We start our mornings with a smoothie. For many months, day in, day out...we have smoothies. We make all types...fruity, chocolately, peanut buttery. And we love that these tasty smoothies act as a Trojan horse for a cup or two of that superfood known as Spinach! Throw a bundle into any smoothie and it is virtually invisible taste-wise. Sometimes we throw in some protein powder, and most recently we added a cup of pumpkin for a Fall smoothie. But as cool weather is starting to set in for the long haul we're looking to change up our morning smoothie habit. We're gonna do more tofu scrambles, more oatmeal (we've got lots of ideas for baked oatmeal!) and the one thing that we're most excited about adding to our menu....MUFFINS! We are big fans of muffins. But we like them the way they were meant to be...sorta healthy...kinda beneficial. Somewhere along the line muffins lost their healthy appeal and they became super sugary, cakey, over-the-top breakfast-time desserts.
I remember a few years ago my sister gave us a call...she had just gone to the Dunkin Donuts drive thru and she was pretty much squealing with glee. She had ordered a pumpkin muffin and the drive thru guy asked her if she would like the muffin "warmed". This idea was revelation to her. She said "Guuuys...you Neeeeed to go get one right now...and you neeeed to get them warmed up!!!!" Ok, we are a family that loves food...and this was a textbook phone call for us siblings to share. And in turn, our following actions were 100% "normal". Me and Aaron hopped in the car and within 5 minutes we had dialed my sister back up to let her know that we agreed whole heartedly...or whole "bellied" I guess you could say. Of course I knew that this Dunkin Donuts muffin was far from health food and also at that time I wasn't caring about what I ate really. But even then, I knew it was not a treat to indulge in too often.
Ok, fast forward to now...I'm the gal who loves to look up the nutrition information of the foods that I ingested in the past...I take caloric walks down memory lane to see how bad I once was. So I looked up that good ol pumpkin muffin just to see how it stacked up against these Amazingly delicious Spiced Peach Oatmeal Muffins that we just made.
Oh Em Geeeee!
here's a small sample of how the numbers stack up:
D & D's pumpkin muffin: 550 calories, 24 grams of fat, 77 grams carbohydrate
J & A's Spiced Peach Oatmeal muffin: under 200 calories, 8 grams of fat, 24 grams carbohydrate
And don't even let me get into how long the D & D ingredient list is!! and how I can't even pronounce half of the 15 letter words!
I guess all of this goes without saying. But here's the biggest thing that me and Aaron want to stress:
These muffins are unbelievably delicious! Seriously...so moist and perfect. When you hit the cubed morsels of peach they just burst with sweetness, and the way the light sprinkling of raw cinnamon sugar melts into the muffin top is heavenly. Not for one second will you yearn for one of those crazy cake-like mega-bad-for-you sugar bombs that are masquerading as a "muffin". Nope...you will enjoy every single mouthful while living on the lightside.
Here is what you will need:
3/4 cup plain greek yogurt
1/4 cup almond milk (you can use plain or vanilla)
1 cup old fashioned oats
1/3 cup oil of choice (we used melted coconut oil)
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground ginger
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup fresh or frozen (thawed) chopped peaches
for topping:
1 tablespoon sugar in the raw
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
Preheat oven to 400 degrees, and spray a muffin tin with non stick spray.
In a medium bowl whisk together your yogurt and almond milk till well combined. Mix in your oats, combine well, and put to the side.
In a large bowl combine your oil, brown sugar, and egg. Mix well. Then stir in both flours, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, allspice and salt. Now add the oat mixture and mix well. When combined gently fold in your peaches.
Scoop your batter into muffin pan. This will yield a dozen. Then before baking sprinkle the muffin tops with a bit of the sugar/cinnamon mixture.
Bake for 15-18 mins, or till lightly browned. Cool for a few minutes in the pan and then remove to fully cool on a cooling rack. Serve warm (just like that genius drive-thru guy)...or at room temperature. Keep stored under a cake dome on the kitchen counter.
These made THE best breakfast. And yeah, I didn't even mention how awesome the oats make these taste...and what perfect texture the oats bring to 'em. You gotta give these a try. We whipped 'em up so fast. Since we had baked them the night before we both slept super well knowing that these bundles of goodness were waiting for down in the kitchen.
thanks for stopping by...and be sure to let us know how you like 'em!
xo, Jenny & Aaron