Strawberry Oat Muffins

I hate wasting food! It is one of my biggest pet peeves. Therefore there often comes a time when I look into the fridge and I see various items that are about to expire and I feel obligated to use them up in some way. Usually that involves making some sort of omelet or frittata because it's easy to throw virtually any ingredient in them and have it turn out. However this time I needed to use up strawberries and Greek yogurt...not exactly omelet ingredients. So I decided I would bake them into muffins and see how it turned out.

Wouldn't you know it the muffins actually turned out great! I'm quite proud of them because they tasted good and I realized later that they were pretty healthy too. The muffins were almost completely sugar and fat free. I managed this by substituting unsweetened applesauce for butter and relying only on the natural sugars contained in the strawberries and the yogurt itself. I also substituted half the flour with oats. As a result the muffins turned out quite dense and not sweet at all, but the missing sweetness was actually nice. It made the muffin feel more substantial and less like a dessert, fitting of a breakfast snack. The only unfortunate part was that the muffins stuck completely to the paper liners and it was very difficult to peel the paper off. Next time I think I will make sure to grease the muffin tin well and just bake them straight in the tin without the use of any liners.

Strawberry Oat Muffins
Note: These muffins could be made using other fruit instead such as blueberries or raspberries. I used strawberries because that's what I had on hand.

• 1 1/4 cup flour
• 1 1/4 cup old-fashioned oats 
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1 cup applesauce
• 1 cup Greek yogurt (I used nonfat strawberry flavored but regular works too)
• 1 egg
• 2 tbsp oil
• 3/4 cup strawberries, cut into pieces

1. In a large bowl sift together the flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
2. In a separate bowl combine the applesauce, Greek yogurt, egg, and oil. 
3. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix just until the dry ingredients are incorporated. The batter will be fairly thick.
4. Gently fold in half of the strawberries.
5. Distribute the batter evenly in a well-greased 12 cup muffin tin. Top the muffins with the remaining strawberry pieces.
6. Bake for 18-20 minutes at 375 degrees Fahrenheit or until a toothpick inserted into the muffins comes out clean. Cool for five minutes in the pan before transferring to a wire rack to finish cooling.