Brain Food Muffins For State Testing Week

That dreaded week is finally upon us...Stat Testing Week. My kiddos loathe it, especially Nash who has to endure three entire hours of it each day. We're always being told to get them to bed early and give them a healthy breakfast this week. I have to admit, I'm not normally very good at that, but it is something we've been working on. I did whip up a small batch of egg burritos to freeze on Monday morning, but there wasn't enough for the whole week. You can find my egg burritos here.

I had recently come across a recipe in my inbox from Martha, you know Martha Stewart? They are called Crumb Cake Muffins and they made my heart skip a beat with their oatmeal crumb topping. But you know me, I can't leave well enough alone and I had to go and health them up. I have no doubt Martha's muffins would be great just the way they are, but I needed something with a little more fuel. I have to say, I quite enjoyed the way they turned out. I already surpassed my quota for the day by eating two! You can find Martha's Crumb Cake Muffins here.

Brain Food Muffins

Adapted from Martha Stewart's Crumb Cake Muffins

Preheat oven to 350 degrees-makes 1 dozen

• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped candied ginger, or a few shakes of ground ginger {1/4 teas}
• 1 tablespoon whole wheat flour
• 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

• 1 1/2 cups mixture of half whole wheat and half all purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1 heaping tablespoon of wheat germ
• 1 heaping tablespoon of flax seed powder

• 1/2 cup nonfat buttermilk
• 1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
• Vegetable-oil cooking spray
• 1 cup frozen or fresh blueberries {fold in after batter has been mixed}

Directions

1. In a medium bowl, combine oats, brown sugar, ginger, flour, and melted butter, and stir until thoroughly combined. Set aside.
2. Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Coat the muffin tins with cooking spray, and set aside. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, ground ginger, wheat germ, flax powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl, and stir to combine. Place buttermilk, applesauce, and vegetable oil in a medium bowl, and whisk to combine. Stir into flour mixture until well combined. Fold in egg whites. Fold in blueberries.
3. Place 2 heaping tablespoons batter in each muffin tin. Sprinkle with a generous tablespoon of reserved topping; press gently to adhere topping to cake. Bake until a cake tester comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool in pan for 15 minutes before serving.