Apple Pie Oat Muffins

Ingredients

• 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (certified gluten-free if necessary)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 2 teaspoons apple pie spice*
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup applesauce
• 1 medium apple, grated (about 3/4 cup)
• 1 large egg (may use an egg substitute)
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup (or honey)
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup cashew milk
• 1/3 cup dried cranberries

Optional Additions:

• 1/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts

* No apple pie spice? No problem! You can make your own; just add 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon, 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg, 1 teaspoon allspice and 1/2 teaspoon ground clove. If your spice pantry is spare, just use 2 teaspoons of cinnamon. 
Directions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray a 12-cup cupcake papers with non-stick olive oil and place in a muffin pan. In a large bowl, stir together oats, baking powder, seasonings and salt.
Add applesauce, grated apple, egg  or substitute, maple syrup, vanilla extract, milk and cranberries, plus any optional additions. Stir well to incorporate.

Allow the mixture to set and thicken for about 3-5 minutes before spooning into your muffin pan.
Fill muffin cups almost completely full with batter. The muffins will not rise.

Bake for 30 minutes and until the center of each oatmeal muffin is set. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving. If you don’t allow these to cool before taking them out of the muffin pan, they will fall apart. I used a knife around the sides to make removal easier. After cooling, they will set well. Store in a covered container in the fridge for about a week or freeze for up to 3 months.

Adapted from Hello Healthy Blog 

Crunchy Granola

Ingredients:

4 cups rolled organic oats

3/4 cup unsweetened organic coconut

1/2 cup organic polenta or corn meal

1/2 cup organic whole-wheat flour

1/2 cup organic chia seeds

1/2 cup organic wheat germ

1 cup chopped almonds

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 cup organic flax seeds

1 cup organic agave

1 cup apple sauce (I used my home canned sauce from organic apples)

1 1/2 tsp organic real vanilla

Directions:

Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large bowl.  

Mix all the liquid ingredients in a bowl.  

Pour the liquid mixture over the dry ingredients and stir until distributed evenly throughout the mixture.

Line a sheet cake pan with parchment paper and spread out the mixture evenly.

With wet hands, clump some of the mixture together (that is if you like clumpy granola).  :)

Bake a 230 degrees Fahrenheit on bake or 210 degrees Fahrenheit on convection for several hours depending on the desired crunchiness, stirring every hour.

The goal is for the granola to turn a golden brown, not brown color.  

When stirring the granola, note if steam comes off the mixture.  If steam is present, the granola is not quite done.

The best way to obtain crunchiness is to allow the mixture to stay in the oven overnight to cool.  The next day, if it is not crunchy enough, bake a little longer at 250 degrees, but be careful not to over-bake.  Unfortunately, you can't determine how crunchy the granola will be until it cools.  If it's not crunchy enough for your taste, then bake again.   

I have a hard time keeping this granola on hand, as my son eats it regularly.  :)

* Since posting this, I have found that honey and brown rice syrup are higher in their glycemic index.  If you are concerned about the glycemic index of foods, use agave syrup instead.

Yummy Yam Cakes

Ingredients

Yields: 12 cakes

2 lbs organic yams

2 cups organic rolled oats

1 cup organic plain coconut milk yogurt

2 tbsp olive oil

2 tsp ground cinnamon

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 tbsp maple syrup

1/4 cup organic chia seeds

1 cup of water

1 tbsp olive oil

Directions

Boil yams until soft. Remove peel and cut into chunks. Blend until smooth and creamy.

Take chia seeds and place in a small bowl, stir in 1 cup of water and allow seeds to soak while the yams are cooking.

Process oats in a blender or food processor until powdery.

Mix the blended yam, processed oats, yogurt, vanilla, syrup, olive oil and the soaked chia seeds.

Preheat pan on medium and add olive oil. Use 1/4 cup of batter for each cake. Gently press to flatten. Fry until browned and flip.

Serve with maple syrup if desired. Yam Cakes are a great side dish or breakfast main dish served with fresh fruit.