Spelt Recipes: Oat Bran Breakfast Muffins

This recipe for oat bran spelt muffins produces a wonderfully light, moist, and flavorful muffin that's hearty and perfect for breakfast or a snack. They're packed with nutritious blueberries and they're not overly sweet, either.

The lower glycemic index of spelt flour (compared to regular wheat flour) means that it doesn't have such a dramatic effect on blood sugar levels, making it a good ingredient to use in diabetic recipes. Spelt also has a wider range of nutrients and a lovely, 'nutty' taste. Spelt flour can be incorporated into a diet as a natural way to help control blood sugar for people with type 2 diabetes. This doesn't mean that consuming a pile of them at once is a good idea, though; portion sizes are still important.

Ingredients

Makes 16-18 medium-sized muffins

• 1 cup light spelt flour
• 1 cup oat bran
• 1 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup coconut sugar (or regular white sugar)
• (Optional) 1/4 cup brown sugar
  (if you like your muffin a bit sweeter, otherwise this muffin really isn't very sweet)
• (Optional) Zest of 1/2 lemon (for an extra lemon-y taste)
• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 3 tbsp coconut oil or butter, melted
• 3 eggs, room temperature
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 cup wild blueberries (if using frozen, don't thaw)
• (Optional) 1/2 cup chopped pecans
• (Optional) 2 tbsp chia seeds (adds a good nutritional boost)

Directions

The trick to getting the perfect light texture is to resist the temptation to overmix the batter. Mix just until combined. The batter may still be a bit lumpy, but this is okay and even good! If you overmix, the muffins will end up dense and flat.

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.
• Line your muffin tins with paper liners, or grease lightly with a bit of melted coconut oil.
• Thoroughly combine the dry ingredients: oat bran, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, coconut sugar, brown sugar (if using), cinnamon, lemon zest (if using), and chia seeds (if using). Set aside.
• Pour the lemon juice into the milk and let sit for a few minutes until the milk sours. To speed things up, you can put the mixture into the microwave for 20-30 seconds.
• In a separate bowl, melt the coconut oil and then whisk it together with the milk/lemon juice mixture, eggs, and vanilla.
• Dump the blueberries and nuts (if using) into the dry mixture, and stir to make sure all the berries are coated.
• Pour the liquid ingredients into the flour mixture. Stir gently and quickly until just barely combined. Don't overmix! Batter might still be lumpy..
• Fill each muffin tin nearly to the top. Bake for 15-25 minutes, or until muffins are set.

These oat bran spelt muffins taste best the day they're baked when they still have that slightly crispy top ... but they still taste great days later. This recipe doubles well. Read more about baking with spelt or explore more spelt recipes.