Fruit & Oat Muffins

These muffins make a great anytime snack or breakfast food. I like to put mine in the microwave for 15 seconds, split it, add a little butter, smash it back together and have it with a nice cup of strong tea.

Ingredients

• 8oz/225ml low-fat milk
• 1 TBSP vinegar (I like to use apple cider vinegar but any will do)
• 1c/90g uncooked rolled oats (porridge oats/oatmeal)
• 4 TBSP butter-flavored spread or actual butter softened to room temperature
• 4 TBSP of dark brown sugar
• 1 TBSP honey
• 3 eggs (med or large)
• 1/2 tsp vanilla
• 1c/225g plain wholewheat (wholemeal) flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1c/150g raisins
• 1/2c/120g walnut pieces
• 1 large banana diced (about 1/4” or 1/2cm)

Instructions

1. Line a standard dozen muffin tray with papers and preheat the oven to 350f/180c.
2. Put the milk and the vinegar in a bowl and let sit for 5 minutes, after 5 minutes add the oats and mix thoroughly and set aside. This is the oat mixture.
3. Put the butter, sugar, and honey in a bowl and beat (best to use an electric beater) until smooth (about 3 minutes). Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add the vanilla and the oat mixture, stir well with a rubber spatula and set aside. This is the wet mixture and it may look curdled but that’s OK.
4. Put the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt into a clean bowl, use a whisk to combine thoroughly. This is the dry mixture. Measure out the raisins and walnuts and add it on top of the dry mixture but do not stir. Set aside the dry mixture.
5. Now at the last minute (so it won’t go brown), dice the banana and add it to the dry mixture. Fold the fruit and nuts into the dry mixture, do it carefully so you don’t mash up the banana. The idea is to coat the fruit and nuts, not to mix them in.
6. Carefully fold and stir the dry mix into the wet mix. Take care to scrape up from the bottom of the bowl and do not over mix. Basically, once you can’t see any dry ingredients left you are done mixing.
7. Divide the mixture evenly into the prepared muffin tray, do your best to include some of the chunky bits into each. I find that a standard size trigger action ice cream scoop does a nearly perfect job of making exactly one dozen muffins from this recipe.
8. Once you have filled your muffin tray put it in the center of the oven and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the muffins have firmed up and are very lightly browned. Remove from the oven and serve hot or place on a cooling rack to cool completely before storing.

Notes

• Makes 12 Standard Size Muffins
• These muffins will keep for up to 5 days at room temperature in an airtight container.
• This recipe isn’t for using up old overripe bananas, choose firm but not under-ripe bananas with just a little browning on the skins if you want the best texture and flavor. I don’t suggest omitting the bananas or the muffins will be to dry, but if you are resisting making these because you have some kind of banana phobia you can try omitting them and adding 1/2 cup of plain unsweetened applesauce in when you add the oat mixture to the wet mixture.