OMG PB&J Muffins

These are healthy? Seriously? Because OMG they are SO GOOD! Am I bragging? Yes I am, because I just made this recipe up and it rocks.
You might not believe me when you look at the ingredients, but they have been carefully selected to add sweetness, healthy vitamins and make a delicious muffin that you can eat completely guilt free.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup flour
1 cup oats
1/2 cup almonds1/2 milled flax seed
1 cup dried plums (did you know they've officially been renamed "dried plums" because people associate "prunes" with old people and .... well, ya know.")
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 large eggs
1/4 cup honey or agave nectar2 teaspoons vanilla
1/4 cup canola oil
3/4 cup carrot juice
3/4 cup smooth peanut butter (the real stuff, not Jiffy)
Your favorite jam or fruit preserves, not jelly because it will just soak into the muffin.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350F and line muffin tins (this made 18) with those fancy little paper liners or spray with cooking spray.

Put in your food processor: flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, oats, almonds, dried plums and milled flax seed. Pulse until well mixed and chopped small.
In large bowl mix honey or agave and oil. Add eggs, vanilla, carrot juice and peanut butter. You may want to warm the peanut butter a bit first. Since the real stuff is kept in the fridge it doesn't mix quite as well cold.

Add dry ingredients and combine everything well.

Put about a Tablespoon of batter into each muffin cup covering the entire bottom of the muffin tin.

Drop a dollop of jam into the middle of each muffin cup.

Top with another Tablespoon of the batter and cover jam completely, filling muffin tin to the top.

Put muffins in the 350 F oven for 18-20 minutes until tops are browned.

Remove from pan and put on wire rack to cool.

Eat one while it's warm then come back here and leave a comment telling me how much you love me :) PS - Be careful, the fruit inside is HOT!


Another variation:

I made this with almond butter instead, about 1 cup
Applesauce instead of the carrot juice
1/2 cup whole wheat flour instead of the almonds

Great variation! Not sure which one I like better, they're both keepers :)

Apple Cinnamon Dog Treats

With all of the allergy issues we had before making their food and all the recalls on pet food and treats I make our dogs treats. It's also much cheaper!!! We made these for our local dog shelters as well and they were thrilled to get homemade treats. The picture above is a mix of three recipes we used. The Apple Cinnamon treats are the circle shaped ones. I will post the other two recipes soon :)

Apple Cinnamon Cookies (for dogs)

1 large apple (or about 1 cup applesauce with no added sugar)
1/4 cup honey
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup oatmeal
1 1/2 cups flour (or enough to make stiff dough) **Spelt flour or whole wheat flour is best
1/8 cup whole wheat flour

Directions:
Preheat oven to 325 F

Core, slice and mince the apple (use a food processor if you have one). In a large bowl, combine the minced apple bits, honey, cinnamon, and oatmeal. Gradually blend in the flour, adding enough to form a stiff dough.

In a small bowl, add 1/8 cup wheat flour. Spoon the dough by rounded teaspoon onto greased baking sheets, spacing about 2 inches apart. Using the bottom of a glass dipped in the flour (to prevent sticking), flatten each spoonful of dough into a circle. Adjust the size of the drops based on how big a treat you like to feed your dog.

Bake for 20 minutes on each side.

Tested and approved by kids and dogs :)