Oatmeal Flax Banana Cranberry Muffins

If you're like me, breakfast is always difficult.  I'm not a morning person, and I often find myself running out the door in the mornings with an empty stomach, trying to get to work on time.  It's always nice to have something to just grab on your way out, or eat while you finish getting ready. But, "grab-n-go" type breakfasts are usually laden with sugar, sure to give you that mid morning crash (not to mention, pre-packaged foods aren't exactly allergy-friendly!!)    I made these muffins today, so that they will be an option for me on those mornings when I just can't seem to get it together in time to sit down and eat a real breakfast.  And, they're tasty enough to eat for a healthy afternoon snack! 

This is a basic recipe that can be adapted, you can replace the banana with apple sauce for a different flavor, or even pumpkin puree if you want.  Also, you can add whatever dried fruit you want; I decided to go for cranberries this time.

OATMEAL FLAX BANANA CRANBERRY MUFFINS (Vegan, gluten free, refined sugar free)

1/2 cup non-dairy milk (I used almond, but coconut would be great too)

1 TB. apple cider vinegar

1 cup gluten free oats

1 1/2 cups oat flour (I just ground my gluten free oats in my coffee grinder.  You can use a coffee/spice  grinder or food processor)

1/2 cup flaxseed meal (again, I used my coffee grinder to grind whole flax seeds)

2 ts. baking powder

1 ts. baking soda

1/2 ts. sea salt

3 TB.  honey or agave nectar

1/4 cup oil (preferably melted coconut oil, but I ran out of coconut oil and used extra light olive instead. It turned out fine.)

1 cup mashed ripe banana

1/2 cup dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350, and prepare muffin tins.  In a small bowl, combine the milk alternative with the cider vinegar, and let curdle for about 10 minutes.  Mix dry ingredients (oats, oat flour, flaxseed meal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt) in a large bowl.  Add wet ingredients (curdled milk, oil, honey or agave, and banana), and mix well.  Add in dried cranberries last, and mix to evenly distribute throughout batter.  Pour into muffin tins and bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees.  Allow to cool on a rack before eating.  

Makes 12 regular-sized muffins or 18-24 mini-muffins.  

Enjoy!!

*Ashley*