Blender Gingerbread Oat Muffins with Maple Cream Cheese
These gluten-free blender gingerbread oat muffins with maple cream cheese are fast, easy, and oh so delicious! They're naturally sweetened with applesauce, dates, and molasses, and the cream cheese is sweetened with maple syrup.
If your dates are hard, or if your blender is old, I recommend soaking the dates in hot water for about 5 minutes, but drain before adding to blender.
Add ingredients to blender, starting with liquid ingredients on the bottom to help everything blend.
Add remaining ingredients and blend until very well combined. You can choose to blend until the oats are fully processed, or leave some oats whole.
Pour into 12 muffin cups, and bake on 350ºF for about 20-24 minutes.
Poke with a toothpick to check for doneness (toothpick should come out 80-90% clean) – let cool slightly and serve warm with sweetened cream cheese.
For the Cream Cheese:
If possible, soften the cream cheese a bit before mixing as this will help the ingredients combine better. I take the cream cheese out of the fridge when I start making the muffins and place it in a metal bowl on the stove top (turned off) while the oven preheats. The warmth from the preheating oven helps it soften.
Combine all ingredients in a large bowl and mix until well combined. This works best with an electric mixer, or whisk of an immersion blender, but if frosting is fully softened, it will work with a fork or spoon!
Whip until smooth and well combined. If it is very loose, refrigerate until ready to serve. Otherwise, can serve the slightly softened cream cheese frosting around room temperature.
Notes
In my opinion, these muffins are best served warm, so I recommend a quick 15 seconds in the microwave if you're serving them straight from the fridge.These muffins will freeze well. You can top with cream cheese before or after freezing.