Last weekend I decided to make a few changes. Little changes. Healthy changes.
By and large I lead a fairly healthy life—I eat well, exercise a lot, take care of myself (except the working too much and lack of sleep). But I’ve slipped into some bad habits (*coughtoobusyforbreakfastcough*) and feel like my body isn’t quite firing on all cylinders. But since I’m pretty overwhelmed with life right now, I knew I couldn’t do anything that required too much thought or effort.
So I made a list last weekend of a few things I was going to work on during the week. The first has turned out to be somewhat life-changing. It’s simple—before I go to bed I fill up a big glass with water and put it by my bed, and the minute I wake up, I down it. I’m not allowed to get out of bed until that glass of water is gone. And boy, is it crazy what that will do to purify and rev your system!
The second is pretty simple, too, and is something I used to be good about. I made sure I had a quality breakfast every single day at work. Some mornings this was a smoothie with fruit and greens and yogurt, and other days it was these delicious, high-fiber muffins.
I’ve never been a huge muffin person, but these were super easy and great. There really isn’t much bad in them—whole wheat flour, oats, and flax meal, with a little brown sugar for sweetness and studded with dark chocolate chips. They were a delightful companion for my morning espresso, and stayed moist and soft all week!
Preheat oven to 350 F and grease a muffin tin (the route I took) or line it with baking cups. Stir together all the dry ingredients in a large bowl.
Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the egg, oil, and milk. Stir together so that all the ingredients are evenly combined, then stir in the chocolate chips.
Spoon the batter into the muffin cups, filling them 3/4 full. Sprinkle a few oats on top for decoration.
Bake for 16-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let them cool for about 10 minutes, then remove them from the muffin tin and cool completely.
Chocolate Chip Oatmeal Flaxseed Muffins
- 1 cup of whole wheat flour (I used white whole wheat)
- 1/2 cup of ground flax meal (or you can substitute all-purpose flour)
- 1/2 cup of old-fashioned or rolled oats
- 1/3 cup of brown sugar, packed
- 1 teaspoon of espresso powder
- 1 teaspoon of baking powder
- 1 teaspoon of baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon of salt
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup of oil
- 1 cup of milk
- 1/2 cup of chocolate chunks (I used dark chocolate chips)
Preheat oven to 350 F and grease a muffin tin or line it with baking cups.
In a large mixing bowl, stir together all the dry ingredients—flour, flax meal, oats, brown sugar, espresso powder, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients and add the egg, oil, and milk. Mix so that all the ingredients are evenly combined, then stir in the chocolate chips.
Divide batter evenly between the muffin cups, filling them 3/4 full. Sprinkle a few oats on top for pretty. Bake for 16-20 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Original recipe from Pastry Affair
