Too good to be good for you OATMEAL MUFFINS

I have been making these oatmeal muffins ever since the oat bran craze came on the scene--maybe 15 years or more ago?

Originally, I adapted an oat bran muffin recipe and then kept changing it until I found something that I thought tasted good and was still relatively nutritious. It has evolved over the years and may undergo more changes as time goes on. [I did not like any of the oat bran recipes; to me they tasted like baked wallpaper paste with a little sawdust for texture! :) ]

I call my recipe, Too Good to be Good for You Muffins. They are fat free, egg free, and can be dairy free too, but you can add in some oil and use eggs if you like. You will need to reduce the liquid by 2 Tablespoons for each egg used. I use egg replacer powder by Ener-G. I purchase mine from Health Hut. Probably Outpost would have it too. Do not confuse this with egg beaters or similar egg based products. This does not contain ANY animal products. It works very well, and since it is a powder, I don't have to worry about needing eggs to bake with.

You can reduce the honey if you want a healthier version, but I use the 1 1/2 cups of honey to make my Honey happy.

Too Good to be Good for You Muffins: Yield, 4 dozen. No mixer needed, just a very large mixing bowl.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

The recipe:

7 Cups of oatmeal--I use freshly rolled oats but commercially rolled oats would work too

1 Cup of wheat bran. Lately, I have not used wheat bran but just add another cup of oatmeal.

1 1/2 Cups honey

2 Cups apple sauce

4 Cups water, milk, or juice

OPTIONAL: 1 1/3 Cups of the following: Chocolate chips, raisins, and/or chopped pecans, walnuts, or roasted unsalted sunflower seeds.

(I usually use choc. chips, nuts and raisins. I also like using chopped fresh or frozen cranberries and walnuts.)

Let this mixture soak about 5 to 10 minutes

I started adding about 1/4 Cup olive oil to the mix. ( I think I might try melted coconut oil next time.)

Mix the following together, then add to the wet ingredients and stir until well distributed:

3 Cups whole wheat flour or unbleached white wheat flour

2 Tablespoon egg replacer or 4 eggs (1/2T egg replacer powder + 2T water = 1 large egg. You must reduce the liquid if using real eggs.)

1 Tablespoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon salt

1Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking powder

1 Tablespoon + 1 teaspoon baking soda

Spoon into Pam sprayed muffin pans* and bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Let cool and gently remove from pans. Mini muffin pans work too, but baking time will be shorter. Store in Tupperware like containers. The muffins freeze well. I make these about every 3 weeks.

I hope you will give these a try. Most people like them. No, they are not chocolate cake, but I think they are good for breakfast or snacking. Let me know what you think.

*Aluminum pans bake the best. You can use muffin paper liners too, but I prefer PAM.

Links:
Practically Speaking, Fairly Conservative, Betterbrookfield, RandyMelchert, CNS News, Jay Weber, Mark Levin, Vicki McKenna Jay Weber, The Right View Wisconsin, The Heritage Foundation