Are you one of those people who sometimes skips breakfast because you hit snooze one too many times and you just don’t have time to eat it?  Or you end up grabbing a calorie-loaded bagel or greasy egg sandwich because it’s quick?  That’s me!  When you are watching your weight, breakfast can be hard.  I love making muffins because they are tasty, filling and already portion controlled.  These Apple-Oat Muffins with Brown-Sugar Swirl are low in calories, full of flavor, and can start your day off right.  These muffins use whole-wheat flour and oats in place of some of the white flour to help boost fiber and keep you fuller longer.  Applesauce helps keep these muffins moist without adding fat and cinnamon and cloves give them spice.  Muffins easily freeze well too so if you can’t eat 12 muffins (or 24 mini-muffins) in a week, throw them in a freezer bag for later and just give them a quick pop in the microwave for a fresh muffin whenever you want it!

The ingredients:

In a large bowl, combine flours, oats, sugar, baking powder, 1/2 of the cinnamon, baking soda, salt and cloves.  Create a well in the center and set aside.

In a small bowl, mix remaining cinnamon, brown sugar, and water until brown sugar is dissolved.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, combine milk, applesauce, egg, oil and vanilla.  Pour mixture into well of dry ingredients and mix until just combined.

Fold in diced apple.

Spoon batter into a muffin tin and top each muffin with the brown sugar-cinnamon mixture.  Use a toothpick to swirl the mixture into each muffin.

Bake in a 400ºF oven for 12 minutes.

Additions:  None

Omissions:  None

Substitutions:  None

Overall Rating:  Like It

Source:  Shape Magazine