I gave up muffins about 15 years ago. That may sound strange, since we normally give up something like smoking or Diet Coke (I gave that last one up 7 years ago 😊). But I used to LOVE muffins, and I got my original nutrition training in the "carb loading" for energy days, so I definitely had my fair share. Then I learned that one could easily have 300-500 kcal 😱, so I pretty much quit them altogether. Suffice it to say, the "loading" that had been happening was extra fat on my body instead of extra energy for my runs.
Fast forward to this week when one of my boot campers was having a birthday. We try to celebrate with something a little painful (he chose 56 floppy burpees) and also with a healthy treat. His request was for something with oats, blueberries, and raisins. I was a little tempted to just bring a big bowl of oatmeal after looking for a healthy recipe. 😄 But then I came across these blueberry muffins - they were delicious, healthy, super easy, and only 145 calories each!
Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups oats, divided
2 eggs
1 cup unsweetened applesauce
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup milk (I used unsweetened cashew milk)
1 tbsp vanilla
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 cups blueberries
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350. Line the muffin tin with paper baking cups and spray them with natural olive or avacado spray (the paper cups are a must if you don't want the muffins to stick).
Put 1 1/2 cups of oats in a blender or food processor and process until they turn into flour.
Put eggs in a large bowl and whisk.
Add the applesauce, honey, milk and vanilla to the eggs and mix with a fork until well blended.
Add the ground oats, the remaining cup of whole oats, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix thoroughly.
Add the blueberries and mix.
Put the mixture in the muffin cups. It will make 12 muffins, filled to the top because they don't rise.
Sprinkle some oats on top and bake in oven for 25 minutes.
ENJOY!
(recipe is adapted from Melaniecooks.com)