinny Truwhip)

Method:

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a muffin tin with 4 cupcake liners and set aside.
2) Whisk flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a bowl and set aside.
3) In another bowl cream the egg, sugar and oil mixture together. Add milk and lemon juice. It curdles a bit, creating the buttermilk effect. Fold in the lemon zest.
4) Stir in the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, just until combined, taking care not to over mix.
5) Throw in a bunch of blueberries and gently fold into the cupcake mixture
6) Scoop out the batter evenly into 4 muffin cups, taking care not to fill more than 3/4 of the way.
7) Sprinkle a touch of poppy seeds, if adding
8) Bake for 15-20 mins, or until the toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
9) Cool for 5 mins in the pan and then transfer to a wire rack
10) Cool completely before dousing it with the skinny whip topping. Throw a blueberry on top.

Enjoy!