New By Me: Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Muffins

I have a camera again!!! After a couple of weeks of cameraless existence, thanks to an investigative toddler, I have a shiny new camera, so now I have no excuse not to blog. Especially since we're snowed in. Are you snowed in? Apparently a lot of the country is, especially those of us in the south.

Being snowed in always makes me want to bake. I don't know if it's a primitive need to ensure there is food for my family, or if pregnancy is making me nest a few months early, or if I just like baking and snow days actually give me a chance to do so. Probably some combination thereof. Anyway, I woke up this morning, and I wanted something warm and baked for breakfast. I opened up my handy-dandy Better Homes & Gardens cookbook (my go-to cookbook for basic recipes), checked their muffin recipe, assessed the contents of my kitchen, and decided to modify the recipe. I ended up with Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Muffins.

I honestly don't know what came over me. I usually prefer to try a recipe before changing it around. But it worked, so I shouldn't complain.

Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Muffins

1 1/3 c. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. oats (I used quick, old-fashioned would probably also work.)
1/3 c. packed brown sugar
2 t. baking powder
1/4 t. salt
1 T. ground cinnamon
1 beaten egg
3/4 c. milk
1/4 c. oil
1 1/2 t. vanilla
3/4 c. chopped apples

In a medium bowl, mix together flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon together and make a well. 

Mix egg, milk, oil, and vanilla together in a separate bowl. 

Add egg mixture to dry ingredients and mix just until there are no more dry spots. Mix apples in gently.

Put in 12-cup muffin pan (the cups will fill about 3/4 of the way) and bake at 400 for 18 minutes or until they look done (the original recipe said "golden" but the batter is kinda brown, so that doesn't work :)

   

Conclusion: At first I wasn't sure how I felt about these, because they're not as sweet as muffins you get from the store. But the more I ate them, the more I felt like this wasn't a bad thing. They're not super-sweet, but the sweetness is there, and the flavor is lovely. If you want your muffins sweeter, you might try upping the sugar to 1/2 cup. However, the recipe as-is met with the whole-hearted approval of my picky toddler. She ate one warm from the oven with butter and has snacked on the cold ones all afternoon.