I think I might have mentioned before on here how much I love muffins. They are probably one of my top favorite baked goods. That along with your basic chewy brownie and a good layer cake. OH and Holiday yeast breads- love those too. I don’t do the whole super sugary dessert thing. I mean I do… but I have preferences. I like my baked goods, less sweet and very moist. And if there is a nice bit of texture thrown in with some nuts or dried fruit, I am happy with that too.
These Oatmeal Muffins were exactly what I look for in a baked good. They weren’t too sweet and they had such great depth of flavor. And despite all the oats involved they didn’t lose any moisture or have a gummy texture! But these were a Cooks Illustrated concoction so I am not surprised.
These aren’t the simplest muffin however. Instead of just stirring in the oats it requires you to make a toasted oat flour. Don’t worry! It’s not nearly as difficult as it might sound. As long as you have a sauté pan and a food processor (and a good attention span), you can easily do it! Just melt some butter in the pan, stir in the oats, and keep an eye on them for about 7 minutes until they start to smell like popcorn (which the really do) and just start to turn golden brown. After that you simply process them into a powder. DONE. See? You can do it- I have faith : )
Plus, I believe that the toasted oat flour really makes all the difference with this muffin. Both flavor and texture wise. It’s essential to this muffin’s greatness. And I assure you, this muffin is great.
- Topping:
- ½ cup (1½ ounces) old-fashioned rolled oats
- ⅓ cup (1⅔ ounces) all-purpose flour
- ⅓ cup pecans, chopped fine
- ⅓ cup packed (2⅓ ounces) light brown sugar
- 1¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- ⅛ tsp salt
- 4 Tb unsalted butter, melted
- Muffins:
- 2 Tb unsalted butter, plus 6Tb, melted
- 2 cups (6 ounces) old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1¾ cups (8¾ ounces) all-purpose flour
- 1½ tsp salt
- ¾ tsp baking powder
- ¼ tsp baking soda
- 1⅓ cups packed (9⅓ ounces) light brown sugar
- 1¾ cups milk
- 2 large eggs, beaten, at room temperature
- For the Topping: Combine oats, flour, pecans, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in medium bowl. Drizzle melted butter over mixture and stir to thoroughly combine; set aside.
- For the Muffins: Prepare a 12-cup muffins tin. Melt 2 Tb butter in 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Add oats and cook, stirring frequently, until oats turn golden brown and smell of cooking popcorn, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer oats to food processor and process until fine meal, about 30 seconds. Add flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda to oats and pulse until combined, about 3 pulses.
- Stir 6 Tb melted butter and sugar together in large bowl until smooth. Add milk and eggs and whisk until smooth. Using whisk, gently fold half of oat mixture into wet ingredients, tapping whisk against side of bowl to release clumps. Add remaining oat mixture and continue to fold with whisk until no streaks of flour remain. Set aside batter for 20 minutes to thicken. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375°F.
- Using ice cream scoop or large spoon, divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (about ½ cup batter per cup; cups will be filled to rim). Evenly sprinkle topping over muffins (about 2 Tb per muffin). Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 18 to 25 minutes, rotating muffin tin halfway through baking.
- Let muffins cool in muffin tin on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove muffins from muffin tin and serve.
Tagged as:
breakfast,
muffins,
nuts,
oatmeal,
pecans,
quick bread