Cranberry Cherry Nut Power-Up Muffins

Power-up muffins! Try this tasty combination of healthy oats, nut butter, yogurt, cranberries and cherries that will keep you going all morning. You can bake these ahead and store cooled muffins in an airtight container 3 days at room temperature, or freeze up to 3 months.

Author: Michelle Hanson

Michelle Hanson, MA, RD, LD is Fresh & Natural Food’s Registered Dietitian. She received a Bachelor of Science degree in Nutrition and Clinical Dietetics with a minor in Community Health from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities. She is a registered dietitian and current member of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. Michelle has been a nutrition consultant for numerous years as well as a nutrition research director at the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities.

Michelle is passionate about food and nutrition and believes in helping people find simple, realistic ways to make healthy eating a part of their everyday lifestyle.
If you are interested in meeting Michelle or have questions for her, you can email her at: michelle@fnfoods.com. She will look forward to meeting you!

Servings: 12 | Prep Time: 20 minutes | Cook Time: 15-18 minutes | Ready in: 40 minutes

Ingredients

• 2/3 c all purpose flour
• 2/3 c whole flour
• 3/4 c plus 2 T regular rolled oats
• 1/4 c brown sugar
• 1 1/2 t baking powder
• 1/2 t baking soda
• 1/2 t salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/2 c plain Greek yogurt
• 1/4 c almond butter or peanut butter
• 1/4 c olive oil
• 1/2 c dried tart red cherries, chopped
• 1/2 c dried cranberries
• 1/3 c chopped walnuts
• 1 T sesame seeds, poppy seeds, and/or chia seeds

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 400ºF. Line twelve 2 1/2 inch muffin cups with paper bake cups. In a large bowl stir together all purpose flour, whole wheat flour, 3/4c oats, the brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
2. In another bowl whisk together eggs, yogurt, almond butter, and oil. Add yogurt mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened. Fold in cherries, cranberries and walnuts.
3. Spoon batter into muffin cups. In a small bowl stir together remaining 2T oats and seeds and sprinkle over mixture of batter (optional step).
4. Bake 15-18 minutes or until golden. Cool in muffin cups on a wire rack 5 minutes. Serve warm with jam or lemon curd.

Recipe alternative: For those chocolate lovers, you could substitute the chopped walnuts for 1/3          cup chopped bittersweet chocolate.

 Nutrition Information Per Muffin:  242 cal, 11g fat, 247 mg sodium, 29g carb, 3 g fiber, 8g                 protein