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.