Delightfully Hearty Handfuls

These muffins are super hearty and heart-healthy. Uber-fiber-icious. Ok, they're pretty darn tasty, too. Best of all, they fit in the palm of your hand, so they're good to take camping, hiking and biking for quick energy.

For this recipe, I had a field day with a muffin recipe in "The Baker's Catalogue." My version is almost nothing like the original, with the exception of three ingredients: whole wheat flour, rolled oats and baking powder.

In my altered version, I used cashew butter in place of the butter or oil. I also used rice milk instead of cow's milk, agave for sugar, and loads more spices and add-ins.

If you decide to make these yourself, just know that they don't make big muffins at all. They're pretty dense, but very tasty.

Makes 12 handful-sized muffins.

Ingredients:

2 cups whole wheat flour
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup agave nectar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon alspice
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 teaspoon ground cloves
1 teaspoon vanilla paste
1/2 cup chopped dried apricots
1/2 cup chopped dried pears
1 cup unsweetened carob chips
1 cup rice milk
1/2 cup cashew butter
3 large eggs

Directions

1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees F. Lightly grease a 12-cup muffin pan.
2. Sift together all the dry ingredients except the rolled oats and the dried fruit. Mix in the rolled oats and the dried fruit.
3. In another bowl beat the eggs with the agave nectar, rice milk and cashew butter until smooth.
4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry and mix until incorporated. Let sit covered for 10 minutes before spooning into the muffin pan.
5. Bake for approximately 15 minutes, turning the pan after 10 minutes.
6. Let cool in the pan for a few minutes before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely before storing or enjoying!