Food Bloggers Against Hunger: Brown Sugar Cinnamon Granola Muffins

Hello friends!

Today I have an absolutely scrumptious muffin to share with you today; but also I have a very important cause I’d like to discuss as well.

A few months ago, I happened to snag tickets to an exclusive showing of a new documentary, entitled A Place at The Table. It’s from the makers of Food Inc, and it illustrates the terrifying reality that is Hunger across the United States.

I have been blessed to never have experienced hunger personally; but moving to an urban area for college truly opened my eyes to the people suffering, who have no idea where their next meals are coming from. You can help out at food banks, you can donate funds when you can (much like the Baking Club does at Rutgers) but in reality these movements are too small on their own. If we want to see a change, we need to be an active community, desirous of seeing lasting social and political changes in our government about how we tackle issues like hunger.

I tend to be rather unphased by documentaries; I did not feel the need to vomit at sights in Food Inc or Supersize Me. I appreciated these films to be sure, but they did not move me.

Although A Place at the Table is a heart-breaker, it also demonstrates that this is not an issue that can be solved by individual philanthropic measures. We need to collectively work together to make an impact, and the way to get started is by opening a dialogue on the subject.

That is what this documentary achieves, and that is why I was honored to be contacted by Nicole Guetta of The Giving Table and Eat This Poem, about doing a post with Food Bloggers Against Hunger. I’ve seen my fellow bloggers come together for disasters and troubling times, and with all of us so passionate about food, how could we not voice our opinions about hunger in this country?

Today’s recipe is meant to be budget-friendly, inspired by this film and the brave individuals who learn to make due with next to nothing. I have to admit, budget-friendly meals for me usually means ramen or Easy Mac, and a lot of butterned noodles. But then I had this idea for a simple, hearty muffin that would leave you with breakfast ready for an entire week.

Thus the Brown Sugar Cinnamon Granola Muffin was born.

Brown Sugar Cinnamon is one of my favorite types of oatmeal, and so I’ve incorporated all that I love about oatmeal (delicious, hearty, full of fiber and cost-effective) into this muffin. Unsaturated fats, less-processed brown sugar, and delicious old-fashioned oats come together to create Oatmeal on the Go!

Plus, cinnamon chips are fantastic little flavor boosters!

Most of these ingredients can be found right in your pantry; a cup of this, a dash of that, and you can have comforting Granola Muffins to last an entire week. You can even change out the chips to suit your family’s tastes: chocolate chips, butterscotch, or even walnuts or almonds.

Friends, we all come on here and blog and share our thoughts about how much we love food: we bring food to our favorite get-togethers and it reminds us of family, freinds, good times, and love. It’s time we all come together and speak up about those in our country with no food to share, wihtout a place at our country’s table.

There are many ways you can get involved in the fight to end Hunger Across the US. Two major ways to get involved are:

Use this link to send a letter to congress asking them to support anti-hunger legislation. Every letter counts, and I know activists at the film-screening mentioned that as few as 4-6 letters can change a representative’s mind. The more letters we submit, the better!

Watch A Place at the Table either on demand via iTunes and Amazon or in your city and spread the word to others!

Of course, finding out about local shelters and food banks that need a hand and seeing what hunger-fighting initiatives are in your area are great ways to get involved too. Even one person can make a difference, think what we can do it we all come together to change this!

There are roughly 200 others bloggers sharing posts today about this important issue. I hope you check out their posts as well and check out the documentary for yourselves. It’s truly an eye-opener, and hopefully a game-changer when it comes to ending hunger in the United States.

Happy Baking My Friends,

• Brown Sugar Cinnamon Granola Muffins
• An On Sugar Mountain Original Recipe
• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1/2 brown sugar, packed
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup lowfat milk
• 1 large egg
• 3/4 cup cinnamon chips (or chocolate chips, raisins, etc)

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and line one 12-cup mufifn pan with paper liners.

Combine flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl. In a separate, smaller bowl, whisk together oil, milk, and egg until completely combined.

Pour wet ingredient mixture over dry ingredient mixture and stir with big wooden spoon until just combined. When only a few streaks of flour remain, stir in cinnamon chips.

Scoop out about 1/4 cup of muffin batter into each muffin cup (they should be about 3/4 way full) and bake at 350 degrees for 15-18 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Let cool in pan for a few minutes, then gently remove to wire cooling rack to cool completely. Makes about 12 muffins

All Photos, Recipe And Writing Copyright © 2013 Jessica Gonzalez | On Sugar Mountain