Oatmeal Crumble Muffins
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Every now and then I get sort of crazy excited about a recipe, and this is one of those times. I know, I know, it’s just a muffin, but if you’re like me, and you enjoy your oatmeal in muffin form, you might just be a tad excited about this too.
I came across the original recipe here on 101 Cookbooks (I love Heidi’s recipes). These are easy muffins to make and I love the crumble topping. The big drawback for me was all the butter. There was close to a whole cup of butter (7/8 of a cup to be exact) in the recipe (yikes!), and I would have liked to taste the oatmeal a little more.
So I decided to make these again and cut out the butter altogether. Brave, huh? Well, they came out beautifully, let me tell you, and the flavors and texture brightened up immensely. I think all the butter was just weighing ‘em down. I also added raisins cuz I love ‘em in my oatmeal.
So how did I get away with this, you ask? Well, instead of butter, I substituted ¼ cup of coconut oil and replaced the rest of the butter with applesauce. I’ve been reading quite a bit lately about the health benefits of coconut oil and when I saw this jar of it at Trader Joe’s, I decided to give it a try. Awesome stuff! If you don’t have Trader Joe’s near you, then most health food stores are going to carry this. Just make sure you buy “virgin” coconut oil. That means it hasn’t been processed… no hydrogenation. It makes a really great moisturizer too. But if you don’t want to use coconut oil, just use butter… it only takes ¼ cup.
The thing that most amazed me about these muffins was how much more I enjoyed them after cutting out all the butter. I’m not sure it was psychological, but the Husband agreed with me… this version was not only lighter and fluffier, but it was nice to taste the oatmeal. There was also a faint hint of coconut and a nice apple nuance from the applesauce. So there you have it, people…. A tasty, oatmeal-y oatmeal muffin that you can enjoy - no regret, no remorse. You’re welcome. Here's the recipe...
Oatmeal Crumble Muffins
Click here for a printable recipe
Adapted from a recipe by Heidi Swanson, 101 Cookbooks
These are the most amazingly delicious muffins...moist, flavorful and very low in fat. The original recipe from 101 Cookbooks called for almost a whole cup of butter, and I thought that made them rather heavy and masked the oatmeal flavor I was looking for. So I omitted the butter and substituted 1/4 cup of coconut oil and a little over 1/2 cup of applesauce. The resulting muffin is light, fluffy and full of oatmeal flavor. Soooo good!
Crumble topping:
3/4 cup flour (I used ½ cup all purpose flour and ¼ cup whole wheat flour)
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/3 cup butter, melted
Muffin batter:
1 cup rolled oats (not quick oats)
1 ½ cups unbleached all purpose flour (I used 1 cup A-P flour and ½ cup white whole wheat flour
1/2 - 3/4 cup raisins
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/4 cup coconut oil or unsalted butter, melted
½ cup unsweetened applesauce (I used just a little over 1/2 cup)
½ cup brown sugar
1 ½ cups plain yogurt
2 large eggs, whisked
Preheat oven to 350F
For the crumble topping:
Use a fork to combine the flour, oats, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Stir in the melted butter. Divide the mixture into three portions, and use your hands to form into three flat-ish patties. Place the patties on a plate in the freezer for about ten minutes.
Grease a standard-sized muffin tin with cooking spray or butter.
For the muffins:
In a medium bowl combine the oats, flours, baking soda, and sea salt. Set aside.
Melt the coconut oil or butter in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar. Whisk in the yogurt, and then the eggs. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry and stir just until combined. Do your best to avoid over mixing.
Divide the batter between the 12 muffin cups. Pull the crumble from the freezer and break it up into small and medium pieces. Sprinkle the top of each muffin with the crumble, place the muffins in the oven and bake 30 - 35 minutes or until tops are golden and a toothpick comes out clean. Let cool just a minute or so, then turn out onto a cooling rack.
Makes 1 dozen muffins.
