healthy cranberry walnut muffins

I am FINALLY over that stupid cold, but it took forever to get better (9 days!), so now I'm way behind in my work, which has meant a lot of stress and very little bloggable cooking or baking. I did make myself some breakfast muffins, though, because I spent last week running all over the world and needed grab-and-go breakfast options.

12 muffins is often too much for my household, and it's definitely too much for me when my person is out of town (as it currently the case), so the recipe below only makes 6 muffins. I try to make breakfast muffins as healthy as possible by using whole grain flours, no refined sugar, etc., because I'm a hippie at heart, but substituting some white flour for the whole wheat would of course produce a fluffier, less dense muffin. You could also cut out half the canola and replace it with applesauce for a lower fat muffin, which I may do next time. They're good just the way they are, though, so maybe not...

Healthy Cranberry Walnut Muffins
makes 6 muffins
1/3 cup soy, rice, etc. milk
1/4 tsp apple cider vinegar
1/3 cup agave nectar
2 Tbsp + 2 tsp canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract

1/4 cup + 2 tsp whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 cup spelt flour
2 Tbsp ground flax seed
2 Tbsp rolled oats
1/4 tsp baking soda
scant 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/8 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/4 cup each dried cranberries and chopped walnuts

Directions:
Lightly grease half a muffin pan or line half of it with cupcake/muffin liners. Preheat oven to 325 F.

Mix the vinegar and milk together and set aside a few minutes to curdle. Pour the vinegar/milk combo into a large bowl and beat in the agave, oil, and vanilla extract. In a separate bowl, mix all the dry ingredients and then mix them into the wet ingredients in several batches until smooth. Stir in the cranberries and walnuts.

Distribute the batter equally between the 6 liners or tins, then bake for 22-24 minutes until a toothpick or piece of dry spaghetti comes out clean. Overbaking will produce dry muffins, so do check them at the 22 minute mark. Cool completely on a wire rack before eating.

Store in a covered container. I think these taste better the day after being made.


Approximate nutritional information per muffin, according to NutritionData.com:
Calories: about 205
Fat: 11 grams (canola about 6, walnuts about 5)
Fiber: 4 grams
Protein: 4 grams
Also: 6% RDA of Calcium, 7% RDA Iron