I had a really hard time coming up with a title for these muffins… There are so many things I want to say about them! There is no sugar, no flour and sweetened only with dates! They are a good source of protein with oatmeal and milk! They are rich in iron! There are apples and cinnamon and did I mention dates?! They are made in the blender! They are perfect for toddlers! And they are yummy!
At his 9 month check up, my son, Logan, was diagnosed as anemic. Which apparently isn’t that uncommon for babies/toddlers that are breastfeeding and eating regular food as well. And even less uncommon when the breastfeeding mother is vegetarian. I’ve always been concerned about my iron levels because I don’t eat meat, but haven’t ever had any symptoms of being anemic and since I have been taking a prenatal, I thought I was fine.
Our pediatrician prescribed an iron supplement for Logan and encouraged me to take an additional supplement as well. However, I would rather get our iron from real foods and also not have to force my baby to take liquid iron. It seriously tastes like metal. Every dose is a battle. So I wanted to find some foods that are high in iron for us to enjoy.
Oatmeal is a great source of iron, but guess what? Logan doesn’t want to eat it. I needed to come up with a way to get him to eat it. I thought about oatmeal cookies but I didn’t want to feed him additional sugar and then I had an idea… Muffins! Sweetened with dates (which also happen to be a decent source of iron)! Perfect!
I made these as mini muffins which are perfect for toddler hands, but they can be made into regular size muffins as well. They are so good! I thought I would miss actual sugar, but I don’t! I love eating these muffins just as much as Logan and I don’t have to feel bad about snacking on them. I discovered that they only stay good for about 3 to 5 days. But they freeze really well! I will leave a few out, but put most straight into the freezer. When Logan is ready to eat a muffin, I just pop it into the microwave for 15 to 20 seconds and he devours it!
Ingredients:
- 1 c dried dates, chopped
- ½ c hot water
- 1 large apple, peeled and diced
- ¾ c milk (I used unsweetened pea protein milk)
- 2 large eggs
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 2 tsp baking soda
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 2 ½ c old-fashioned oats
Directions:
- Place diced dates into blender and pour hot water over dates. Allow to sit for 5 minutes or until softened and blend until smooth.
- Add diced apples and milk, puree until smooth.
- Add all remaining ingredients until oats are ground. Scrape down sides of blender if needed.
- Use liners or grease muffin with olive oil.
- Fill ⅔ full with batter.
- Bake 350 for 10 – 12 minutes for mini muffins or 30 – 35 minutes for regular size muffins. A toothpick inserted in the center of the muffin should come out clean.
- Enjoy!
Comments 17
Any ideas how I could make these without eggs?
Author
Hi Felicia!
You know, I was just thinking about this today as my family is moving to a more plant-based diet. There are two ways I would recommend and will be trying both soon and will post a new recipe with which replacement works better. Those two options are 1/4 c. unsweetened applesauce per egg or flax eggs which are 1 Tbl flax seed mixed with 3 Tbl water per egg (must let it sit for at least 5 min). If you use one of these methods, let me know how it works!
Hi!
I’m vegetarian and breastfeeding as well and really trying to transition away from eggs . Did you ever try the above options? I’d love to know which you preferred.
Thanks!
Author
I haven’t yet. I will try both methods today and let you know how it goes!
Author
Okay, I lied. I didn’t try both and I didn’t do it the next day. You know, toddler keeping me up, no apples, and snow storm does that to you. I did, however, try the applesauce option today and it worked perfectly! I used 1/2 cup of unsweetened applesauce in place of the 2 eggs. I will be creating that blog post soon!
Thank you so much! My toddler also has low iron, and hard my find food she will eat as she is picky as well! Hopefully she will love these!
1 egg = 1 tbs ground flax seeds mixed with 3 tbs water (let it sit for 5 min)
Author
Hi Valentina –
Yes! That is what I used to remake this recipe without eggs. I need to update! Thank you for the reminder!
Can this be made with almond milk or coconut milk instead of cows milk?
Author
Yes! I usually pea milk (Ripple). All of my recipes are made with non-dairy milk.
My son also doesn’t want oatmeal. Great recipe for me to get him some iron! Thanks a lot ?
I wanted to love these muffins because they don’t have sugar or flour, but they had such a strong, metallic flavor… maybe too much baking soda?? I followed the recipe with the exception of using almond milk instead of pea protein
Author
Hi Sara – Hmmm… I’ve made this tons of times and never had that issue (I have with other baked goods before so I know what you are talking about!). Are you sure you used baking soda and not baking powder? I will re-make this to make sure they don’t have that taste!
Could I substitute almond flour in place of oats?
Author
Hi Hannah – You should be able to replace the oats with almond flour. I haven’t done that, but since both flours are gluten free, it should be the same consistency.
If I choose to omit the dates (don’t have any on hand at the moment), do I also skip the hot water?
Author
Hi Alyssa – Yes, if you omit the dates, also omit that water. The hot water is used only to soften the dates.