Granola Sunrise Muffins

Crunchy and full of flavor, not too sweet, these muffins surprisingly contain no egg, make up in less than 10 minutes, and are moist and nutritious. You can play with the recipe adding pecans or almonds, blueberries, chopped apple — use your imagination.

I have served them freshly baked, warm and in a bowl with a dollop of plain yogurt on top.

Like most muffins, they are best the day they are baked, as the topping will be crunchiest then. But they do freeze well.

The recipe makes 12 good-sized muffins that are a great grab’n’go snack on a hike or a dinghy cruise, or when you just need a treat in the cockpit.

Ingredients

• 2 cups flour — half white, half whole wheat, or any combination
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, lightly packed
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1 rounded tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 3/4 tsp cinnamon or to taste
• 1 cup granola
• 1/3 cup cranberries or raisins if your granola doesn’t have dried fruit
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1/3 cup vegetable oil or melted coconut oil
• 1 1/2 cups buttermilk (can be made using 1 1/2 cups milk and stirring in 4 tbsp white vinegar. Let it sit for 20 minutes.
• Top uncooked muffins with another 1/2 cup granola

Preheat the oven to 400°F. Lightly grease your muffin pan, or use paper muffin liners.

Whisk together the dry ingredients, including granola, in a large bowl. In a smaller bowl, whisk together the vanilla, vegetable oil, and buttermilk. Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients, stirring just to combine. Do not over mix.

Spoon into muffin cups. They won’t rise too much, so fill the cups. Sprinkle a teaspoon-ish of granola on each muffin, pressing it lightly with the back of a spoon.

Bake for 18 minutes, or until an inserted toothpick comes out clean.

Enjoy!