So last Saturday I had a little bit of a cooking/baking extravaganza.. and it was awesome! Since the hubby and I have been doing our 12-week Fit Challenge, I haven’t really had the change to bake all that much, and I was really starting to miss it!
Saturdays are the day I have my “bonus meal”, and even though I don’t ever go really crazy and eat super unhealthy (because I just don’t have the desire to, …truly!), I do like to have a little baking or something sweet with my meal!
It’s been tough cutting out all sugars (except fruit sugars), so even though these muffins are clean and healthy, the natural sugars in the honey are a no-go right now on my plan. So, I enjoyed one of these delicious little guys with my bonus meal and the rest are in my freezer right now waiting patiently until next Saturday!
(…in case you are wondering, for my bonus meal I had some delicious local & organic chicken drumsticks baked in a naturally sweetened organic BBQ sauce, a side salad, and homemade CORNBREAD.. oh yeahhh, it was unreal – the cornbread will be hitting the blog sometime in the next week or two, so stay tuned!)
Ok! Back to the muffins!
These little delights are FANTASTIC for a healthy quick breakfast, a mid-day snack, or something to send to school with the kiddies! They are great because they are made with Sunbutter… a nut butter alternative made from sunflower seeds! This is perfect for those schools that are nut-free!
Sunbutter is absolutely delicious! It definitely has a bit of a different taste than peanut or almond butter, but it is still wonderfully creamy and a perfect alternative.
With rolled oats as the base, and the wonderful sunbutter, these muffins quickly come together with shredded apple, raw honey, cinnamon and vanilla. So simple, clean, and wholesome. As I’m sure you can tell by now, I love short ingredient lists that only have whole, natural, real foods on them!
A friend of mine came over to enjoy my bonus meal with me and she also had one of these muffins and after her first bite she said “these taste just like Clif Bars, yummm!!”… and they do! So, if you are a Clif Bar fan, you’ll definitely love these muffins! 🙂
So what ELSE is fantastic about these flavorful muffins? They are only 134 calories each! Not many muffins fall into the “under 200” calorie range, so these are great if you are watching the waistline too!
Served warm or cold these muffins are a great addition to the day…and for those of you who consider yourselves virtually “lost” when you step in the kitchen these are totally up your alley… easy, easy, peasy!
- 1 cup rolled oats (GF if needed)
- ½ cup shredded apple (or one small gala apple)
- 2 tablespoons sunflower butter (you can use peanut or almond too!)
- ¼ cup raw honey
- ¼ tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp pure vanilla extract
- (optional: 1 whole egg or 1 tablespoon flax mixed with 3 tablespoons water to make a "flax egg" - I did not use this so the muffins were a tiny bit crumbly, so this would work well as a binder but is not totally necessary)
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
- Transfer the mixture to a well greased 6-muffin tin (mini muffins), and press down firmly with the back of a spoon.
- Bake for 20 minutes or until the edges start to brown slightly. Allow to cool completely before taking out of the muffin tin.
- Enjoy!
Enjoy!
Christal
Nutritionist in the Kitch
I added the egg white from 1 large egg and the consistency was perfect!
Perfect! 🙂
Oh my goodness what is this madness?! I’ve recently been obsessing over oat-related-foods. Thanks for this easy, easy, peasy recipe 🙂 I’ll be making them soon! Beautiful photos, too
Thanks Grace! 🙂 Enjoy the muffins!!