Monday, May 4, 2009

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins

Late last night, about 10:30 to be exact, I realized that there was nothing quick for this mornings breakfast. For me that's no problem, but for my daughter and son who leave very early for college and work, it's nice to have something to grab on the way out the door. So I make muffins or some other quick option that is easy for them to fix in a flash. I remembered seeing a muffin recipe at Judy's Kitchen that I wanted to try ( several actually), so after checking her blog, I found I had all the ingredients! Yeah! I didn't have to go to the store late at night! The recipe is for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins with Chocolate Streusel, but since it was so late, I decided to leave off the streusel topping, although I'm sure it is yummy. I'll make it next time, and definitely there will be a next time! These were wonderful muffins made with oatmeal, buttermilk, honey and chocolate chips! They were healthy and had a wonderful dense crumb and just sweet enough. The honey was perfect and not at all overpowering. And we can't forget the chocolate chips, after all chocolate is a food group, isn't it? In fact, I used more chocolate chips than called for and the muffins were not too sweet. This is now one of my favorite muffin recipes. Let's make these;

OATMEAL CHOCOLATE CHIP MUFFINS

1 1/4 cups flour

1 cup oatmeal, quick or old fashioned- uncooked

2/3 cup chocolate chips (recipe calls for 1/2 c.- I used mini semi- sweet chips)

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp.baking soda

1/2 tsp.salt, optional ( I used 1/4t.)

2/3 cup low-fat buttermilk (you can use 2 tsp. vinegar in 2/3 cup regular milk to sub for buttermilk)- or use SACO, a dried buttermilk found at your grocers

1/2 cup honey

1/4 cup vegetable oil ( I use canola)

1 egg, lightly beaten

Heat oven to 350 degrees and grease or line 12 muffin cups with paper liners. Streusel Ingredients- 1/3 cup sugar, 1/4 cup flour, 2 Tbs. cocoa 2 Tbs. melted butter. Combine ingredients in a bowl and set a side. I didn't use the streusel topping. Instead, I added a few more chocolate chips to the top of muffins and sprinkled with coarse sugar.

For muffins, mix flour, oats, baking powder, soda and salt in large bowl. In another bowl combine buttermilk, honey, oil and egg and mix well; then add wet ingredients to dry mixture and mix until just blended. Do not over mix! Divide mixture evenly to the 12 muffin cups. I sprinkled more chocolate chips on top and some sugar, but if you are using streusel, pat it gently to set it. Bake for about 20 minutes. Remove muffins from pan after about 5 minutes. Serve warm and enjoy! These would be a great addition to a Mother's Day brunch if you are planning one. Actually, they would be delicious any day of the week. They were delicious with my morning coffee! What do you like to eat for breakfast?

NOTE: If using Old Fashioned Oats, the batter will at first be somewhat thin, but don't add more oatmeal. The oatmeal will absorb the liquid and will bake up just right!
I found that if you use the Quick Oatmeal, the batter will be thick when you stir it up. It will still work just fine. The Quick Oatmeal absorbs the liquid in the batter very quickly, thus the thicker texture.
NOTE: Another option for buttermilk: You can buy dried buttermilk at the store. The brand is Saco, and it works great. Follow directions on the can for mixing, and use as you would use buttermilk for baking.

22 comments:

  1. These sound delicious. Do you think you could substitute low fat sour cream for the buttermilk? I never have buttermilk on hand.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Lynda,thanks for the shoutout. I'm with you, you can never have too many chocolate chips!

    Barbara, you can easily make buttermilk -- 1 cup of milk + 2 tsp. vinegar; let sit for 5 minutes. Sour cream will give a different texture, since it's less liquiddy.

    ReplyDelete
  3. These muffins look seriously good. I'll bet they taste as good as they look.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Barbara, just add 2 teaspoon of vinegar to a measuring cup and then fill it up to 2/3 cup with milk and you'll have "buttermilk"! I need to add this info to the recipe. thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  5. I like all those natural & healthy ingredients in these muffins. I'm not a chocolate fan, but I know Ole Sweetie-Pi would love them! I'll certainly have to make these just for him.

    ReplyDelete
  6. These look so delicious! I tend to prefer savory breakfast dishes, but I love muffins as a snack.

    ReplyDelete
  7. I've never made oatmeal muffins - they look and sound incredible.

    ReplyDelete
  8. My family would love me even more if I served them these for breakfast :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Ok, I just made these muffins but used lactose free skim milk instead. I had to add a handful of oats though because the mix looked too watery. After dividing the mixture into a muffin cups, I topped them with a mixture of brown sugar, cinnamon, and chocolate chips. Yummy!

    ReplyDelete
  11. Adding brown sugar and cinnamon to the tops sounds like a yummy touch! Thanks for the input!
    After mixing these muffins, I let the mixture set a minute while getting out the pan and liners. The oatmeal asorbed some liquid just setting on the counter!So, if your batter seem to runny, let set for a min. or two before filling muffin liners. Thanks for the comment!

    ReplyDelete
  12. These look great and I bet they are just delicious without the streusel topping. What a yummy surprise for the morning :)

    ReplyDelete
  13. I am definitely trying these. y daughter loves to take a pieceof fruit and a freshly baked good on the bus to the U of MN. I've never thought about oatmeal muffins. Adore oatmeal cookies! Your kids are lucky!

    ReplyDelete
  14. what a terrific muffin--i love the multitude of chocolate chips and the sheen across the top. fantastic, lynda!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Wonderful muffins! I'll have to try these as my oldest would love them!

    ReplyDelete
  16. My family loved these muffins. I adapted the recipe for food storage. Thank you! Valerie PreparedLDSFamily.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  17. I just made these, turned out wonderfully!

    ReplyDelete
  18. I'm glad they turned out well for you-these muffins are one of our favorites.Thanks for letting me know you liked them!

    ReplyDelete
  19. I made these this morning and they turned out great except they stuck to the inside of the paper wrapper. The chocolate struesel topping gave these muffins a fabulous texture.I was trying this recipe out because I have to provide snacks for the Sunday school kids at church next week. They were a bit messy to eat..so not sure if I will use these or not..but they were scrumptious!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Suzanne, so sorry they stuck-I can't remember if mine do or not, I'll have to make them again this week.
      I'm sure the kids would love them, but they just might be covered in chocolate! :)
      Thanks for commenting.

      Delete
    2. Lol!! I noticed a lot of comments about not having buttermilk on hand...I keep a container of Saco brand powdered buttermilk on hand. You can find it in the baking isle at WalMart for about $3.50. You store it in the fridge after you open it and just follow the directions on the can for reconstitution. Very convenient and you don't have to worry about making a trip to the grocery store for fresh buttermilk!

      Delete
    3. Suzanne, thanks for pointing out the use of Saco. I should have mentioned that in my post and I will add it in. I've used it before and it works great as a substitute for real buttermilk. Also, you can use soured milk, which works well too. Thanks for the comment! :)

      Delete

I am so glad you stopped by. I hope you'll come back often. Thank you for your comments!