Cinnamon Apple Oat Muffins

September is here, which means apple cinnamon things are going to be all the rage for the next few months as we embrace the wonderful fall flavors of apples.  

Last winter, I was on a search for the perfect healthy, filling, cinnamon apple muffins.  I knew I wanted to use applesauce, oats, and fresh apples, and I knew I wanted to use minimal "unhealthy" things like butter and oils.  While I love to cook, baking is not my forte, since once it's in the oven you can't really change anything.  So when it comes to baking, I tend to stick to tried and true recipes and am very hesitant to make any changes... so the idea of making up my own recipe from scratch was just a bit too intimidating, and instead, I searched, and searched, and searched.  At one point I probably had 15 different muffin recipes bookmarked in my browser.  After at least a month, I finally found one that looked pretty close to what I wanted and decided to give it a try!

Best life decision ever.  

I ended up making several batches of these over the course of a few months.  They are great for an on-the-go breakfast!  I ended up individually wrapping some and freezing them to make them last longer too!  I also took a batch to a friend when they had a new baby. It was a quick, tasty, healthy treat for them to eat when they had their hands full adjusting to a new baby!  

And now, without further ado, here is my recipe, adapted from Fearless Homemaker:

Yield: about 12 muffins

The food:

1 1/2 cups old-fashioned oats
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce
3 tablespoons canola oil
1 egg white

2 medium apples, peeled and diced (I prefer gala, but any apple will do!)

Seriously, look at all these awesome ingredients!  Please note the lack of butter or overly processed crap!

The gear:  

Mixing bowls, spoon/spatula, measuring cups/spoons, muffin tins.  Some of those paper muffin-tin liners or some cooking spray.

The know-how:

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees

2. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.

3. Peel and finely dice your apples; set aside.  I usually aim for about 1 centimeter cubes, but I'm not all that precise.

4. In another bowl, combine applesauce, oil, and egg white, and stir into the dry ingredients until moistened.  The batter will be fairly thick.

5. Fold apple pieces into the rest of the batter.

6. Scoop muffins into muffin tins.  Fill each cup pretty full (3/4 or more.)  I like to use a plastic ice cream scoop which gets me a pretty even amount that happens to work perfectly for me.

7. Bake 15-18 minutes.  Poke one or two with a toothpick to make sure they're done.

8. If you wanna be fancy, head back over to the Fearless Homemaker and make the recipe for a streusel-like topping.  I prefer to skip this step, as it makes them healthier, less messy, and more portable!  

9. Enjoy!