Breakfast Prep: Blah-Blah-Blah- Protein Muffins

Everybody loves a good muffin in the morning. The kind filled with butter and sugar and.. dare we drool over some freshly made tender-crisp struesel... Ah the butter. The BUTTER. Just... not every day.
Realistically, there are much better, healthier options. This is one of them. Filled with protein and good-for-you stuff, they'll help keep you energized throughout the day and keep those awful sugar crashes at bay. And they taste good, duh.
These are a simple, one bowl, sort of deal. So, whatever you happen to have in stock in your pantry, such as leftover ingredients from whats-on-sale-at-Trader-Joe's Granola. Totally not advertising for them but... seriously one of the best places to get inexpensive dried fruit, nuts and seeds. Check em. Meanwhile... Muffins...
Specifically: Peanut Butter Chocolate Craisin Pumpkin Oatmeal Protein 'Muffins' Yeah, okay, you can just call them Oatmeal Protein Muffins. The other stuff is basically customize-able. So I'll break the recipe up into two parts, the Base and the Add-ins. Note that whatever Add-In's you end up using, it should equal up to about 1.5 cups of stuff. Too much and they wont set properly, will be super crumbly. Too little is no fun.

Oatmeal Protein Muffins

This recipe makes about dozen regular sized muffins. 

The Base (all about that.. yeah.. ok sorry)
1 egg
1 cup pumpkin (OR 1 c applesauce OR 2 bananas OR 1 c greek yogurt [or combination thereof])
1/2 cup peanut butter (none of that sugary junk, buy the Natural. Check the label for sneaky sugar!)
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1/4 c Chia seeds
1/4 c protein powder (I used chocolate)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 1/3 cups almond-coconut blend milk (or, yknow, milk)
1/2 teaspoon salt


The Add-Ins
1/4 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup chopped dark chocolate
1/2 cup craisins
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
Mix together Base ingredients.
Fold in Add-Ins.
Spray muffin tins with non-stick spray.
Spoon batter into tins- you can fill them to the top, they won't rise much.
Bake 30 - 35 minutes until set.
Cool completely and wrap any leftovers.
Good for about a week.

Try this:
Spread this batter in a loaf pan and bake it. Oatmeal Protien Loaf, yeah. Slice and toast. Spread with butter, because butter. Give it another 10 or 15 minutes in the oven to set. I've never done this but.. seems like it would work fine. Somebody try it and let me know.