Whole Grain Oat Bran Muffins

A.K.A. Muffins of deliciousness and health.

And hello, why hasn't anyone slapped our wrists?! It has been over a year since the last recipe post! But because of our recent discoveries of delicious healthy recipes, we've been wanting to share them, and have been meaning to post them here for you all to enjoy. And then as I was sitting down to type this up I get a text from Lindsay asking for the recipe for said Muffins of Deliciousness and Health. Without further ado, the muffins!

Serves 12
1 cup all-purpose flour (we traded ours for whole wheat, and it just makes it a bit more dense. Still delish!)
3/4 cup uncooked old-fashioned or quick-cooking rolled oats
1/3 cup toasted wheat germ
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup fat-free milk
1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/4 egg substitute (we just use an egg, but if you have a substitute you prefer...)
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup snipped dried figs or dried apricots (if you want, we never add fruit)

Also, if you're feeling crazy and awesome, we always add flax seed and oat bran, about a 1/3 cup each per recipe.

Preheat oven to 400 F. Lightly spray a 12-cup muffin pan with cooking spray or use paper bake cups.

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, oats, wheat germ, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the center.

In another medium bowl, stir together the remaining ingredients except the fruit. Stir into the well just until moistened. The batter should be lumpy.

Fold in the fruit. Spoon into muffin cups.

Bake for 10-12 minutes, or until a wooden toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool for 5 minutes.

And let me just tell you, you can eat them a billion ways! We take them to campus plain as a regular muffin, Tom loves to eat them with peanut butter and honey or jam like a sandwich, and I love the honey and jam sans peanut butter myself. We tend to bake them in groups of 68...and then freeze them for easy grab-and-go food.

Apple Cinnamon Muffins

I have a dream. In my dream I am organized, and I own a deep freezer. In that deep chest freezer it is stocked full of pre-made meals, muffins, breads, and cookie dough, all ready to be pulled out at a moment's notice. But alas, I do not own a deep freezer, and I don't have things nicely made ahead of time. But these would be some good muffins to have in your freezer--ready for your husband to grab a bag on his way to work, or if your children need a mid-morning snack. This morning, they went nicely with our oatmeal and OJ.

A word about this recipe...I have no idea where it came from. I think I copied it down out of my mom's big box of 3x5 recipe cards before I left for college. But it seems kind of weird to me, so feel free to play around with it if you know what you're doing in the kitchen.

1 c. margarine or butter

2 c. sugar (what?! I only used one cup)

2 eggs

1 tsp. vanilla

16 oz. applesauce

3 1/2 c. flour

2 tsp. soda

3 tsp. cinnamon

1 tsp. cloves

1 tsp. all spice

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

Cook at 350 for 15-20 minutes

*I took it easy on the spices, but you shouldn't. And surely there's gotta be a better way than a whole cup of butter right?

These are dense muffins. They don't rise a whole lot so fill up those muffin cups. Makes 24