Cinnamon Applesauce Oat Cups

Hi everyone!  Do you need quick, portable, tasty, healthy snack to tide you over between meals?  Or do you need a breakfast that only requires 3-minutes of prep but is still real food?

So why do I call today's little gems oat cups?  Well, they have a texture between baked oatmeal and muffins, so I didn't feel justified in calling them muffins.

One of the coolest thing about these cups of wonder is that they are gluten-free.  This means that instead of flour, they use protein and fiber-packed oats, which make these cups stick with you.
Also, instead of being filled with excess fats, sweet, fruity applesauce and creamy milk take their place.  But just to be clear, a bit of fat is needed in baked goods to keep them tasting indulgent, just like these muffins.

Many pastries these days are filled with refined-sugars.  Refined-sugars have their proper place, even in the generally healthy kitchen because cookies anyone?  But for a healthy breakfast or snack, I think it's best to sweeten naturally.  Of course, as I've said before unrefined sweeteners do not qualify as totally healthy.  However, the reasonable use of unrefined sweeteners, (in this case, honey), does keep sugar in check while adding a more complex flavor.  And ground cinnamon adds a hint of spice.

These applesauce oat cups freeze well, so on busy days, just pop one in the microwave for a minute or so for a homey treat.  Recently, it's been cold and rainy where I live so these oat cups hit the spot.

While making these oat cups, I was inspired by this recipe.  Have a great weekend everyone!

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Cinnamon Applesauce Oat Cups

• 3 cups old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup unsweetened apple sauce
• 2 large eggs
• 1/3 cup honey
• 3/4 cup milk
• 1/4 cup light-tasting olive oil
• 2 tsp. vanilla extract
• 2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 2 tsp. ground cinnamon
• Raw walnuts, chopped, for topping

1.  Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

2.  In a medium bowl, stir together the oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon, then set aside.

3.  In a large bowl, whisk together all of the rest of the ingredients EXCEPT for the walnuts.

4.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and whisk until combined.  The batter will be thin.

5.  Allow the batter to rest for 10 minutes

6.  Grease a  all 12 muffin cups of a muffin tin.

7.  Add the batter to the muffins cups, filling each one almost to the top.

8.  Add a sprinkle of chopped walnuts to the top of each one.

9.  Bake in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

10.  Enjoy, freezing for at least one month.