When standing at the counter pondering breakfast choices, the conscientious among us scan past the doughnuts, bagels and regular muffins and focus on the low-fat muffin choices. That is the healthiest choice, right? Maybe not.

According to Joanne Lewandoski, chief clinical dietitian at Englewood Hospital and Medical Center, the battle for better health is not low fat versus high fat, but good fat versus bad.

The Harvard School of Public Health and the Culinary Institute of America (CIA) agree. Low-fat muffins often have more harmful carbohydrates and sugar than regular ones. Also, commercially produced low-fat muffins aren't just low in trans fats, but also in some healthy fats that could make regular muffins the healthier choice.

So, in an effort to end the "myth" that low-fat always means healthier, Harvard and the CIA recently collaborated on new muffin recipes with healthy fats, whole grains, and less salt and sugar.

Their recipes also take on the obvious other issue with most muffins you can buy in national chain stores: They're enormous.

"If you've got to go for a muffin, only eat half of it," says Lewandoski.

Of course, the best way to go is to make them at home, where you know the ingredients and can control the size. "Make a healthy, wholesome muffin in the small muffin pan," she says.

If you want to add extra ingredients, go for antioxidant-rich blueberries or nuts like walnuts, which have antioxidants as well and the added benefit of fiber.

But Lewandoski cautions that some people have to eat low-fat the right way.

"We're looking at healthy, but if you want calorie reduction, you might be better off going for the low-fat muffin and using the apple sauce instead of the canola oil," she says, referring to the healthy fat canola oil used in the Harvard/CIA recipes. "It all depends on what your nutrition goals are."

Email: yoriok@northjersey.com

MUFFIN MAKEOVER

The following recipes were developed by the Culinary Institute of America in cooperation with the Harvard University School of Public Health as part of an initiative to make a popular breakfast food healthier.

WHOLE WHEAT BANANA NUT MUFFINS

• 1 1/2 cups walnuts, toasted and chopped
• 5 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 tablespoon walnut oil
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup non-fat, plain Greek yogurt
• 5 ripe bananas, mashed
• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Preheat oven to 350 F. Line muffin tins with paper liners.

When the oven temperature reaches 350 F, place walnuts on a baking sheet and toast in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and chop.

In a medium mixing bowl combine the canola oil, walnut oil, brown sugar, egg and yogurt. Whisk to combine, and then stir in the mashed banana and the toasted, chopped walnuts.

Stir in the flour, baking powder and salt.

Use a 1/4 cup measuring cup to portion out the batter into the 18 lined muffin cups.

Bake for 23 to 25 minutes, or until the tops of the muffins are nicely browned. Cool on a wire rack.

Makes: 18 muffins.

Nutritional information per serving (one muffin): 190 calories, 4 grams protein, 20 grams carbohydrates, 2.5 grams fiber, 95 milligrams sodium, 1 gram saturated fat, 6 grams polyunsaturated fat, 4 grams trans fat.

BLUEBERRY MUFFINS

• 1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup almond flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon orange zest
• 2 cups fresh blueberries
• 2 eggs, large
• 1 1/4 cups low-fat (1 percent) buttermilk
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 6 tablespoons canola oil
• 1 tablespoon orange juice
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Place the rack in the top third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400 F. Line muffin tins with paper liners.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the flours, baking powder, salt, baking soda and orange zest. Add the fresh blueberries and toss gently to coat the blueberries in flour. This will help keep the blueberries suspended in the batter instead of falling to the bottom.

In a medium mixing bowl, lightly beat the eggs, then whisk in the buttermilk, brown sugar, canola oil, orange juiceand vanilla. Don’t be concerned if the mixture looks curdled or lumpy.

Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir until most of the flour is incorporated. The mixture can be slightly lumpy; don’t over-mix. Divide the batter among the 18 prepared muffin cups.

Bake for 12 to 14 minutes, until the muffins are golden brown around the edges. Cool on a wire rack.

Makes: 18 muffins.

Nutritional information per serving (one muffin): 130 calories, 1 gram saturated fat, 2 grams polyunsaturated fat, 3 grams monounsaturated, no trans fat, 3 grams protein, 16 grams carbohydrates, 1.5 grams fiber, 140 milligrams sodium.

Baking tips:

* Make muffins smaller.
* Substitute whole wheat flour for 50 percent of white flour in recipes.
* Cut 25 percent of the sugar from most standard muffin recipes, and it won’t negatively impact flavor and texture.
* Use liquid plant oils – canola, extra virgin olive oil, corn, sunflower, etc. – which are healthier than melted butter or shortening
* Use nuts to add extra protein and more healthy fats.