Tag: oatmeal

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Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

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I wanted to make eat something sweet, desert, something baked, with that slight crunch when you bite it, so chocolate or ice cream was out… muffins, maybe. But i really needed to make breakfast. So in order to consolidate those two goals, it had to be at least somewhat on the healthy side, like cake was out. After some pondering and some back and forth I decided on blueberries and oatmeal. Oatmeal had to be in there due to its breakfast-y-ness and well, it’s also kinda good for you, or so I am told 😉

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My first attempt was a fat-free (besides what was in the egg) version. Well let’s just say they, we don’t talk about those around here anymore… Happy to say that by attempt two I was cured of that idea and came up with these, a low sugar blueberry muffin.

I know many of you folks are looking for low fat versions, and fret not, I am going to figure it out a good one that works soon, I am not giving up that easy. Just be wary of anything at the store that’s labeled fat free or low fat. That claim to fame is usually pretty short lived when you look at the facts. Pretty much all store bought items that are low in fat automatically are high in something else (sugar to name the least offensive option).

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Ingredients

  • 1 cup old fashioned rolled oats
  • 2 cups whole wheat pastry flour*
  • 1/2 cup butter, softened
  • 1/4 cup sugar or maple syrup or agave nectar
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 tsp vanilla extract
  • 3/4 to 1 cup milk
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries

*use less liquid if you are using all purpose flour

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Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350º F
  2. Prepare a standard muffin tin with cupcake liners, set aside.
  3. Mix the dry ingredients in a bowl, set aside.
  4. In a medium bowl, beat butter until soft, add sugar and stir until incorporated, then add the eggs, add the milk and vanilla extract.
  5. Add the wet ingredients you just mixed up to the dry ingredients and stir just until mixed, then add the blueberries and gently fold into the dough.
  6. Divide among the prepared muffin cups and bake until golden and a toothpick tester comes out clean, 20-24 minutes.
  7. Let cool in the muffin pan on a rack for 20 minutes before removing the muffins.

Makes 12

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© 2012 SimpleHealthyHomemade

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Gluten-free Vegan Oatmeal Cacao Nib Cookies

image Oh yeah, AND raisins!

These are so ridiculously awesome. The cacao nibs give them a dark chocolate flavor you can smell from the oven all while being gluten-free and low sugar! A quick word on cacao nibs/cacao bean: coming from the Theobroma cacao tree,  sometimes wrongly labeled cocoa nibs/cocoa bean, which from my understanding refers only to the extracted butter or powdered stuff. The mayan word is: kakaw, they might be on to something, I mean, they’ve only been using the stuff for ever. Just sayin’

Gosh, you have no idea, but just writing about those cookies makes my mouth water, and of course they are already gone… (I see some more baking coming up in this girl’s future) They are chewy and fragrant and yes, the texture is somewhat different than regular oatmeal cookies, after all there are mostly oats in there (and they are made without gluten flour).

imageDark cacao nibs (essentially pieces of cacao bean) 

If you are cultivating your sweet tooth, please feel free to use more ‘sweet stuff’. The cookies here are getting some of their sweetness from the raisins, but they would be a perfect treat for my Dad, who doesn’t really like sweets. I am a big believer in flavor over just plain sweet, or salty for that matter; and these cookies fit the bill perfectly.

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Ingredients

  • 2 cups rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup millet flour*
  • 1/4 cup golden raisins
  • 1/2 cup cacao nibs
  • 1/4 cup flax meal
  • 2 tbsp chia seeds
  • 3/4 cup water
  • 1/4 cup almond or other nut butter
  • 1/4 cup agave nectar, maple syrup or honey**

* I used millet because of its sweet, nutty flavor, but you could most likely use other gluten-free flours

**if using honey, the cookies are no longer vegan

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Directions

  1. Preheat oven to 350ºF
  2. In a large bowl, combine first four ingredients (oats through cacao nibs)
  3. In a separate bowl, mix flax meal and chia seeds with the water, set aside and let rest for 10 minutes.Then stir in the agave nectar and almond butter
  4. Stir the flax mix into the bowl with the oats, add up to another 1/4 cup of water if dough looks too dry.
  5. Drop cookies by the rounded tablespoon onto a prepared baking sheet, and bake until golden brown on the bottom and just starting to turn golden on top, about 8 to 11 minutes.

Makes about 30

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