Cinnamon Apple Oat Muffins

I've always loved baking. I love the smells, I love putting love into old recipes or trying out new ones, I love how therapeutic it is and how much people enjoy receiving "just because" baked goods. I love improvising and substituting and making recipes completely my own, and this recipe for cinnamon apple oat muffins (that's a mouthful!) is a product of that.

A couple months ago, Josh had an morning meeting before class and he asked me to make some sort of breakfast-y baked good to take to his meeting. I looked at my pantry (that was looking kinda sad on that particular day) and started looking up recipes with the things I did have. As far as baked goods go, you can never go wrong with apples and cinnamon. Add in some oats and you have yourself a good foundation for something really tasty!

So I found a recipe for oatmeal apple muffins and decided to get to improvising. I must've been way too tired that morning (I woke up before Josh and EJ so I could have a little baking therapy time to myself!) because I didn't even write down what all I substituted from the original recipe! Everyone loved the muffins and I was so bummed because I could not remember how to recreate them! 

Like I said, I love making healthy substitutions in recipes I find. Did you know substituting honey for sugar or applesauce for oil/butter is as simple as a 1:1 ratio? Making healthier substitutions is so much simpler than you think! My go-to substitutions in baking are usually honey for brown sugar, applesauce for butter, almond milk for regular milk, so for this recipe I just started from there. 

These muffins may not be the exact replica of the ones I made that morning (always write down what recipes when  you substitute because you never know when you're baking your new favorite goodies!) but they are so delicious! Best of all, they have no butter or oil and are low in sugar so I not only feel good about eating them as breakfast on the go, I also feel good about feeding it to EJ.

First you want to preheat your oven to 400º, but if you want to make this recipe into apple bread, preheat your oven to 350º. Next, whisk together oats, flour (you can use whole wheat, all purpose, or you could even grind up some oats in a food processor and use that as the "flour" component of this recipe!) baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl. I would usually add in some ground flax seeds as well but I was all out.

In a separate bowl, whisk together applesauce, honey, almond milk and egg. For these muffins I used 1 1/4 cup applesauce, but you can substitute 1/4 cup of that for coconut oil, canola/vegetable oil or even butter. 

Once your dry ingredients and your wet ingredients are all nice and mixed, pour the wet mixture over the dry mixture and whisk until fully combined.

Next, dice up your apple of choice and stir it into the batter. I used a medium sized gala apple because it's just what I had at the time but you can use fuji or even a honey crisp or pink lady for a slightly tangier taste. You can also choose to forgo the apple completely and stir in some craisins or walnuts or whatever you have on hand.

Lightly grease a muffin tin or you could use paper muffin liners and scoop about a tablespoon and a half into each muffin cup. Most people say you should fill them about 3/4 of the way up, but I like to live on the edge and I'm a fan of a nice muffin top so I fill them up pretty much to the top! At this point, you'll want to add the delicious and completely optional crumble to the tops of your muffins. I left that out in this batch because I'm planning on having these be part of EJ's breakfast this week.

Please don't mind or judge how dirty my oven door is! I didn't notice until I was uploading my pictures.. whoops.

Once your oven is set to the right temperature (400º for muffins and 350º for a loaf), place your muffin tin or loaf pan in the middle of the oven and bake for 16-18 minutes (muffins) or about 40 minutes (loaf). Now you'll want to sit back and sip on your morning (or afternoon, or whenever) coffee and enjoy the delicious aroma of apples and cinnamon that will be filling your house. (Or if you're me this morning, you'll want to pray that your little guy's nap goes for at least 20 minutes longer so you can finish baking in peace and quiet and maybe even enjoy a warm muffin to yourself.)

Once they're all nice and brown and your toothpick comes out clean, let them cool off for about 10 minutes. 

And that's it! This recipe is so quick and easy and so simple that you really can substitute and improvise and add-in so much and really make it personalized to your family's taste. Not only are they a healthy alternative to breakfast bars and sugary baked goods that you can enjoy, but, as you can see, little taste buds love them too!

 xo Kristina

Cinnamon Apple Oat Muffins

 

Yield: 12 muffins

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
• 1 1/4 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 cup almond milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 large egg
• 1 medium red apple
• 
  
• Optional add-ins:
• 1 cup raisins or craisins 
• 1/2 cup walnuts 
• 1/4 cup flax seeds or chia seeds

Optional topping:

• 1/4 cup quick-cooking oats
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon butter, melted

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400º (or 350º for apple bread). Lightly grease a muffin tin with cooking spray, or line with paper muffin liners.
2. Optional topping: In a small bowl, whisk together 1/4 cup oats, 1 tablespoon brown sugar, and 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon. Add 1 tablespoon melted butter and mix together until well combined; set aside.
3. In a large bowl, combine the oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt. In another bowl, whisk together the applesauce, almond milk, vanilla and egg. Add to dry ingredients and mix until combined. Stir in diced apple or other optional add-ins.
4. Divide batter evenly into 12 muffin cups. Use your fingers to sprinkle muffins with optional topping.
5. Bake for 16 - 18 minutes (or about 40 minutes for apple bread) or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and cool for a few minutes in the pans.
6. Enjoy!