Trust me to win something from a fitness website. When a 1.5kg bag of Carman’s Premium Traditional Oats landed on my doorstep, I envisioned baking kilos of naughty sugariffic crumble with it. Tee hee hee.
Contrary to my plans however, I slowly found oats creeping into my diet. In a totally adult responsible way too! Now I love starting the day with a big bowl of oats, soy milk, apple, banana and a dash of cinnamon. Gees, who knew The Cake Mistress had a healthy side? (Hope you’re reading this, Mum).
But surely, it’s possible to bake everything I love about breakfast into one big tasty muffin. And by jove, this morning I did it! This muffin features:
- Rolled oats
- Apple
- Banana
- Dried Apricots
- Dried Dates
- Cinnamon, and
- Earl Grey Tea infused Milk
The smell of warm cinnamon, apple and banana spills through the kitchen as they bake. Splitting a golden brown muffin in two straight from the oven reveals a fluffy moist crumb, while hints of apricot and earl grey reach your nose as the steam rises. A lick of butter, a glass of orange juice and your breakfast is complete.
Of course, feel free to substitute you favourite fruits for a different flavour combination. I know these babies are gonna see some mango pulp action once summer hits 
Fruit & Oat Breakfast Muffins
Recipe by The Cake Mistress
Makes 12
300g Plain Flour
200g Caster Sugar
125ml Vegetable Oil
100ml Milk
1 Earl Grey Teabag
2 Large Eggs
1 teaspoon Baking Powder
20g Rolled Oats + more for the topping
1/2 teaspoon Cinnamon
1 apple, grated
1 banana, mashed
65g Dried Apricots, chopped
50g Dried Dates, chopped
Directions:
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius. Grease a 12-hole muffin tin with non-stick spray.
Heat the milk in the microwave for 1 minute. Tear open the teabag and pour the contents into the hot milk. Allow to infuse for at least 5 minutes. Don’t strain the tea leaves from the milk.
In a medium bowl, hand whisk the oil, sugar and eggs. Add the mashed banana, cinnamon and milk, mixing well.
In a large bowl, add the flour, baking powder, oats, apple, dried apricots and dried dates, stirring well. Make a well in the middle and pour in the wet ingredients. Fold in the wet and dry ingredients with a wooden spoon, until just combined. Do not overmix.
Completely fill each muffin hole with batter. Sprinkle a few more oats on top to decorate. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown and a skewer inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Serve warm or cold. Keep at room temperature in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
(This fruit and oat breakfast muffin recipe is inspired by, but largely deviates from a Donna Hay recipe spotted on Panda & Cakes.)
