Now that the weather is significantly on the chilly side, are you struggling to leave the warm confines of your bed in the morning? I know I am. Do you find that you are rushing off to work without a satisfying breakfast because you’ve pressed snooze a couple of times too many? Alternatively, do you find it’s the afternoon snack time that you haven’t had a chance to adequately prepare for and are instead reaching for a sweet comfort food to boost your energy or make you feel warm?
As winter draws in around us, particularly if your activity levels drop off, it is not unusual to start craving more refined carbohydrates, sugary foods and heavy meals to make the body feel quickly warm. Of course, these empty foods will only provide a temporary relief, before causing rebound sluggishness, depleting the body of important nutrients and creating a cycle of continual cravings.
I have recently had a request for some recipes that are free from refined sugar but delicious enough to feel like a treat. I’ll start with this amazingly delicious and nutritious breakfast muffin offering. It pretty much is your morning muesli option in muffin form. Although of course it is optimal to sit and relax and mindfully enjoy your morning meal, it is better to have something nutritious to take with you than nothing at all. This will stop you ravenously searching for a snack attack at 10am. These also work great for an afternoon tea snack as they pair beautifully with a cup of tea. Make up a batch or two on the weekend and feel sorted for the week ahead!
As always please use this as a base recipe and adjust and experiment to your heart’s content.
Ingredients
- 1 cup of raw muesli or plain rolled oats (use millet flakes for a GF option)
1 cup Milk (of your choice)
2 tbsp of Apple cider vinegar
½ cup sunflower seeds and pumpkin seeds
- ½ cup shredded coconut (optional)
1 tbs ground flaxseed whisked with 3 tbs water
- 1 cup + 2 tbs oats ground into flour
- ½ tsp bi-carb
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ cup butter or coconut oil (melted)
- 1 banana mashed
- 1/2 cup apple, grated.
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp salt
Optional extras:
- If a sweeter muffin is desired, ¼ cup of currants or sultanas or frozen berries can be added to the soaking ingredients at the start.
- I like to warm mine up by adding plenty of ground spices – 1 tsp of mixed spiced, 1 tsp dried ginger, ½ tsp of turmeric powder and a pinch of black pepper.
Method
- Soak the first 5 ingredients for an hour in a large mixing bowl.
- Preheat oven to 180°
- Prepare muffin trays
- After the initial ingredients have finished soaking, add the mashed banana, butter/oil, grated apple, and egg and mix well.
- Sift the flour, bi-carb, baking powder, cinnamon and salt into the bowl, and stir until just combined.
- Spoon into muffin trays and bake 10 – 20 muffins until skewer comes out clean.
Muffins can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 5-6 days or frozen and thawed individually.
By Naabi Methé (BHSc Nat). For more health tips, head to commongardenhealth.com
Leave a Reply