Healthy Low Fat Apple and Oatmeal Muffins

LUv 2 BaKE's Note:

Heathy moist apple oatmeal muffins with a pretty garnish of sliced apple on top. Recipe from Apple & Pear Australia Ltd.

• Total Time: 1 hrs
• Prep Time: 35 mins
• Cook Time: 25 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 12

• 1 ½ cups quick oats
• 1 ½ cups apple juice
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 ½ cups whole wheat flour (or spelt flour)
• ½ cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 2 medium apples , grated
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 4 egg whites , beaten to soft peaks
• apple , wedges to garnish (with or without peel)

Directions:

1. Soak the oats, apple juice, sugar and vanilla for 30 minutes.
2. Mix in the flour, baking powder, grated apple and cinnamon.
3. Fold in the beaten egg whites; Spoon into 12 muffin tins.
4. Top muffins with 2 sliced apple wedges (cut quarters of apple into 3 or 4 wedges) and bake at 170° C (338°F) for 25 - 30 minutes until muffins and cooked though and golden.
5. Cool in pan for a few minutes, then remove from pan and cool on wire rack.

Reviews

[Lynne the Pirate Queen]

Although these require a bit more work than I usually am willing to go through for a muffin, these are *so* good it's worth the extra time and effort! Some changes: Having no whole wheat flour, I used instead half all-purpose flour and half rice flour. I used Granny Smith apples, and grated them peel and all so as to give the muffins additional nutrition, color and texture. Also for additional nutrition, I added 3/4 cup of ground flaxseed along with the dry ingredients, and topped the muffins with chopped walnuts instead of sliced apples. All this made for a denser and not so low-fat muffin, but that's okay, since I prefer substantial muffins (I use them for breakfasts on the go, so I want them fairly filling), and the fats from the flax and walnuts are the heart-healthy kind that also provide lots of Omega-3. The next time I make these, I think I'll use brown sugar instead of the white -- or maybe half brown, half white -- for even more flavor. Thanks for a wonderful muffin in which the apple truly stands out. :)

[AnnieLynne]

These muffins are amazing! I loved the healthy ingredients and the fact that the muffins were so moist. The texture was a little more dense than a typical muffin, but they were still wonderful! I did substitute Splenda (granular) for the sugar in the recipe to lower the calories some more. Thank you for sharing, LUv 2 BaKE! I will make these again soon!

[jeninbrighton]

There are a few things wrong with this recipe.... first, it says it makes 12, but it actually makes 24. Second, it says the prep time is 15 minutes, but with soaking the oats for 30 minutes and grating apple, it tends to be quite a bit more than that. Third, the baking powder is missing from the instructions (but not the ingredient list). I didn't realise I had left out the baking powder the first time I made them, and ended up with 24 little hockey pucks. I tried the recipe again with the baking powder, and it was a little better, but I still wouldn't make them again. They were chewy in the middle and needed baking longer than the recipe said. The flavour was nice though, and I liked that the oats were soaked in apple juice.