Low Calorie Breakfast Muffins (Gluten-free & Sugar-Free)

So in case you haven't realized, I love all things blueberry. A few months back I made these scrumptious Vanilla Blueberry Muffins and then last week I posted this recipe for Blueberry Muffin Biscotti. Blueberries in baked goods is like meh fav thang (Yes that's me talking with my mouth full of muffin). Unfortunately, while I love baked goods they definitely don't love me back... This month I'm trying to scale back dramatically on my processed sugar and wheat/gluten consumption. When I first began transitioning to veganism I shed quite a few pounds, and I really haven't seen them come back. But I'm not quite where I want to be just yet. I really want to reduce my body fat percentage and become more athletic overall. So I've started going to a bootcamp class with my best friend and we've both been working on eating healthier. Now although veganism is a wonderful way to eat healthfully there are so many ways to eat unhealthfully as well. I absolutely love that the world is becoming more vegan friendly and that vegan options are becoming more widely available. However.... just cuz it's vegan doesn't mean it's necessarily the best food option. I mean I can't subsist off just vegan cookies, or cupcakes or gardein's beefless tips. This options are fantastic treats for yourself but as a vegan you should really try to actually eat, dare I say it, plants. I am so guilty of reaching for those easy microwavable meals (Amy's vegan mac & cheese am I right?), but it isn't good to have an entire diet composed of those food. I need to refocus my diet on whole foods, but like many of you I live a very jam packed life. I don't often feel like I have the time or energy to prepare or eat food the way I should, but nevertheless I'm giving it a go. Over the next few weeks I will be sharing some new healthier food options I've come up with that can fit into anyone's schedule. Take these muffins for example! Number 1: they are DELISH. Number 2: No sugar and no gluten, but these babies are still sweet and soft.
Hot damn. I'm good.

Recipe adapted from Curls N Chard 

Yields 6 jumbo muffins or 12 normal sized muffins
Ingredients
1 1/2 cup gluten-free oats
6 pitted dates soaked for 10 minutes in water
1 tbsp chia
1 banana
1 cup of 30 calorie almond milk
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 - 3/4 cup of blueberries depending upon your preference

**You can also substitute the blueberries for another fruits like raspberries or strawberries. Feel free to throw some nuts in there too if you're feeling adventurous**

Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 425 and grease a muffin tin with either vegetable or coconut oil. I used a jumbo muffin pan that had 6 large cups instead of 12. If you use a typical 12 cup muffin pan you may need to reduce the baking time accordingly.
2. Blend chia and oats in a food processor until the oats are ground to a fine powder. In a separate bowl mash your banana then stir in the oat and chia powder.
3. Carefully remove any remaining oat residue from the food processor. Discard the water you soaked your dates in then blend your soaked dates until a paste forms. After the dates have formed a paste stir it in with the banana, oats and chia. Pour in 1 cup of almond milk and baking soda. Allow the batter to rest and thicken for 5 minutes then gently stir in blueberries.
4. Separate the batter into each muffin cup in the pan. Do not fill the cup more than 3/4 of the way full. Bake for muffins for 14-16 minutes or until you can cleanly pull a knife from the center of the muffin.

Recipe Updated 2/13/2015