Healthy Chai Latte Muffins (Gluten Free, Sugar Free, Dairy Free)

Add a delicious treat to your mornings with these Cozy Healthy Chai Latte Muffins! Naturally gluten free and dairy free, and made with real Chai tea - such a warming and comforting breakfast or snack.

These Chai Latte Muffins are delicious, warming, and fluffy, with a hint of spice. Plus, they have some caffeine and are naturally gluten free and dairy free, so you won't have any mid-afternoon crashes if you eat one for breakfast! (Or two, or four). Nourishing fiber-rich oats + antioxidant-rich, inflammation fighting Chai tea + caffeine (optional) = the PERFECT breakfast to go! And that's all in one muffin!

Real, Wholesome Ingredients

These muffins are almost the same ingredients as if you were to have a chai tea and bowl of oatmeal for breakfast, but in muffin form. Its basically oats (which are ground into a flour), almond milk, ground flax seed, and some baking staples! Then, top it all off with a delicious coconut coffee glaze, which is really the icing on the cake. Literally.

For the glaze, if you're not into coconut, feel free to sub the coconut butter for Greek yogurt. Or you could even use powdered sugar if you don't mind eating sugar. 

In addition to being super healthy and a great breakfast choice, these muffins are:

• Warming
• Moist
• Perfectly chewy
• Not too sweet
• Delicious when warm

While the ingredients are super simple, the one thing that makes these muffins a tiny bit more time consuming is making the Chai Latte Milk. It really is easy, and so worth it. Don't let one extra tiny step deter you. Just steep 3 - 5 Chai Tea Bags in some almond milk (or milk of your choice). Use more if you like a really strong flavor.

You can even do this a day or 2 before and keep in the fridge until you're ready to bake! You could use water as well in a pinch, but your muffins will be a little less moist.

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So Simple to Make

And then, once you're ready to bake your Chai Latte Muffins: simply mix the Chai-infused milk with some eggs (or flax eggs if vegan), and maple syrup for sweetness. Then add the oats. And bake! Simple as can be.  If you really love the flavor of Chai (black tea, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, fennel, clove and black pepper), feel free to add an extra pinch of any of your favorite spices. Except maybe not the black pepper.

Which do you want to see next: Earl Grey Muffins or Green Tea Matcha Muffins?! Let me know in the comments!

Healthy Chai Latte Muffins with Coffee Glaze {Gluten Free, Sugar Free, Dairy Free}

For the muffins:

Wet:

• 1 C Chai Milk (1 ¼ C Almond milk + 3 chai tea bags)
• 2 eggs
• ⅓ C Maple Syrup
• Optional: 1 teaspoon vanilla
• Optional: 1 - 2 tablespoon brewed coffee

Dry:

• 2 C Oat Flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• Optional: additional pinches of cinnamon, caradamom, ginger, salt (to enrich even more Chai flavor)
• Optional: sliced almonds, for topping

Optional (but recommended): For the coffee frosting:

• 3 - 4 tablespoon Coconut Butter, melted
• 1 - 2 tablespoon hot water
• 1 tablespoon coffee
• Or, if you're not into Coconut, try the Greek-yogurt based Glaze from my Cinnamon Rolls Recipe.

Directions

1. Make the Chai Milk! Heat Almond Milk + 3 Chai Tea Bags on the stove top. Stir, pressing down on tea bags, to make sure you are extracting all the flavor. Once mixture is almost boiling, remove from heat and let come to room temp.
   • Tip: You can do this step the day before, and store the milk + tea bags in an air-tight container in the fridge. You'll extract even more flavor!
   • The reason you only need 1 C of Chai Milk but the recipe calls for 1 ¼ C Almond Milk is because some of that will evaporate when you heat it.
2. Preheat oven to 350 and line a muffin liner. Spray the muffin liners well!
3. Add wet ingredients to a large bowl and whisk well. Add dry ingredients and mix until just combined. You can add additional spices if you want a very strong Chai flavor. Pour batter into 12 muffin liners and bake for 15 minutes.
   Optional: top with mixed nuts like slivered almonds for some crunch.
4. While muffins bake, make the frosting. Mix the coconut butter and coffee. Add ½ tablespoon hot water at a time, until you've achieved the consistency you want. Let muffins cool for ~5 minutes before frosting.
5. Enjoy for breakfast or a snack! Just remember these do contain caffeine, so may be best to avoid before bed!

NOTES:

1. Don't skip spraying the muffin liners! This recipe does not contain any butter/oil so muffins will be more sticky than usual.
2. For even richer Chai flavor, feel free to add more cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, or whatever your favorite spices are.
3. For Vegan: Sub flax eggs.
4. Adding coffee is optional, but I personally enjoy it. If you are not a coffee drinker, simply don't add it!

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