I am always trying to think of ways to get my family out the door in the morning (on time) without sacrificing a healthy breakfast. That goal is what inspired this recipe. My daughter is an oatmeal addict, so on the weekends I make a batch of these and then during the week when we are running late (which is often lately…she must be growing because she keeps sleeping-in!) I grab a few of these and she eats them on the way to school.
As you can see from the picture above, the texture of these muffins is the same as thick oatmeal and not like a typical muffin.
INGREDIENTS – Makes 12
1 cup old fashioned oats (I used Bob’s Red Mill Gluten Free Oats)
2 ½ cups water
½ cup applesauce (I used my crock pot applesauce)
1 tsp Frontier Natural Products Vanilla
½ tsp almond extract
4 stevia packets
1/3 cup oat bran
10 dried apricots, finely diced
3 dates, chopped
2/3 cup almond flour
coconut or grapeseed oil
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Preheat oven to 325°.
Place the oats, water, applesauce, vanilla, almond extract, stevia, and oat bran in a pot and cook until thick (about 5-10 minutes).
Add the apricots, dates, and almond flour. Mix well.
Turn off the heat and place the lid on the pot. Let sit covered for 10 minutes to thicken even more.
*** If you want the dates and apricots to be more firm, add them now vs. earlier ***
Grease muffin tins with oil. Scoop the oatmeal mixture into the muffin tins. Push down the top of the oatmeal so it is flat.
Bake for 40 minutes (turning half-way through bake time). Cool for 10 minutes and then place on racks to cool to room temperature.
Store the oatmeal in the fridge once cooled.
For a printable version of this recipe click here.
These look great! Thanks for sharing.
Hi,
These muffins look fantastic! My partner’s allergic to almonds, though, so what do you suggest as a substitute for the almond flour?
Thanks,
Lisa
If your partner is ok with other nuts you could make nut flour by taking frozen nuts and processing them in your food processor until they form a flour like consistency. I use frozen nuts because it freezes the nut fat and makes it so you can process it to a much more fin consistency. If you were to do it with room temp nuts they would turn into nut butter before you could get them flour-like. You could also try coconut flour (not sure of the amount). Best of luck…let me know if the substitutes work out 🙂
What about hazelnut flour? Bob’s Red Mill is widely available (if you don’t make your own nut flours).
Those look stick-to-your-ribs good! It’s always wise to have a to-go breakfast on hand. When I was a working mom, I was *never* on time!
Wow, these do look good, thanks for sharing, can you tell me how much is in a stevia packet. I buy the jar…so i want to make sure I add the right amount. Thanks : )
I just opened a packet and poured it into 1/4 tsp measuring spoon. It looks like one packet = slightly rounded 1/4 tsp. Enjoy!
I’m making these over the weekend so we have good “to go” food. Love your blog! Thanks Gret!
These look great – but I can always perceive an unpleasent after taste with stevia. Any suggestions for an alternative? I have heard that granulated maple sugar is another healthy alternative, but I haven’t tried any yet. I also have some agave nectar in the cupboard .
I know what you mean about stevia at times having an aftertaste, but I did not experience that with this particular recipe. I am sure they would taste good with maple sugar, though it would change the taste of the recipe. Agave nectar would work also, but I try to avoid using too much agave. I am also a fan of coconut sugar and date sugar. If you try any of the substitutes let me know how they work out.
So just tried to make these and ended up with a gloppy mess. Any idea where I went wrong? The flavor is great but they kept the oatmeal consistency after I baked them.
Hi Kelly! Hmmmm….let’s figure this out. Before you put the oatmeal into the (greased) muffin tins was it really nice and thick? Once they are cooked the inside of the muffins will still keep the texture of oatmeal, but they should have a nice muffin “crust” (for lack of a better word) on the outside of the muffin. The whole idea behind this recipe was to be able to grab oatmeal to go…they are not true muffins per se. If the crust never formed maybe they needed to be cooked longer???
So sorry you had trouble. Thanks so much for contacting me.
(1) Instead of using almond flour, can I sub with white or wholewheat flour 1:1 instead? I know it is not healthy but I can’t get hold of blanched almond flour here.
(2) Can I do the same for the oat bran? ie sub with white or wholewheat flour 1:1?
Tks
Hi! Thanks so much for writing in.
I wished I could tell you for sure that it will work with the white / whole wheat flour, but never having tried it myself, I can’t be sure. Almond flour is such a different flavor and texture than wheat flour is, so I know the amount of flour used would be different.
Let me know if you try it and how it works out.
Peace and health,
Gretchen