I’ve been baking oat bran quark muffins for breakfast regularly, either with blueberries, or poppy seeds and almonds, as a high fiber, high protein, low fat, low sugar start of my day. (They happen to be gluten free too, but that is only relevant if you are allergic to gluten.) There is no butter, flour, or sugar in these muffins. Now that I started going to the gym in the morning before work, I noticed that I needed more sugar to start up more quickly. And so I made a new version with dates, which are high in fiber and natural sugar. Without adding any sugar (or another sweetener for that matter) these muffins are delicious. You can make them with either quark or cottage cheese. No baking skills required, just a food processor or blender.

Ingredients

For 6 muffins

200 grams (7 oz) pitted dates

2 whole eggs or 3 egg whites (the latter makes this even lower in fat and cholesterol)

100 grams (2/3 cup) oat bran

160 grams (2/3 cup) low-fat quark or low-fat cottage cheese

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp cinnamon

pinch of salt

6 walnut halves

baking spray or butter for greasing the muffin pan

flour for dusting the muffin pan

Instructions

If the dates are tough, cover them with boiling water and allow the water to cool off, then drain the dates well. This step is only necessary if the dates are tough, as otherwise your food processor may not be able to puree them.

Preheat the oven to 180C/350F.

Combine dates, eggs, oat bran, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and quark or cottage cheese in the blender.

Blend until smooth (make sure to close the feeding shaft to avoid splattering).

It will take a while to turn the dates into puree, but it will happen. (If not, soak the dates in hot water and squeeze out the water before using them.)

Grease a muffin pan with baking spray or butter, and dust with flour.

Put the batter into the muffin pan, and top with walnut halves for garnish.

Bake at 180C/350F until a tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 25 minutes.

Allow to cool to room temperature in the pan (to retain more moisture, you could allow to cool them up-side down on a grill).

Store in an airtight container for a couple of days at room temperature or up to a week in the refrigerator. Allow to come to room temperature (or nuke one in the microwave for 10 seconds) before eating.

Flashback

Spinach risotto is delicious with sous-vide egg yolk and pancetta.