4 Square Feet: Chocolate Strawberry Mini Oatmeal Muffins

We found some perfectly sweet strawberries at the farmers market, then on Pinterest I found Chocolate Covered Strawberry Muffins by Sally's Baking Addiction. Her recipe sounded really tasty, and they looked it too. However while I really wanted to make them, I didn't want to go to the store so I needed to be able to use ingredients already in my pantry (and that does not include sour cream). So I went on a hunt for a basic muffin recipe where I found the Brown Eyed Baker & Oatmeal Muffins with Dates, Cranberries & Pecans. Still not perfect because my house includes one who is unable to eat buttermilk in any form... but with these two recipe ideas, and a little bit of substitution knowledge... I came up with these. Since I was already substituting and modifying, I went for one more change that would lower the fat too.

The final result has a nice balance of all the flavors, the chocolate and strawberry shine through nicely and you have that satisfying nuttiness of the oatmeal too.

So here we go.

Ingredients	Tools	Notes
1 cup soy milk 1 Tbsp lemon juice 1 cup rolled oats 1 cup all purpose flour 1/2 cup brown sugar 1/2 tsp baking soda 1/2 tsp salt 1/2 tsp cinnamon 1/4 cup chocolate chips 2/3 cups chopped strawberries 1/2 unsweetened apple sauce 1 large egg 1/2 tsp vanilla extract	muffin tins flour sifter measuring cups measuring spoons whisk wooden spoon spatula 2 mixing bowls	Prep time: 10 minutes Baking time: 15 minutes Servings: 36 mini muffins @ 52 kcal each OR 12 full size muffins @156 kcal each

1 tsp baking powder. I actually forgot to include this ingredient but it still worked out. If I had remembered to include it, I imagine they would have come out a bit fluffier and risen a bit more as well. Without it though, I didn't' miss it. The the mix in to batter ratio, combined with my mini tins, made me feel like I was still getting a satisfying bite.

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

In small mixing bowl, combine soy milk & lemon juice, mix well and set aside.

In large mixing bowl, combine oats, flour, sugar, baking soda, salt & cinnamon. Mix in your chocolate chips and strawberries. (Alternately, you could add the mix in's at the very last)