Recipe: Oatmeal Muffins

Alright guys, it’s September. Let’s all take a deep breath. It’s going to be ok.

I’m not a person who wishes away any season (ok, maybe I cursed last winter and the 100+ inches of snow we got here in Boston) but I am pretty happy we’re on the edge of Fall because these oat-packed muffins are a warm, toasty, buttery must-make.

America’s Test Kitchen Oatmeal Muffins (makes 12 muffins, adapted from ATK recipe here)
For the crumble topping:
1/2 cup oats
1/3 cup AP flour
1/3 cup pecans, chopped fine
1/4 cup pumpkin seeds
1/3 cup brown sugar
1.25 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. salt
4 tbsp. unsalted butter, melted
For the muffins:
2 tbsp. & 6 tbsp. butter (two different uses for these quantities)
2 cups oats, toasted and processed into oat flour
1.5 cups AP flour
1.5 tsp. salt
3/4 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1 & 1/3 cups brown sugar
1.75 cups milk (any kind)
2 eggs

To begin, make the crumble topping. Combine all of the topping ingredients together in a bowl and set aside.

On to the muffins! Start by melting 2 tbsp. of butter in a saute pan over medium-low heat. Add the oats and cook until they brown and start to smell like popcorn (7-9 minutes).

When the oats are done, cool for 10 minutes. When they’ve cooled, process them into oat flour. You can use a food processor, blender, spice grinder – whatever you have! My favorite method of processing oats is to use a mason jar on my blender. Instructions here and pictures below!

From here it’s smooth sailing using the muffin method: combine all of the dry ingredients in a bowl, combine all of the wet ingredients in another bowl, and then slowly mix the wet into the dry until the batter comes together. The batter will come together in no time and look ready but it’s best to let it sit for 15-20 minutes so it can thicken up.

Spray a muffin tin with non-stick spray and spoon in the muffin batter. Finally, load on the crumble topping! I like to press the topping into the batter to make sure it sticks on there really well.

Bake for 18-20 minutes at 375 degrees, rotating the pan once halfway through.

The end result here is supremely oaty muffins that are slightly sweet and have the perfect texture. The crumble topping adds an extra layer of buttery, nutty flavor that compliments the oats perfectly. This recipe is going to be a Fall favorite in my house, for sure!