Apple and Hemp Muffins!

Wow! What a BEAUTIFUL Saturday!!! Today was the first day of the year that Dan and I walked around without sweaters, and Noah without his coat! After the busy week we've had, it was really a treat to explore the park and feed the ducks together! Noah was so excited too!
Since tomorrow is Mother's Day and I'm guessing that I might be lucky enough to sleep in a little, Noah and I let Papa sleep while we played around the house, went for a walk and made some muffins! I have been wanting to make apple muffins for awhile now and I stumbled upon this amazing recipe on the internet for apple-hemp muffins! The recipe is originally from a cookbook which I don't have called Vive le Vegan! You can order the cookbook on Amazon at http://www.amazon.com/Vive-Vegan-Delectable-Recipes-Everyday/dp/1551521695 but I don't have it so I can't tell you anymore about it other than it has an amazing muffin recipe! I took the recipe for the muffins and modified it slightly (I added chunks of a soft apple to the muffin mix because I LOVE the taste of real apple bits in a muffin), to meet our family's preference and what was available...they turned out AMAZING!

So here is the recipe for Apple and Hemp Muffins:

1 1/2 cups of whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup of ground oats (I ground organic rolled oats in our magic bullet, coffee grinder component but you could also use a food-processor)
1/2 cup of hemp hearts
2 tsp. of baking powder
1 tsp. of baking soda
pinch of sea salt
1 tsp. of cinnamon
1/4 tsp. of nutmeg
1/8 tsp. of cardamom
1 cup of unsweetened apple sauce
1/2 cup of pure organic maple syrup or agave nectar (I used maple syrup)
3/4 cup of organic almond milk
1 tsp. of pure vanilla extract
3 tbsp. of canola oil
1 apple (I used a Spartan), peeled and sliced into 1/2 inch cube-pieces.

Makes 12 Muffins

Pre-heat the oven to 350'F. In a large bowl combine all of the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl combine all of the wet ingredients. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and mix until combined (do not over-mix). Add the apple pieces. Slightly grease muffin pan with coconut oil. Add the muffin-mix to each muffin cup. Place in the oven and bake for 25 minutes (my oven took only 20 minutes), or until a toothpick is inserted into the middle of a muffin and comes out clean!

Before...
and After!!!