This recipe is also available in German. / Dieses Rezept gibt es auch auf Deutsch.

It finally feels like summer, the farmer’s market is selling local strawberries and you can see people wearing shorts and sandals all over town. I love the feeling of the first summer days. The warm temperatures have me craving berries for breakfast, lunch, and dinner – and dessert. That’s why I came up with these healthy strawberry muffins that I know you’re going to love just as much as I do.

I find it strange that every café in my city is somehow offering blueberry muffins, but I never see strawberry muffins. I know that they are supposed to be too watery for baked goods, but I strongly disagree. Strawberries work just fine for making muffins. I made mine with the first local strawberries that I could get my hands on, and they tasted delicious without turning out too watery. You should definitely not try this recipe with frozen strawberries though as they will definitely make the muffins too runny.

For the batter, I used a mix of oat and brown rice flour, added some arrowroot powder as a binding ingredient and aluminum-free baking powder as a raising agent. I know that many healthy baking recipes do not have baking powder in them, but I think as long as you go for the aluminum-free powder, there’s nothing wrong with adding some rising ingredients to your muffins. It’s just something I prefer in baked goods – but of course, everybody’s taste is different.

For sweetener, I used coconut blossom sugar as they are also suitable for diabetics because they do not have such a strong impact on our blood sugar level as refined sugar has. This has the effect that the energy is released more slowly and sustainably, giving us the power we need to get through a long afternoon at work without craving something sweet an hour after eating the muffins.

Of course, you can also try mixing the strawberries with other berries such as raspberries, blueberries, or blackberries, but I’m all about the delicious strawberry taste at the moment.

I hope you’ll like this recipe – let me know what you think about it in the comments below.

Enjoy!

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE OR HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS, QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?

Feel free to leave a comment below, and don’t forget to tag your creations on social media using #heavenlynnhealthy.

I’d love for this blog to be a dialogue.

Merken

Merken

Merken

Merken

Merken

The post Healthy Strawberry Muffins appeared first on Heavenlynn Healthy.

If you live in Germany like me, then you know that summer is once again being a diva over here. It’s been a typical northern European summer this year: lots of rain, wetness, cold and only occasional peaks of sunshine. I was lucky to be able to spend the last two weeks in Austria with the most beautiful weather, but coming home was such a disappointment weather-wise. I did not feel like cold smoothies at all these past mornings, and I even felt like making oatmeal for breakfast. Instead, I chose this summer baked berry oatmeal, which is a nice change from my usual healthy bircher muesli in the morning. It’s so nice to eat something warm for breakfast, without feeling like it’s already fall or winter. 

Baked oatmeal is nothing less than, well, baked oatmeal. Instead of eating it straight from the saucepan, you add all ingredients to a baking dish, cover it with nuts and more berries and put it into the oven for a few minutes. So basically it’s like a hybrid between oatmeal and crumbles. There’s not much sugar in this baked berry oatmeal, as sweet, local berries are in season right now, so it’s a healthy and wholesome breakfast option that keeps you satisfied for many hours.

Berries are my favorite reminder that it’s actually summer, even though the weather here tells me otherwise. They are the best antioxidant boost, protecting your body from free radical damage and chronic diseases. If you pair this oatmeal with my current favorite turmeric latte, then your body is really in for a treat.

Have you ever tried baked oatmeal? What’s your favorite flavor combination?

Enjoy!

DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE OR HAVE ANY SUGGESTIONS, QUESTIONS OR COMMENTS?

Feel free to leave a comment below, and don’t forget to tag your creations on social media using #heavenlynnhealthy.

I’d love for this blog to be a dialogue.

The post Baked Berry Oatmeal appeared first on Heavenlynn Healthy.

If you’ve been following my blog or my Instagram account then you’ve probably noticed that I have a thing for delicious breakfasts like porridge or granola, and also for blueberries. I just love blueberries! They’re amongst my favorite berries because they are just so naturally sweet and delicious. Especially in the summer when you get them locally I go through at least one big batch a day. As all other berries, blueberries are great for your health as they are packed with antioxidants , which protect your whole body from free radicals. That’s why I like to think that berries make you pretty and help you glow from the inside out.
Since blueberries are about the sweetest berries you will find, they are perfect for this recipe as they make this granola naturally sweet. They also make your granola purple, which I love.
For a little extra goodness I added some millet to this recipe. This might sound very strange especially since I used it raw, but it just adds that extra crunch to the granola, which I love. In my opinion there’s nothing better than sweet and crunchy granola.
Millet is not only crunchy, it also has great health benefits. The gluten-free grain has a high iron content (about 1/2 cup (100g) provide more iron than the same amount of red meat), and it is packed with good minerals such as magnesium, manganese, copper and zinc. Millet is also extremely skin-friendly, and won’t cause break-outs or pimples as other grains do. Thus millet is really a beautifying grain – one more reason to add it to your morning breakfast bowl. I hope you enjoy this homemade granola just as much as I do.

Health benefits in this blueberry millet granola:
– copper (important for the development of the myelin sheath that surrounds the nerves; important for the transformation of melanin which is involved in the pigmentation of hair, eyes and skin)
– iron (important for healthy red blood cells that transport oxygen through your body)
– lauric acid (prevents heart diseases and lowers blood pressure)
– mono-unsaturated fats (decreases risks for breast cancer, important for heart health)
– magnesium (important for a healthy nerve system, muscle health, energy production)
– potassium (lowers cholesterol levels and blood pressure)
– vitamin B (lowers blood pressure, important for healthy nerves, and energy production)
– zinc (important for growth, skin, and a healthy immune system)

  
Ingredients:
– 2 cups (160g) (gluten-free) oats
– ½ cup (80g) millet
– 1 cup (120g) sunflower seeds
– ½ cup (60g) pumpkin seeds
– ½ cup (75g) raw unpeeled almonds (with skin)
– ½ cup (60g) flax seeds
– 2 tbs virgin coconut oil
– 1 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
– 3 tbs maple syrup or agave

Preheat the oven to 180°. Start by putting the almonds into a food processor and crush for 2-3 pulses until they are broken into pieces. They should not be completely crushed, you still want to be able to identify them as nut pieces. Place the crushed almonds into a large bowl. Add all the dry ingredients except blueberries, and stir well until the ingredients are combined.

Next, melt the coconut oil in a small sauce pan. Add the agave, and stir well until everything is dissolved. Add this sticky mixture to a blender together with the fresh or frozen blueberries and mix well so you have a nice smoothie-like texture.

Now pour the sweet blueberry mix over the dry ingredients and mix well until everything is slightly sticky.

Pour the granola on a baking sheet which you have aligned with parchment paper, and bake for about 30-40 minutes. After 10 minutes or so, take the pan out and stir well so the outer edges do not get burned. Repeat this every 5-10 minutes for the rest of the time.

After 40 minutes, take out the tray and leave it to cool for about 20 minutes.
By this time the granola should be nicely crunchy but not burned and your kitchen should smell devine.

Serve with milk, non-dairy milk, yoghurt or non-dairy yogurt, top with fruits. Stored in an air-tight container it should taste amazing for 3-4 weeks.

Enjoy!

The post Blueberry Millet Granola appeared first on Heavenlynn Healthy.