Oatmeal Muffins, served with Dates, Cranberries and Pecans
You may not believe what we're about to tell you. We only half believe it myself. But we think that we are sweet-ed out from the holidays. We don’t even think we ate all that much, but all of the baking, oiy. We kinda don’t even want to look at a cookie right now. We have no yearning for cookies, chocolate, or anything of the sort. So we're tackling some less-rich baking projects this week. Enter these muffins. We love having speedy and straightforward breakfast options during the week, and oatmeal is one of our go-to favorites, so these were definitely calling our name.
The original recipe calls for dates, raisins and walnuts as the add-ins, but we somehow blew through 6 lbs of walnuts over the holidays and was completely out, and we had dried cranberries in the pantry, so we did some shifting based on what we had available and wanted to use up. These turned out absolutely fabulous. They have a great, soft yet hearty texture thanks to the oatmeal and the dates, cranberries and pecans all contribute to little bursts of contrasting flavors with each bite. Mine turned out a little dark because we forgot to turn down the oven a bit to account for the non-stick pan. We were also out of paper liners. Oops, our head is still in the snowy holiday clouds we guess!
One year ago: Chocolate Babka
Three years ago: Brown Sugar-Pecan Shortbread Cookies
Oatmeal Muffins with Dates, Cranberries and Pecans
Yield: 12 muffins These muffins are packed with fruits and nuts- 1 cup (81 g) traditional rolled oats
- 1 cup (125 g) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup (110 g) light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) salt
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) cinnamon
- ¼ cup (24.75 g) finely chopped pecans, or walnuts
- ⅓ cup (49 g) chopped dates
- ⅓ cup (40.4 g) dried cranberries, or raisins
- 4 ounces (113.4 g) unsalted butter, melted and cooled, (½ cup )
- 1 cup (240 ml) buttermilk
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) vanilla extract
- 1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a standard 12-cup muffin pan or line with paper baking cups.
- 2. In a large bowl whisk together the oats, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Stir in the pecans, dates and dried cranberries. In a separate medium bowl whisk together the butter, buttermilk, egg and vanilla.
- 3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Use a rubber spatula to gently stir together just until the ingredients are mixed and moistened.
- 4. Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the muffin pan for a few minutes and then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
- Yield: 12 muffins
- Prep: 15 minutes
- Cook: 20 minutes
- Total: 35 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 cup ( 81 g ) traditional rolled oats
- 1 cup ( 125 g ) all-purpose flour
- ½ cup ( 110 g ) light brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon ( 0.5 teaspoon ) baking soda
- ½ teaspoon ( 0.5 teaspoon ) salt
- ½ teaspoon ( 0.5 teaspoon ) cinnamon
- ¼ cup ( 24.75 g ) finely chopped pecans, or walnuts
- ⅓ cup ( 49 g ) chopped dates
- ⅓ cup ( 40.4 g ) dried cranberries, or raisins
- 4 ounces ( 113.4 g ) unsalted butter, melted and cooled, (½ cup )
- 1 cup ( 240 ml ) buttermilk
- 1 large egg, lightly beaten
- ½ teaspoon ( 0.5 teaspoon ) vanilla extract
Method
- 1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a standard 12-cup muffin pan or line with paper baking cups.
- 2. In a large bowl whisk together the oats, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Stir in the pecans, dates and dried cranberries. In a separate medium bowl whisk together the butter, buttermilk, egg and vanilla.
- 3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Use a rubber spatula to gently stir together just until the ingredients are mixed and moistened.
- 4. Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the muffin pan for a few minutes and then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.
