... Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins

Blueberries, oatmeal, and muffins.  Three foods I love separately, but even more together.  These were really easy to make and, although the recipe indicates they're for 12- to 18-month olds (something I'm still trying to figure out), I think they're perfect for breakfast or a snack... whatever your age!

As soon as I finished making the batter, I realized I only had snowman muffin liners.  Considering I'm so completely over winter, I couldn't bring myself to use them.  I've always seen muffins wrapped in pretty folded parchment paper, so after a quick Google search for 'parchment muffin cups', I found this tutorial and decided to give it a shot.

It really was pretty easy (considering I only had 16 to make) and I think the end result is much better than a snowman liner any old day, but especially in April.

Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins
makes 16 muffins

1 2/3 cups quick-cooking oats
3 ounces all-purpose flour (about 2/3 cup)
2.33 ounces whole-wheat flour (about 1/2 cup)
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups low-fat buttermilk
1/4 cup canola oil
2 teaspoons grated lemon rind
2 large eggs
2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (only needed if using frozen blueberries; omit if using fresh)
cooking spray
2 tablespoons granulated sugar

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Place oats in a food processor; pulse 5 to 6 times or until oats resemble coarse meal.  Place in a large bowl.

Weigh or lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife.  Add flours and next 5 ingredients (through salt) to oats; stir well.  Make a well in center of mixture.

Combine buttermilk and next 3 ingredients (through eggs).  Add to flour mixture; stir until just moist.

Toss berries with 2 tablespoons flour, and gently fold into batter.  Spoon batter into 16 muffin cups coated with cooking spray; sprinkle 2 tablespoons granulated sugar evenly over batter.  Bake at 400 degrees for 20 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center.  Remove from pans immediately; place on a wire rack.

Taylor's Notes:


I know that with baking you're supposed to be very exact in your measurements, hence the actual weights of flour.  I haven't ever gotten into it that deeply, but I do make sure that my measurements are right on and I've never had any problems.  But, there they are just in case...


If you should choose to take on the parchment muffin liner challenge, here are a few tips I learned.  Spray the muffin tins lightly with non-stick spray.  Ironically, this will help the parchment stick.  It's not perfect, but it does help.  The downside is that the outside of your liners are then a little greasy when you take the baked muffins of the pan.  Be sure to make your folds flat so that the batter doesn't seep between the paper.  And finally, I used a scoop to put the batter into the cups.  Using one hand to hold the paper liner in place and the other to scoop the batter into the cup.  Two scoops per cup was the perfect amount.


These muffins came out very moist and the fresh blueberries are so delicious.  I think I'll attempt to freeze a few because, although they're not too bad for you, I don't think I should polish off 6 or 8 muffins before they go bad.  Swimsuit is just around the corner, you know.


Enjoy!