I‘ll admit, I’m a bit of a muffin addict. I cant help myself; they’re individually-sized renderings of all my favorite things: carbs, fruit, nuts…I just love ’em, so I’ve worked pretty hard recently at finding a base recipe that I can modify for pretty much any kind of muffin. That’s where these bad boys came from: the base recipe is essentially everything but the dried cherries and the pecans, which can be swapped out for literally whatever you’re feeling like. In fact, I use this same base recipe for my Pumpkin-Dark Chocolate Muffins, and it works beautifully with just a few substitutes.
Aside from making sure these muffins taste amazing and have great texture (they’ve got both, in spades), I worked on making sure that I could grab one of these on-the-go without feeling any snack-guilt. To do that, I used whole wheat flour instead of the white stuff, organic raw cane sugar and I tossed in some rolled oats for added protein and fiber. At the end of the day, these guys clock in at under 250 cals/muffin, without sacrificing any taste or moistness. I make a batch of muffins about once a week and I use them as a filling snack with my afternoon coffee – they’re the perfect lil’ midday pick me up, especially during the fall season. Here’s how I make them.
Cherry-Maple-Pecan Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 3/4 cups Whole Wheat Flour
- 3/4 cups Old Fashioned Oats
- 1/2 cup Organic Raw Sugar
- 1/4 c + 1 tbsp Maple syrup
- 3/4 cup Almond Milk {soy or dairy milk works here as well}
- 3/4 cup Applesauce
- 1/2 cup Vegetable Oil
- 1 Egg
- 1 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp Salt
- 1 tsp Vanilla
- 1/2 cup Dried cherries
- 1/2 cup Chopped pecans
Instructions
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Preheat an oven to 375 degrees and spray a standard muffin tin with non-stick spray or line it with cupcake liners. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and stir until just combined.
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Divide the batter evenly into the tray. Tap the tray on the counter to remove any air pockets from the batter.
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Bake for 25-30 minutes. With my oven, my muffins always take exactly 27 minutes. Just stick a toothpick in the center of one of the muffins and when it comes out clean, it's done!
