Oat, Cheddar & Apple Breakfast Muffins with Bacon Streusel Topping

By posting this recipe I am entering a recipe contest sponsored by National Dairy Council and the Quaker Oats Center of Excellence and am eligible to win prizes associated with the contest. I was not compensated for my time.

Here’s my definition of “breakfast muffin”~ noun A sweet, floury domed mini-cake often studded with a few small morsels of fruit or nuts in an effort to pass itself off as a quick and somewhat healthy option for breakfast. True breakfast muffins have a high glycemic index, which causes an instantaneous spike in glucose and insulin, thus causing the consumer to crash and burn within an hour.

So what the heck is she doing posting a recipe for a breakfast muffin, you might be asking yourself…

This isn’t just any breakfast muffin, and they’re definitely not mini-cakes. These are made with my favorite healthy breakfast (or anytime) power-food combo of oats and dairy. They feature about one-third of a cup of whole grain, high fiber oatmeal in each serving– enough to fill and satisfy you until lunchtime, AND, a healthy dose of protein and calcium from three different low fat diary foods – milk, yogurt and low fat cheese.

I love my oats every day (really), for their chewy delicious texture, their cholesterol and blood sugar lowering fiber, and of course their whole grain goodness. And I’m not gonna lie – I am a fan of real dairy. I love that it’s a natural source of calcium and lots of other vitamins and minerals, but mostly, I love its protein, something you can’t get with many other non-dairy milks and milk products. Oats and dairy together give me the fuel and energy I need to make it through the craziest of mornings.

Despite the fact that they’re packed with power-food ingredients (or maybe because of that?), these muffins are amazingly good, if I do say so myself. They have a perfect mix of sweetness from apple, cinnamon and some brown sugar, plus a touch of savory from the cheese and just a few crumbles of bacon in the streusel topping. Because doesn’t everything taste better with a little bacon? And really, it’s about time someone invented bacon streusel.

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Oat, Cheddar & Apple Breakfast Muffins with Bacon Streusel Topping

Prep Time30 mins

Cook Time25 mins

Total Time1 hr

Servings: 8 large muffins

Author: Craving Something Healthy

Ingredients

• 2 cups Quaker Old Fashioned Oats
• 1 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 cup canola oil
• 1 3/4 cup low fat 1% milk
• 1/3 cup nonfat Greek yogurt
• 2 eggs
• 4 ounces shredded lite sharp cheddar cheese
• 1 medium sweet apple peeled and diced

For the Streusel Topping

• 6 slices natural uncured bacon, cooked and drained well (be careful not to overcook the bacon because it will continue to cook in the oven)
• 2 tablespoons brown sugar
• 1/2 cup Quaker Old Fashioned oats
• 1/4 cup pecans
• 2 tablespoons softened butter

Instructions

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees and set the oven rack to middle position. Spray a muffin tin with baking spray with flour and set aside.
• Place the oats in a large sauté pan over high heat and toast until light golden in color.
• Remove from heat and place oats in the bowl of a food processor fitted with the chopping blade. Process oats for about 30 seconds, or until finely ground.
• In a lage mixing bowl, combine ground oats, flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Stir to combine.
• In another large mixing bowl, combine brown sugar and oil, and stir to break up sugar and dissolve well.
• Whisk milk, yogurt, and eggs into the oil/sugar mixture.
• Add the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients in two additions, and whisk together until just combined.
• Fold shredded cheese and diced apple into the batter
• Let the batter sit for about 20 minutes to thicken up.
• While the batter is resting, combine remaining streusel ingredient in the bowl of the food processor, and pulse about 10 times until mixture is crumbly.
• When batter has thickened, pour about 1 cup into each well of the muffin tin, and spoon about 1 tablespoon of streusel on top.
• Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

Nutrition

Serving: 1g

Eat well!