Oatmeal Raisin Muffins

I decided to make Oatmeal Raisin Muffins. Why? Because I needed a healthier muffin on the go when I run off to school in the morning. Recipe is from, as most of the time, from the Joy of Cooking (75th edition) book under the Muffin section, with, as always, healthier tweeks by me. The recipe in the Joy of Cooking book has the basic muffin recipe. I added the oats, raisins, cinnamon, and flaxseed in my variation.

Recipe:

     Makes 12 small muffins, or 6 Jumbo muffins.

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon or ground nutmeg (optional)
• 1/4 cup freshly ground flaxseed (optional)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Grease the muffin tins with either spray oil or line with paper liners. 

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and flaxseed. 

• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup milk or cream
• 2/3 cup sugar or packed light brown sugar
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup (1/2 to 1 stick) butter, melted, or vegetable oil 
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In another bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk (or cream), sugar (or light brown sugar), vanilla, and butter (or oil). 

Add to the flour mixture and fold the ingredients together until just mixed. Do not over beat!

• 1 cup old-fashioned oats
• 1 cup raisins

Put in the oats and raisins and fold until just mixed. Again, do it in the fewest strokes possible. You don't want tough muffins. Bake at 400 degrees F for 17 minutes. Mine took 23 minutes because I made the jumbo. It might take about 20 minutes for this variation for the smaller muffins.  Check with a toothpick to make sure it comes out clean and fully baked. Enjoy!

Pros:

A nice and healthier alternative to the greasy muffins sold everywhere else. They weren't greasy with oil upon touch. 

Also, it was a great breakfast muffin with some coffee. 

Cons:

It felt a little dense for me when I made them.  I doubled the recipe to make more jumbo muffins, since I have a large family to feed and they eat more than 1 muffin per person. I also put in double the amount of oats, which I think took away the moisture out of the muffins. I changed the recipe above to lower the cups of oats and raisins added to hopefully have your muffins come out more moist than mine. 

Enjoy! Feel free to comment how yours came out!