Muffins are one of those breakfast luxuries that used to be commonplace back in the olden days when I was a child. Mid-century moms mixed up a variety of muffin batters to place on the breakfast table with the milk, orange juice, scrambled egg, bacon, and pure butter. Those were the days. No one really worried about their weight because we were so much more active, there were little or no weird additives to screw with delicate metabolisms and cokes were a special treat.
Back in those “Wonder Years” you only really had Koolade on the weekends.
Now, we are really too busy to serve our families muffins regularly, certainly not on the busy weekdays. It’s a pity, really. Muffins can pack a lot of nutritional punch in a form that is attractive to the pickiest eater.
I hadn’t made muffins in close to forever until one morning when I noticed there was no cereal, no bread, and everyone was hungry. I even looked for leftover pizza to appease them. No luck.
There are almost always muffin ingredients in the pantry. A few cups of flour, some sort of sweetener, a leavener… muffins can be changed and adjusted to fit almost any ingredients you have on hand. For me it was dried cranberries, walnuts, oatmeal, and coconut…. toss in a little cardamom and orange peel and you have a muffin to make your mouth water.
And…. with all of the great muffin cup designs there are now, make yours happy! I smile every time I get these out of the cupboard.
Using a scoop helps make uniform muffins that cook evenly. Perfect every time. Muffins freeze well, thaw easily in the microwave, and don’t take that long to make. You could make a batch on the weekend in less than an hour and have muffins for breakfast all week long rather than the chemical and calorie laden type that you pick up on the way to work.
Happy Breakfast!
Comforting oatmeal muffins with everything you want inside - tart, chewy cranberries, crunchy walnuts, rich coconut... Enjoy this great, stick with you treat for breakfast or afternoon snack.
Ingredients
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup oatmeal
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 cup flour
- 1 tablespoon grated orange peel
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon of cardamom
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted
- 1 cup dried cranberries
- 1/2 cup coconut
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F
- Place muffin cups iin muffin tins
- Combine dry ingredients and set aside
- Beat egg, sugar, and buttermilk together
- Stir in melted butter
- Quickly mix in dry ingredients - batter will be lumpy
- Fold in dried cranberries, coconut, orange peel, and walnuts
- Fill muffin cups and put in preheated oven
- Bake for 20 minutes and serve warm
Images and text: Copyright © marye audet 2011, all rights reserved.
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