Muffins are a major lifesaver these days! I love to have them for breakfast with a Rise and Shine Latte (or a smoothie ). These muffins are so dense and fullfilling; they really hit the spot.
As for the "lifesaver" part, mornings have gotten a little more busy as of late because I've gotten back to doing more things for me! I've been working out (beyond yoga) – what a concept!
Since I have less time in the morning now, muffins are super helpful at saving me time. But even more lifesaving is when Vienna comes home from preschool, I have something to tame the crazy hungry bear within! If she hasn't eaten much at lunch, she's ravenous and that means I need something healthy and quick. I do my best to avoid having a HANGRY "threenager".
Whether it's morning or afternoon, these muffins are a lifesaver.
You might be thinking, but a muffin for breakfast? Heck yeah! We are not talking store-bought muffins full of rancid vegtables oils like soybean or sunflower and a bombshell of sugar. No way!
We are talking about a fibre-packed, nutrient-dense, absolutely delicious muffin you can feel good about eating yourself or giving to your kids.
Since it's gotten colder, you've probably noticed I've been baking much more. Last week we were eating Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Muffins and cookies. The week before that it was Pumpkin Spice Cake. So I thought I would give the pumpkin a rest this weekend and make these glorious oh-so-yummy muffins to enjoy all next week.
Now because they are breakfast muffins, I didn't sweeten them very much as you'll notice when you try them. Instead, I created an optional but highly recommended topping of walnuts and coconut sugar.
I recommend you slather them with almond or sunflower butter and a drizzle of raw honey. Feel free to add more sweetness if you so desire.
I always like to include eggs because they are an excellent source of protein and my daughter hates the texture of eggs so it's a good way to get them in.
The cranberries are essential for this recipe because you need something tart and sweet to balance out the other flavours. However, if you want to use something else, blueberries, dried tart cherries or raisins also work.
These muffins are PACKED with fibre thanks to the almond flour, oats, oat bran and ground flaxseeds.
If you've never used oat bran before, it's very easy to find in the natural foods section of the grocery store or at your local health food store. Oat bran is much higher in fibre than oats – 50% higher in fibre than oats, actually! The main difference is that oats are the "whole grain" while oat bran is just the bran – both still have their health benefits though.
Now if you don't have oat bran in your cupboard and you want to make these today, scroll down to my recipe because I explain how to make them without oat bran.
Once you've made these wonderful muffins, I highly recommend you enjoy them with my Rise and Shine Latte – it's the most perfect, cozy breakfast on a chilly morning. Seriously, it's as good as sipping a Spicy Hot Chocolate in front of a fireplace.
Breakfast & Brunch
Cranberry Walnut Breakfast Muffins
Print
Ingredients
- 1 cup oat flakes or old fashioned rolled oats
- 1 cup almond flour (ground almonds or almond meal)
- 1 cup oat bran*
- 1/4 cup ground flaxseeds
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tsp aluminum-free baking soda
- 2 medium eggs
- 1/2 cup maple syrup
- 3/4 cup nut or rice milk
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1/4 cup chopped walnuts
- 1 tbsp coconut sugar
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F degrees (180C). Line a muffin tray with paper cups or grease really well with coconut oil.
- Combine all the dry ingredients into a large bowl: oats, almond flour, oat bran, ground flax, cinnamon, nutmeg and baking soda.
- In a small bowl, combine eggs, maple syrup and nut milk.
- Add the wet ingredients to the large bowl of dry ingredients and mix just until combined.
- Fold in dried cranberries.
- In a small bowl combine chopped walnuts and coconut sugar.
- Pour muffin batter into 12 muffin tins. Evenly divide walnut coconut sugar topping between 12 muffins.
- Bake for 22-25 minutes, until a fork inserted comes out clean and golden brown on top. Let cool for 5 minutes and remove from muffin tin and let cool another 10 minutes.
Notes
Makes 12 muffins.
*Don't have any oat bran? Place 1 cup of oats in a food processor and blend until a coarse texture. This is the similar texture to oat bran and works as a perfect sub.
And if you're feeling fancy, these are wonderful served at brunch drizzled with melted coconut butter! You'll impress the pants off of everyone. Just make sure you melt the coconut butter on the lowest temperature possible with a touch of coconut oil on your stove top because it burns very easily.
If you make these "mini" size you'll likely get double the amount of muffins (approximately two dozen). That's how Vienna and her lambs enjoy them best :)
Enjoy friends!
Any questions/comments, post below!
Joy xo
They look delightful Joy, gonna try them soon. Just don't have oat bran in the cupboard!
ReplyIf you don't have oat bran you can blitz up oats in your food processor :)
Can't wait to try it. Do you have a brand of dried cranberries you can recommend? I have only found sugar-loaded. Also, is oat bran GF?
ReplyI don't have a brand I recommend really, I just buy unsweetened cranberries from my local health food store in bulk. Oats and oat bran are kind of a grey area. To be labelled GF they have to be processed in a facility that does not process any gluten-containing foods. If you're not gluten-sensitive I wouldn't worry about buying GF oats or oat bran. But yes, you can find GF Oat Bran. Bob's Red Mill brand has GF oat bran.
My local Bulk Barn carries organic dried cranberries (along with the sugar-loaded ones)
I made these with a flax egg and they worked and tasted like a dream. I also added some fresh cranberries, coconut, and vanilla to the batter. So yummy and sweet enough despite only having a bit of maple syrup to sweeten :).
ReplySounds like some delicious additions! The only reason I didn't add any oil or vanilla was because I felt like my ingredients list was getting too long, so I'm glad you added them because I would normally put those two things in!
Hi there :) How much coconut oil did you add? And how much vanilla?
I can't wait to make these - but I don't have medium eggs, how much will larger eggs affect the recipe?
ReplyI'm sure it will be fine :) Enjoy!
Since the cranberries are unsweetened, I think I’ll jusr use fresh ones :)
ReplySounds like a delicious idea! They should be in season very soon too :)
Recipe looks delicious! I'm going to pick up the oat bran
ReplyGreat!! Let me know how you like it!
What would you use aaa substitutetp almond flour?
ReplyYou could use brown rice flour. I've had someone already try that out and it worked!
is oat bran the same as oat flour?
ReplyNo it's not. Oat bran is the bran only of the oat grain. It has more fibre. If however you don't have any oat bran, you could sub in my oat flour and it will still work.
Can these be made with steel cut oats?
ReplyThe texture would be very different once you cook the oats, so I'm not sure it would work without a bunch of subs. If you try it, please do let me know how it turns out!
Joy! Thank you for sharing this recipe today. It was a MAJOR life saver for me this morning. I am always looking for snacks and breakfasts that are higher in fiber and lower in sugar for blood sugar levels to be maintained. This was AMAZING for that!! I didn't have any oat bran so I used the blended oat version that you suggested. I also didn't have any dried berries of any kind so I substituted some crumbled dried apples and it worked out great with the cinnamon and nutmeg. My son is so picky and frowns upon less sweet snack but he gave a thumbs up Joy to this one!! Keep posting your goodness and bringing JOY to others!
ReplyMy pleasure! Hurray! I'm so happy to hear this one was a winner with your son and that those substitutions you made totally worked. Thanks for taking the time to post a nice comment :)
Do you make the night before or freeze them?
ReplyI don't normally freeze them because they typically get gobbled up within one week :)
Hi can you use AP flour or whole wheat and will it be the same.
ReplyWhat is AP flour?
All purpose flour I would think be fine. Whole wheat absorbs more liquid and is quite dense. Typically when I’m subbing flours I use half AP and have WhW.
Hi Joy, What do you recommend in place of coconut sugar?
ReplyYou could use maple syrup. Enjoy!
Sooooo wholesome and full of goodness!! Followed the recipe to a t ;) Slathered some almond butter and then nearly ate the whole tray. Thanks Joy for this recipe, luuuvvv it. Kids love them too!!
ReplyHi Lin!! Mmmm, glad you to hear you slathered with almond butter, sounds PERFECT! You're very welcome, thanks for taking the time to comment. :)
Made these today for my little guy and they came out so great. Thank you :)
ReplyGlad to hear it Barb!!
These look really yummy and I would like to try them. Do you have a suggestion to replace the almond flour? I am allergic to almonds and using almond flour would be a bit of a problem:) Any suggestions to replace this ingredient in recipes? Thank you
ReplyYou could try it with brown rice flour. Others have tried it and apparently it works great! Good luck!
Oh, great idea, I will try that. Thank you Teri
Replyhow long would these last? Im trying these for breakfast for my boys, but working out how many Id need for a week :)
ReplyHi Rachel! They will last a week in the fridge or up to 3 months if properly wrapped and stored in the freezer.
These look amazing. I will be making them today!! Thank you Joy.
ReplyYou're welcome! Enjoy!
Ok I made them and I can't stop eating them! I added sweetened coconut flakes to the dry ingredients as I love coconut and they turned out amazing. I didn't add cranberries as I didn't have any. thank you Joy.
Hi Joy, these look delicious! If I used fresh cranberries, would I make any adjustment to the dry ingredients?
ReplyThat's a lovely idea! I haven't made them with fresh so I'm not 100% sure but if you're using fresh, vs frozen then they won't be as watery and you may be okay not making any changes. If you do try it out, please let me know!
Did you mean aluminum-free baking powder or baking soda? I thought that baking soda doesn’t contain aluminim. I have the Arm
ReplyHi Dal, baking soda. Enjoy!
Firstly....Vienna is sooo sweet, priceless wee girl with her little lambs❤️ Love walnuts in muffins and breads so going to enjoy healthy,guilt free eating! Thanks Joy!
ReplyYou're welcome Caroline! Agree, walnuts make baked goods even more yummy! Enjoy :)
I’m hoping to make the muffins. Two questions. Can I substitute brown rice flour for the almond flour? 2. I find most muffins with it which I don’t like. How are these?
ReplyIt's quite a different texture than almond flour and I haven't made it myself with brown rice flour but other people have told me they made it with success. Good luck!
Could you sub in coconut milk in place of the nut milk or rice milk? Can't wait to try these!
ReplyHi Angela, yes definitely, you'd get the same result. Enjoy!
Hi Joy, I just realized I don’t have any ground flaxseed. What could I substitute with? Or can I just leave out? I do have ground chia or hemp seeds.
ReplyYou could definitely use chia instead, I would use a little less though -- half the amount of flax. Enjoy!
So delicious 👍😊
ReplyJoy, thank you for this lovely recipe. They are so delicious. I placed them in the freezer last night .. was kidding myself....we will eat them this week!
ReplyHah! Glad you love them as much as we do!
Hi Joy, I sent a comment about almond flour and received an email notification that you replied however the link to your reply didn't work.
ReplyHi Sue, you can find my response to your question on this post: https://www.joyoushealth.com/15539-blog-best-gluten-free-pizza-crust-ever If you have a moment, would you mind forwarding that email you're referring to with the broken link to [email protected] so we can look at it. Maybe there is a problem with the email replies and they are not working. Thanks in advance!
Done : )
ReplyI've made these twice and the 2nd time as mini-muffins and I like them even better! A delicious and filling breakfast I can take to work with me, thank you!
ReplyGreat idea!! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Joy, you have mentioned you were a sugar addict. Me too. I have found I can't eat anything where refined sugar AND/OR flour (and I mean any type of flour) are the main ingredients. Cravings immediately kick in and I want more and the mind become preoccupied with thoughts of having more. Even muffins with healthier ingredients. That reward centre of my brain gets a huge hit of dopamine and the beast is unleashed. I guess that is not your experience?
ReplyYes 100% that was me. Food addiction is very real. Have you done a detox before? That would be a really great launchpad for you and give your body a great reset. My book Joyous Detox has a 10-day detox you can follow. Or if you really want to dive in to learning, then Joyous Detox Online is amazing! https://www.joyoushealth.com/53-joyu-program-joyous-detox-online?utm_campaign=JDO+2019&utm_medium=bitly&utm_source=Main+Nav You've gotta nourish your brain and your body with whole foods and eat more alkaline foods. There are many other factors that come into play but too much to type here. Have you worked with a nutritionist before? I would recommend reaching out to us [email protected] we can help :)
Thanks for the feedback Joy. Yes I have done detox and love your book. I have simply removed from my daily diet any foods that cause cravings. All refined sugars and flours. I just eat whole foods. I find that when I occasionally do eat something when one of those are a key ingredient, if I pay very close attention to my thoughts, cravings are a brewing. It is sometimes subtle, like a preoccupation with thinking about that food or food in general, a feeling of being unsatisfied.
Made these tonight. Flavor was great. I understand why you talked about slathering them in butter/honey. They are pretty dry. Would it mess up the recipe if you added the butter/honey in the recipe to make them more moist? I usually eat my breakfast on my morning hike, so having to take butter/honey along isn't the best for me. Thoughts?
ReplyThey are pretty dense so I would suggest that you bake them a little less and they will be more moist. But yes, that's also a great idea. You could add some melted coconut oil. It's not ideal to heat honey, so if you don't have to, then skip it but coconut oil or butter would add some moistness. Good luck Dan!
These were perfect for a snowy day’s baking. Substituted cloves for the nutmeg. Delicious! Love the walnut and coconut sugar topping. Thanks for a great recipe!
ReplyMy pleasure! Sounds like a delicious substitution :)
Just made these, they are delicious! A perfect muffin texture and wonderful flavor. We put a little vanilla ghee on each half. A lovely hearty snack!
Replymmm sounds delicious!
Hello, I am going to make these today! I was wondering if you thought a couple mashed up bananas would be ok, I was thinking to add a little sweetness. Also do you have the calorie content etc?
ReplyDo you mean instead of the 1/2 cup maple syrup? I think that would work. I don't know the calorie count. I don't count calories and encourage everyone to simply focus on eating whole foods of good quality. Enjoy!
Thank you! Where and how long can I store them?
ReplyYou can store them in the fridge for a week or in the freezer properly wrapped for up to 3 months.
Can I use spelt flour instead or something else gluten free? Can't take nuts to school. They look delicious!
ReplyI would suggest these muffins instead which are nut-free and delicious! https://www.joyoushealth.com/26355-blog-coconut-flour-banana-spice-muffins
Hi Joy
ReplyThese sound great. Unfortunately I have an allergy to both almond and flax. What do you recommend as substitutions for the almond flour and for the flaxseed? Colleen
ReplyI would suggest these muffins instead, then you don't have to make any substitutions: https://www.joyoushealth.com/26355-blog-coconut-flour-banana-spice-muffins Enjoy!!
This looks delicious 😊I will definitely try them and all your pics are so beautiful that it makes your recipes looks even more appealing and of course if it’s Vienna and her lambs approved lol then it sure is worth trying 😊😊thanks for sharing
ReplyHi France, I hope you enjoy this recipe! Thank you for your sweet comments :)
Hi Joy, I just made your Dark Chocolate Superfood Bars and as I was stirring everything together making sure it didn't burn, the chocolate and the oil separated and it was clumpy. I continued on with the rest of the recipe and I have now put it into the freezer. What did I do wrong that it separated? Thanks for any help! Sandi
ReplyThis can sometimes happen depending how fast it melts down and gets combined together but it won't matter when you freeze it because it will still taste and look great!
Hi Joy, excited to try these out! Do you know the nutritional value per muffin? Thanks so much!
ReplyEnjoy them! I'm sorry I don't know but if you plug them into a fitness app you could probably easily figure it out.
Could I add bananas, or would that change the recipe...
ReplyYes for sure! It will add some more moisture to the recipe and you may need to bake a touch longer.
Hi Joy! The muffins came out really delicious, thank you very much for the recipe! Can I double it?
ReplyGlad to hear that! Absolutely!
Can you substitute the nut milk with water? I'm trying to stay away from nut milk.
ReplyYes for sure!
Which dried cranberries do you use? I can't find anyone without sunflower oil, which I'm trying to stay away from because it's inflammatory.
ReplyThe little amount of sunflower oil on cranberries is not enough to drive up inflammatory by eating a muffin. Honestly, I wouldn't worry about it.
What's the best way to store them?
ReplyThey will store in the fridge for up to 5 days or the freezer for longer.
Hi! Can you tell me the difference between rolled oats and old fashioned rolled oat. I am assuming they are the same?
ReplyEither will work! Sometimtes rolled oats can be a little more coarse, however it really depends on the brand.