Nutty-Maple Cinnamon Muffins

Today I made Nutty-Maple Cinnamon Bars from the Winter 2008 CE Magazine. They are one of my favorite homemade Protein Bars - because they are simple and taste good. I saw on the forum that someone had made them in muffin tins instead of making individual foil wrappers for each bar - this seemed so much easier and would cut the prep time in half - so I just had to try it... and they turned out amazing! Here is my take on the recipe for Nutty-Maple Cinnamon Protein Muffins:

Nutty-Maple Cinnamon Protein Muffins

Ingredients

Olive Oil Cooking Spray
2 cups Rolled Oats, divided
6 Tbsp raw almonds
8 scoops Vanilla Flavored Protein
2 1/2 tsp cinnamon (can substitute Pumpkin Pie Spice)
1 t sea salt
1 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/4 cup dried cranberries, unsweetened
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup pure maple syrup (can substitute amber agave nectar or honey) 

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350.

Spray muffin tins with Olive Oil.

Take 1 cup oats and dry blend for 1 minute to make oat flour.

In large bowl, stir together oat flour, remaining 1 cup oats, almonds, protein powder, cinnamon, and salt.

Then add applesauce, cranberries, vanilla, and maple syrup to dry ingredients and mix thoroughly.

Spoon equal portions of batter into prepared muffin tins.

Bake in preheated oven for 16-18 mins. Do not overcook.

The muffins will look a little under done at first, but as they cool they will thicken up. Be patient!

Store the leftovers in fridge. I usually divide the bars into serving size portions and put in sandwich bags so that I can grab them on my way out of the house.

This recipe will yield about 16 muffins. One serving is 2 regular size muffins. For the coolers one serving accounts for 1/2 Whole Grain, 1/2 Fruit, and 1 Protein.

Batter

In Muffin Tins

YUMM-O!