Apple Oat Muffins

The other day I was given some apples, so we decided to make juice! We made 2L of apple juice, which also yielded 4.5 cups of apple puree. 2 cups of that was saved for Ruthie to eat. And my heart was set on making the other 2.5 cups into fabulous muffins.



I scoured the internet for a perfect recipe. I looked through lots of options, but nothing seemed 'just right'. Probably because I already had the recipe in my head, and really I was just searching for the internet to confirm it. I did pick up a few ideas during my search, and then decided just to wing it. While drinking delicious fresh apple juice.



First, I took 5 cups of plain Cheerios and ran them through the coffee grinder (or you could use a food processor) until it was a powder.

Then, in a bowl, I added the Cheerio powder and mixed together:

3 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon
6 tbsp whole flax seeds (grind them in the coffee grinder/food processor just before adding to mixture)
2 1/2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp baking soda

I made a well with the dry ingredients, and in the center added:

2 1/2 cups apple puree (I left the skins on, it gives a nice texture)
3/4 cup milk
1/2 cup olive oil
2 eggs

I mixed it all together until all of the dry ingredients were wet. The batter is very thick. I doled it out into muffin tins lined with paper cups (you could try just greasing the tin really well if you like), the batter filled 24 cups. I recommend filling the cups right up, as they don't rise very much. Then I sprinkled the top with pure maple sugar. Because I have access to that kind of delicacy. =)

I baked them in a 400 degree F oven for 20 mins.

They were seriously amazing, very moist and hearty, and were quickly consumed! They would also probably taste really good with other fruit (like raisins if you like that kind of vile thing...) or nuts added.