These Breakfast Muffins Are Waaaay Healthier Than They Look

There’s nothing better than waking up knowing you have a delicious, healthy breakfast already prepared and waiting for you (and that extra motivation is even more necessary on these cold, dark winter days).  These baked oatmeal muffins, from Eddie McNamara’s Toss Your Own Salad, combine all of the comfort-food baked good deliciousness of muffins with the hearty, good-for-your-gut fiber of oats.  There are tons of flavor options to assuage boredom. Make a bunch on Sunday, and your breakfasts for the week are sorted!

Warning: These may look like muffins, but don’t let appearances trick you into thinking these are some kind of indulgent dessert. They’re portable, single-serve oatmeal thingies that are shaped like muffins: easy, beyond healthy, and only around 100 calories each.

I make one or two batches per week, and my wife and I eat them for breakfast or for a post-gym or afternoon snack with a cup of coffee. I’ve made 36 different versions of this recipe—past versions have included yogurt, eggs, quinoa, pumpkin, quick-cooking oats, steel-cut oats, Dutch cocoa, coconut flakes, hemp milk, soy milk, Amish milk, blueberries, Craisins, blackberries, nutmeg, and cardamom (but not all together). Anyway, this one is the best, aka "The Classic."

MIX IT UP: Replace the dates and nuts for new flavor combinations, such as blueberries and walnuts, date and coconut flakes, shredded apples and walnuts, Craisins or dried cherries and pecans, cocoa powder, cinnamon, and walnuts ("The Rugelach"), or just say screw it and add chocolate chips like you really want to.