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Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Breakfast Flax-Oat-Apple Muffins

Another muffin recipe it is. After I made a batch of the banana oat muffins last week, I started craving more whole grain goodness. Whole grain muffins are such a great breakfast or snack on the run. So, I decided to try my hand at another variety, yet with some of the same great ingredients. I felt these muffins even turned out better than the last (if I must say so). But really it was just a matter of what ingredients I had available. So, whether you have ripe bananas or applesauce may determine your route of muffin baking. And of course you will need to have some gluten-free oats on hand. Oats are a great muffin builder, and not to mention body builder.

Not body builder, like you are pounding steroids and pumping weights...

But body builder like how you are building and protecting your body. Let me explain. I once heard this explanation (and countless research) of how what we put in our bodies really is adding to how our genetics and DNA express itself. So if you eat a lot of plants, your body will reflect on that with having great levels of chlorophyll and "sunshine" in your body. If you eat a lot of beef, you might start moving or looking like a cow. :) Ok, so maybe some of this idea is a stretch, but I do think that it brings up an interesting conversation. Especially, if you are raising kids or healing or recovering from imbalances. Because, if you think of how those sugary pop tarts are "building" the arms, legs and the mind of your child, you will probably re-think... "Is this what my child's body should be made out of?" Hopefully, you will think how the candy, pop and junk food isn't what you would want your kids body to be built out of, by rather building blocks of nutrition like fruits, vegetables and whole grains. These are the kind of real foods that we need to be strong, built for endurance, and ready for whatever life brings you.

We are constantly growing, changing and evolving, and so we must take into account that the food we are eating will express itself some way in our being. Whether it is by our moods, skin, digestion, and ect. Food does make a difference to how we live and express ourselves. It is not only for the kids that are growing and building every day, but for adults who are needing to evolve and build strong beings as well. This is why balanced and whole nutrition is so important. It feeds the mind, body and soul in ways that fake foods cannot. Real nutrition is just one piece of the puzzle for having a healthier life, but because it is something that we must seek out for ourselves we must be more aware. It forces us to make choices of what is body-building worthy, and what is just waste. These muffins on the other hand are full of whole grain benefits, fiber, vitamins, and only natural real ingredients. So, this is what pushes me to produce baked goods that are actually good for you. That will actually make you feel good, alive and full of energy. So, here is another shot at a whole grain oatmeal muffin.
Breakfast Flax-Oat-Apple Muffins
1/2 cup flax meal
3 TB. of raw honey or agave nectar
2 farm fresh eggs (can be optional if you are looking for a vegan muffin)
1/2 cup of coconut milk beverage (or other non-dairy milk) with 1 TB of apple cider vinegar
1 cup of homemade unsweetened applesauce or store bought is fine too
2 ts. baking powder
1 ts. baking soda
1/2 ts. sea salt
1/2 cup of organic raisins (or other dried fruit)
Mix the oats, ground oats (oat flour), and the rest of the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Pour the non-dairy milk (coconut milk beverage) in a separate bowl and add the apple cider vinegar and set aside for 10 minutes to curdle. Once the milk is curdled, add that and the rest of the wet ingredients to the large mixing bowl and mix well. Add the optional raisins last. If you are looking for this recipe to be vegan, or basically avoid the eggs. I would suggest making them without the eggs. Because of the hearty flax meal, oats and applesauce combo, these would really bake up fine without the eggs. So try it out.

This recipe makes 12 large muffins, or 18-24 small ones. I made 12 of the large, and that is what is pictured above. Pour into muffin tins, and bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. Make sure the middles of the muffins are cooked and then pull out of oven and let cool on rack. These muffins are very hearty, and would freeze wonderfully. Or, they do last on the counter or in the fridge for most of the week. Hope you enjoy, and feel nourished and blessed.

Much love to you today! Have a great rest of the week!

14 comments:

  1. Just thought I would let you know that I made these yesterday and they are sooo yummy! I modified it slightly, because I don't need them to be gluten-free, and I can't have dairy, coconut milk, or sweetners right now, but the recipe seemed pretty flexible and yielded a dozen delicious applesauce oat muffins! Thanks for the recipe!

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  2. Cheyenne- Arn't these wonderful??!! I love how filling, hearty, and moist they are. So if you modified it, did you go-sugarless and add water instead of coconut milk? Just curious. Are you on a special detox?

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  3. excuse me..in my country, there is't flax meal..what ingredient can i use to replace it??thank you very much...

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  4. stephanie- what country do you live in? Do you have chia seeds, or whole flax seeds? Those could be ground into a "mealy" substance, or else you could use 1/2 cup of rice bran, or if you are not allergic to gluten, you could use another grain's bran as well. Let me know if that helps, or if you need more ideas...

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  5. I live in Surabaya,Indonesia .. in Indonesia very few people who are allergic to gluten, but my mother does not like products with wheat ingredients.. so I try to look for other alternatives for making baking products, but the ingredients are quite hard to find here.. it's easy to find wheat flour, tapioca flour, white rice flour, glutinous rice flour, corn starch, oatmeal and mung bean flour .. we can find wheat starch, almond flour, potato flour in the baking shop .. Other ingredients such as brown rice flour, potato starch, rice bran are not sold in supermarkets, but are sold in other specialty stores or over the internet ..
    can yo give me advice to make a baking product with such material?pleaseeee...
    I rarely heard about chia seeds .. few people who sell flax seed in the form of flax seed oil and many are sold with a lower quality to feed the bird.. rice bran also sell low-quality to feed for cattle.. but now,many people start to sell rice bran at good quality and high prices for health reasons .. so I still can find it here.. thank you very much...

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  6. I live in Surabaya, Indonesia. I have never heard about chia seeds. flax seed sold in the form of oil. in Indonesia is easy to find wheat flour, wheat starch, rice flour, glutinous rice flour, tapioca flour, mung bean flour, sagoo flour, arrowroot starch. at the grocery store cake, we can find potato flour, almond flour.. flax seed, rice bran and millet seeds sold with low quality for feed. but now many are sold rice bran with a good quality and high prices for health reasons. I will try to make it with bran, as you suggested. thanks a lot.

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  7. stephanie- do you need to eat gluten-free? the wheat four and starch contain gluten, so you would want to avoid those if you need to eat gluten free. I would suggest trying almond flour and rice flour as bases for recipes that you are trying to do gluten free. Keep trying new flours in recipes and see what you like best with what you have available to you. Hope that helps. much love-

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  8. I was just wondering if theses would work well with using regular milk. I can have dairy so it would be great if they worked with that...so i can make them in the morning and not wait till i buy coconut milk:)

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  9. Anon- Yes, you can use regular milk in this recipe. From my previous experience, you can most always sub the real milk for a non-dairy milk and vis versa. The only exception is when a recipe calls for buttermilk, then if you want a dairy free version you can do 3/4 the amount of milk and add either 1 TB of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar. Thanks for the comment!

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  10. Salam, my name is Kate, I just found your blog, and I LOVE IT!!!!!!!! I have a blog on wordpress, feel free to pay me a visit! katesapartmentsteading.wordpress.com
    I also follow many of your blogs over there ---->

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  11. How do I find nutritional information on these muffins?

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    1. I don't do nutritional info on my baked goods- sorry!

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  12. Could I increase the flax in these to 1 cup? What if left out the eggs?

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    1. Yes yu can increase flax to 1 cup and leave out eggs and maybe just add 1/4 cup water to sub with no eggs too.... Sounds like a perfect mix and vegan muffin!

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