I don’t eat a lot of muffins. I mean, I’ve never met a baked good I don’t like, but a muffin isn’t what I generally grab. I usually find them to be glorified cupcakes without the frosting, and really, why would you want a cupcake with no frosting???

Well, these muffins do not taste like a cupcake, and I love that. They taste like everything you could ever want in a breakfast: spicy chai, sweet vanilla and, of course, carbs. Yes, carbs have a taste. I would describe it as “amazing” or “perfection”.

I have a secret. These actually started out as cupcakes. You see, that’s much more my style, but as I frosted them with a sugary glaze, I just wasn’t in love. These flavors are bold, and the “cupcake” came out so perfectly soft and moist that I didn’t want to hide it. So I tried again. I took away some excess sugar, cut the frosting, and I discovered that muffins can actually be pretty spectacular.

They would pair perfectly with your breakfast protein of choice, or smeared with peanut butter as an afternoon snack, or dusted with some cinnamon and powdered sugar for dessert. They are incredibly versatile and at 89 calories a pop, why not enjoy??

You may have noticed my untraditional “buttermilk”. Well, it’s not only to make the recipe vegan (added bonus!), but honestly, every time I seem to buy buttermilk, it just sits in my fridge and then goes bad. Instead, I used a cup of Silk Pure Almond Vanilla with 1 tbs of apple cider vinegar. In addition to keeping the muffins vegan, using the Silk saved an extra 5 calories per muffin opposed to making homemade buttermilk with skim milk. Now, 5 may seem like nothing, but as my tagline says, I truly believe that “Little changes make a big difference”, and I promise that after you’ve gone through the entire batch (trust me, it’s inevitable), those 5 calories will add up!

Chai Spiced Vanilla Bean “Buttermilk” Muffins

Yield 1 dozen

• 1 1/4 cup Silk Pure Almond Unsweetened Vanilla
• 1 tbs apple cider vinegar
• 1 1/3 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 1 tbs cornstarch
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 3/4  tsp ground cardamom
• 3/4  tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground ginger
• 1/8 tsp cloves
• 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
• 3/4 cup turbinado sugar
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 vanilla bean

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners and spray lightly with nonstick spray. Set aside.
2. Measure out almond milk and add apple cider vinegar. Let stand for 5 minutes.
3. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, baking powder, cornstarch, salt, cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, cloves and nutmeg.
4. In a large bowl, beat together sugar and applesauce. Scrape out the center of vanilla bean and add to the mixture. Beat until combined. Alternate adding dry and wet ingredients to the sugar and apple sauce mixture in 3 additions beginning and ending with dry ingredients. Mix until well combined.
5. Divide batter evenly between lines muffin tins and bake for 25 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let stand for 10 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

This post is part of a sponsored campaign with Silk and FitFluential LLC.  All opinions are my own. To learn more about Silk Pure Almond Unsweetened on Facebook and Twitter.