by Claire Star
I’m not a morning person, so I often struggle to fit in breakfast and coffee before scrambling out the door. Looking to fix this problem, I found a couple of recipes for breakfast muffins that had lots of fruit and weren’t heavy on the sugar. After some experimentation, I’m happy to report that these fruit and oat muffins (complete with a crumble topping) were both delicious and easy to make. The best part? You can substitute the cranberry for whatever fruit is in season. I’m thinking raspberries will be great in a few weeks.
The original recipe called for oil, but I substituted that with homemade applesauce, made by peeling and chopping an apple and putting it in the microwave for four or five minutes with a healthy amount of cinnamon. The apples will still be a bit chunky, allowing for a little apple in each bite, or you can microwave longer to make for a smoother applesauce. I also added lots of spices to my take on the recipe, like cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, and allspice, easily adapted to suit personal preference. Depending on taste, you can reduce the amount of sugar. To round things out, I mixed equal parts brown sugar and oats and sprinkled the topping on the muffins for some added intrigue.
Despite forgetting to separate the wet and dry ingredients the first time I made them, the muffins turned out perfectly. And, depending on how large you’d like them to be, I suggest doubling the recipe and filling the muffin liners all the way to the top. These don’t rise much and until I thought to double the batter, I was eating two at a time for breakfast.
Here’s the recipe:
Oatmeal Apple Cranberry Breakfast Muffins
Here’s the recipe:
Oatmeal Apple Cranberry Breakfast Muffins
2 cups rolled oats (plus more for topping) 2 cups yogurt 1 cup applesauce ½ cup white sugar 1 cup brown sugar (plus more for topping) 2 eggs 2 cups flour 2 teaspoons salt 2 teaspoons baking powder 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 teaspoon allspice 1 teaspoon cloves 1 teaspoon nutmeg 1 ½ cup cranberries, halved | 1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. 2. Stir oats into yogurt until combined. 3. Sift dry ingredients into a bowl. 4. In another bowl, add sugars, egg, and applesauce. 5. Beat until well blended. 6. Gradually fold in dry ingredients. 7. Add chopped cranberries. 8. Pour batter to top of muffin liners. 9. Bake for 20 minutes, or until toothpick comes out clean. Yield: 1 dozen (half recipe for smaller muffins) |
Are there any quick and simple breakfasts you recommend? Here’s another great choice from our archives.
// Adapted from Food.com's recipe.
Tags: by Claire, Food