Lemon Poppy Seed Oat Muffins

Muffins again? I know, but I'm not sorry. I had an urge to make muffins, so I decided to make the most out of the urge and experiment with multiple recipes. Hence, I give you experiment #2....lemon poppy seed!

These muffins are slightly more traditional than the Thin Mints Muffins (although not quite as decadent!). They are perfect for an easy breakfast or on-the-go snack. If you want to use them for dessert, you could top them with a glaze!

Thin Mints Oat Muffins

Happy Sunday, everyone!

What's the weather like in your neck of the woods? It's crazy hot here. I was in Philadelphia all week chaperoning a school field trip, and the students and I just trudged around, sweating and fanning ourselves the whole time. Gross!

My roommate and I had planned to spend Saturday afternoon at Central Park, but it was just too darn hot. Sweltering. Blistering. Stroke-inducing. So instead, I stayed inside in the air conditioning and made some muffins for YOU!

Yep. They are, in fact, as delicious as they look. :)

Banana Oat Muffins: Revisited

Happy holidays, everyone! I'm back in the Midwest for the holidays, and one of the first things that greeted me at my parents house was a bowl full of overripe bananas. I instantly took it upon myself to find a purpose for them: my banana oat muffins.

These muffins are a favorite of mine. Even when I get bored of banana in my oatmeal, I never seem to get sick of these gems. They require no added sugar (even in honey or maple syrup form), and they are so adaptable. They taste great with chocolate chips, raisins, extra spices, or plain (like banana bread!), or with peanut butter or jam smeared onto them after baking. When you taste these muffins, you'll wonder why most banana bread recipes have SO much added sugar (seriously, WHY?!).

Gingerbread Oat Muffins

I never used to enjoy baking things (even baked oatmeal took me awhile to get the hang of), but I am on a muffin spree lately. Once I learned my ways with baking soda and wet to dry ratios, making oatmeal muffins became a blast.

These were originally intended to be banana-gingerbread muffins. However, after preparing the batter, I realized the banana flavor was completely hidden. To be honest, I wasn't at all upset about that! I actually preferred a straight-up gingerbread flavor, but I knew (or thought) using bananas as a sweetener would change the flavor, so I decided to be realistic and honest and include banana in the name.

Blueberry Oat Muffins

I am extraordinarily fond of my Blueberry Muffin Baked Oatmeal recipe. It was my very first baked oatmeal attempt, and it ended up being one of the most popular recipes on my blog. It was actually #1 for several months, until the Salted Brownie came along. :)

If that recipe hadn't turned out as well as it had, I might have been turned off baked oatmeal forever. Instead, it sparked my curiosity. Yes, it was more time-consuming and finicky, but it had its pay-offs. Now, of course, I'm almost as obsessed with baked oatmeal as I am with stove-top.

But I'm getting off-track. I realized today that if I loved that recipe so much, why not convert it to mimic actual blueberry muffins?

Sweet Potato Oatmeal Muffins

What do you do when a hurricane pummels your town and cancels school for four days? Bake. Bake all afternoon. Bake multiple batches of muffins and have your roommates taste-test for you.

Here's the result for you! These muffins are perfect for a healthy breakfast. They're sweet enough to be delicious and satisfying, but not overly sweet like traditional muffins. They are also free of refined sugars and flours. You're welcome!

Banana Oat Muffins

As much of a debutante I am with the stove, I'm even worse with the oven. I used to love baking when I lived with my parents. My mom decorates cake as a hobby/side job, so I had tons of baking tools and recipes at my disposal. I used to bake cupcakes for my boyfriend-at-the-time's family for their birthdays; it's no wonder I was so popular at their house! :)

However, I lost my interest after I got sick of doing the dishes. That's the worst part about baking: tons and tons and tons of dishes.

I also lost interest when I went to college and eventually got an apartment. Once I was buying my own groceries, buying ingredients like powdered sugar, cream cheese, and mass amounts of eggs seemed like such a waste, especially when I was devoting my financial resources toward whole foods and organic produce.

Lately, however, I've been into baking again, but a different kind: healthy baking. Eggless, sugarless, dairyless baking. It's an interesting challenge, but it gives me something different to include in my bento box at school.