Almond Butter Oatmeal Muffins

Whoa, it's been a busy couple of weeks! The fall semester has started, which means I am knee deep in Medical Nutrition Therapy (loving it so far), last week was my birthday (cake recipe forthcoming), and this weekend we hosted a big surprise birthday bash for my sister-in-law's 30th! (I was going to write a post about all the party food and games, but again, things got so busy that I didn't even take many pictures, and what's a food blog post without pictures?) One thing I DO have pictures of, though, are these tasty nut butter oatmeal muffins.

Up until recently, I had never purchased almond butter, mostly because it's hard to justify spending as much on one jar as I would on a pizza to feed my whole family AND because I already love peanut butter so much that experimenting with other nut butters hardly seemed necessary. Why mess with a good thing? And wouldn't it make the peanut butter feel bad? Then a few weeks ago, Maranatha almond butter was on sale for a mere 5 bucks, which is bargain basement for almond butter, so I splurged. 

Assuming one uses almond butter in all the same ways as peanut butter (you know, as shaving cream, leather cleaner, hair moisturizer...seriously, these are actual ways people claim to use peanut butter), I figured I'd go a traditional route by giving it a whirl in these oatmeal muffins. Aaaaand success! These were simple to whip up, reasonably healthy, and as an established fan of oatmeal muffins, I really enjoyed the uniqueness of the almond taste paired with the quasi-nuttiness of oats. It was like being in a Peanut Butter Parallel Universe.

(Sorry, peanut butter. We can still be friends. I promise I'll still slather you on ice cream eat you in heart-healthy portions.)

You could, of course, use peanut butter instead of almond in this recipe. Either would be delicious.

P.S.: Days after making and eating these muffins, I received a call from the grocery store saying this particular brand of almond butter had been recalled for salmonella. Awesome. Is that why it was so cheap? Still gonna buy it again.

P.P.S.: None of us got salmonella. And neither will you from looking at the pictures. Just be sure to buy non-bacterially infected almond butter. Or peanut butter. Either will work. :)

Almond Butter Oatmeal Muffins
(Adapted from The Cooking Actress)

Ingredients:

1 1/4 c. whole wheat flour (white whole wheat is especially good because of its lighter texture)
1 c. quick or rolled oats
1 tsp. baking powder
1 1/2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/4 c. brown sugar
1/3 c. honey
1/2 c. almond or peanut butter
1/2 c. Greek yogurt
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
3/4 c. milk

Directions:

1 Preheat oven to 375. Spray a 12-cup muffin tin with cooking spray.

2. In a large bowl, combine flour, oats, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and brown sugar.

3. In a smaller bowl, whisk together honey, almond or peanut butter, yogurt, egg, vanilla, and milk.

4. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry until combined. Divide evenly into prepared muffin tin, filling about 2/3 full.

5. Bake 17-20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Makes about 12 muffins.