I read an article a few months ago that said that, nutritionally and blood sugar-wise, instant oatmeal is not a good breakfast. How unfair is that? I even buy the healthy, seven-grains-on-a mission brand, and it didn't fare any better than Quaker did.
I'm not sure these would score well either, but they're not too bad, as muffins go (without the optional raisins, 169 calories and 5 grams of fat). I decided to try making these with white whole wheat flour, which I don't try using often enough, and that worked very well.
These really couldn't be simpler (you can see how short the recipe is!) To make these muffins, you mix buttermilk and old-fashioned rolled (or even quick-cooking) oats together the night before. When you put the bowl in the fridge, the mixture is very soupy, but it thickens to a rice-puddinglike consistency overnight. Once you've done that, all you have to do in the morning is melt half a stick of butter, add an egg, and mix in the dry ingredients (flour, brown sugar, salt, baking powder and baking soda), then add some raisins (they're optional, but good!).
It's so funny that the recipe says that you'll make 12 generously-sized muffins, since these are tiny compared to bakery muffins (but right-sized, portion control-wise). And so much better! They're not sugary-sweet (so the raisins add a nice little note) and the crumb is soft and moist.
P.S. Good morning, cousins. Thank you for being so sweet about my blog. I was thinking of making these again when when you visit. If you don't like oatmeal or raisins, please leave your breakfast order in the comments. :)
Oatmeal Muffins
from The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion
for twelve generously-sized muffins {!)
1 cup (3 1/2 ounces) quick-cooking or rolled {old-fashioned} oats
2 cups buttermilk
1/4 cup (4 ounces) brown sugar
4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) butter, melted
one large egg
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups (6 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour {white wheat flour works well, too}
1 cup (6 ounces) raisins (optional) {I used golden raisins}
The night before, mix the oatmeal and buttermilk in a small bowl; cover and refrigerate overnight.
Preheat the oven to 425 {that's high for a muffin, isn't it?} In a large, mix together the buttermilk and oatmeal mixture, brown sugar, melted butter, egg, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Gently stir in the flour and the raisins. Scoop the batter {it does get thick} into 12 greased muffin cups and bake for 20 minutes or until the tops are light golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from the oven, let cool for 5 minutes on a rack, then turn them out of the pan to finish cooling.
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Ironically, it's so easy to find and print recipes from King Arthur Flour's wonderful web site that I almost never open their cookbooks (I've collected all three: this one, the Cookie Companion and Whole Grain Baking). But I should! I'm sure I've made more things from this book without realizing they're in here. I definitely recognize...
walnut-strawberry tea bread (page 86)
peach nutmeg scones (page 130)