Oatmeal Sunflower Muffins

From Everyday Flexitarian: Recipes for Vegetarians and Meat lovers alike

Printable Recipe

Makes 12-18 muffins

Prep time: 10 minutes

Baking time: 35 minutes

Cooling time: 10 minutes

Ingredients:
4 cups whole wheat pastry flour (I just buzzed some regular whole wheat flour in the food processor)
½ cup sunflower seeds
1 cup rolled oats
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cardamom
½ cup raisins
½ cup dried cherries or other dried fruit
1 tsp salt
2 cups apple juice
2/3 cup maple syrup
2/3 cup canola or olive oil

Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 350°F/180°C and lightly grease muffin tins (I use 2 regular with 6 wells each).

2. Mix flour, sunflower seeds, oats, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom, raisins, cherries and salt in a large bowl (next time I might add some chocolate chips as well) in a large bowl.

3. In a separate bowl, whisk together the juice, maple syrup and oil. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry until combined. Allow the mixture to sit for five minutes so that the oatmeal will absorb the liquid. The batter will thicken up from the oats and the 4 tsp of baking powder.

4. Spoon into prepared muffin tins (I like to use a spring-loaded ice cream scoop for consistency).

5. Bake for 35 minutes or until a toothpick poked in the center of the muffin comes out clean.

6. Let the pan cool for 10 minutes before trying to remove the muffins.