Applesauce Muffins!

 Low-Fat Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins with Golden Raisins

So way back when, about ten years ago when I was first navigating the world of vegan baking and trying to come up with a quick, healthy snack I created this recipe for simple applesauce muffins. These muffins are fairly dense and cake-like, thanks to the oats, and the raisins add little pops of sweetness. These muffins are very low in fat, and I won't lie and tell you that they don't taste like low-fat muffins :p 'Cause they do, but not in a bad way. I think they taste really lovely, and I never feel bad about eating one, or two, or three...

I like these at breakfast, for a mid-morning snack, post-lunch snack, or even dessert. Basically, I'm telling you they're good whenever, wherever you want to eat them :) I am planning to try a gluten free adaptation of this recipe soon, so I'll keep you posted on that. I think any all purpose GF flour would probably work, but I want to play around with it a bit. These are also a great little treat for kids.

I usually don't bother with baking cups since these tend to disappear so quickly, it just seems like a wast of paper. Plus I also like the slight crunch that these get when baked without liners. But feel free to use whatever you like.

 Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins with Golden Raisins

Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 1/4 cups quick cook oats
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup unsweetened applesauce + 3TBS
• 1/2 cup non-dairy milk + 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar (or 1/4 cup vegan sugar + 1tsp molasses, or maple syrup)
• 1 TBS ground flax seeds mixed with 2 TBS water
• 1/2 cup golden raisins (you could also use currents or regular raisins, whatever you like!)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. 

Spray a 12 cup muffin tin with nonstick cooking spray, and set aside.

In a large bowl combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Whisk together, and set aside. In a medium bowl combine applesauce, non-dairy milk, sugar, and flax mixture. 

Dry ingredients.

Wet ingredients.

Make a well in dry ingredients and add applesauce mixture. Stir until just moist.

Everything together!

 Fold in raisins, then fill the muffin cups 3/4 full (these really don't rise too much, so don't worry if they look too full). Bake for 16-18 minutes, or until the tops are golden and a knife slides out clean.These keep quite well in an airtight container for several days.