I dropped off muffins Friday morning for the last elementary school bake sale of the year. This was followed by the Spring Dance which turns out to be a school-wide dance recital on the black top, not the kindergarten prom that you might expect. (Just me?)
Following tradition, Desmond's grade performed the chicken dance. Decked out in yellow and orange hand painted t-shirts and construction paper headwear, 100 five and six year-olds filed into large circles with the approximate attention to order and spacing and placement as 100 actual chickens. It was hilarious.
Desmond has loved every minute of kindergarten. Well, there have been a small handful of slightly awkward vegan moments. On the first day of school they took attendance by raising hands to show what kind of milk kids were ordering, and cheez-its seem to be the most ubiquitous snack, but it's all been pretty minor and he's navigated it awfully well. He raised his hand at the end of rug time to let his teacher know that he brought his water bottle, and we're almost always prepared with snacks to share.
As I'm sure you know, food is the best possible ambassador. I'm making more of these muffins to take to Felix's play group tomorrow. I cannot get enough of apricot season, and while I think the sweet tart bites of that perfect fruit contrast ideally with this oatmeal almond muffin, any stone fruit or berry will work beautifully.
I love this time of year.
Almond Apricot Oatmeal Muffins
I started out with this recipe, and then I changed everything.
makes: about 18
takes: about 30 minutes (10 active)
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup oats
- 2 cups sliced apricots, about 5
- 1 1/2 cups almond milk
- 2 teaspoons vanilla
- 1 teaspoon almond extract
- 1/3 cup vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 teaspoon molasses
- slivered almonds to sprinkle on top
Heat the oven to 400, and grease or line two muffin tins. In a large bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Now, fold the apricots into the floury mixture so they don't all slip to the bottom of your muffins. In a large glass measuring cup, whisk together the wet ingredients. Quickly stir the wet into the dry. Fill muffin cups almost to the top and bake for 18 - 20 minutes.
