Wednesday, January 19, 2011

Oatmeal Muffins

Oats are a food I am always trying to get more of into my diet.  I tried having oatmeal for breakfast every day, but I can't quite get into it - every once in a while I like it, but I always get sucked back in by my GoLean Crunch addiction!  Oatmeal cookies are great, but as healthy as they are, they are still a cookie, and not something I should be eating every day.  But what about an oatmeal muffin?  By now if you've spent any time reading my blog you should be well aware of my obsession with muffins, but only one of my muffin recipes has oats as an ingredient, and it's not the star. 

So I've been on the lookout for a good recipe, but nothing has come across my computer that meets all of my criteria (100% whole grains, moderate sugar, moderate healthy fats).  I ended up deciding some experimentation would be required.  I started with a recipe on Simply Recipes and made a ton of changes - whole wheat pastry flour instead of all purpose, yogurt instead of buttermilk (which I never have on hand), oil instead of butter, more oats, less sugar, and increased flavor punch since I left out all of the nuts and dried fruits. 

The first batch failed to rise due to some faulty thinking on my part, but after a little research I had some ideas on adjustments for round 2.  This batch just came out of the oven and while they are still on the small side, they got a nice little dome on top and are absolutely delicious.  Moist, sweet, buttery (even though there's no butter!), flavorful...and they're healthy on top of all that!  Between this recipe and my recent Healthier Oatmeal Cookies, I have come to believe that brown sugar and oats are meant to go together.  Seriously, I think this might be my favorite muffin yet.  Try them.  And that's all I have to say about that.  :)


Oatmeal Muffins
adapted generously from Simply Recipes

Dry Ingredients
1 1/2 cups rolled oats
1 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon of salt
1/2 teaspoon (rounded) of cinnamon

Wet Ingredients
1/2 cup (scant) brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup (scant) vegetable oil
1 cup plain yogurt (I used 1%)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 large egg

Preheat the oven to 400°F and grease a muffin tin.

In a large bowl, whisk together dry ingredients.  In another bowl, whisk together wet ingredients.  Pour the wet ingredients into the dry mixture and stir with a large spoon just until combined.

Scoop into prepared muffin tray and bake 12-13 minutes for mini-muffins (I haven't tried standard size but I'd imagine they'd need closer to 20 minutes) or until a little brown around the edges and a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the tray for a minute or two before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely.

Makes 24 small mini-muffins

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