I have about 2,000 photos coming your way today.
I had a little too much fun taking pictures of these.
Know why? Because these muffins truly are the ultimate.
The ultimate, absolute BEST oatmeal muffin.
Now just to let you know, these are not your basic dump-and-stir muffin. They take about an hour, from start to end. But I promise you that they are worth it.
What flavors do we have here? Let’s see. We have banana, chocolate, walnuts, and oatmeal. I tell ‘ya. These muffins are AWESOME.
We also have a delightfully-crunchy streusel topping. ‘Cause I am CRAZY about streusel. Love. Love. Love.
I modified this recipe from Cooks Illustrated–One of my all-time favorite magazines. They had a couple great tricks to this muffin to have that true oatmeal taste. No, we will not just be dumping in the oatmeal and stirring. No, no, no. To get an authentic oatmeal taste you have to:
1. Saute the oatmeal on the stove for a few minutes to get the nutty taste.
2. Then grind those oats in the food processor until finely grinded, to eliminate any big chunks.
3. From there, you add the rest of the dry ingredients. Combine the wet ingredients. Fold the dry into the wet. Add the extra add-ins, and let the batter sit 20 minutes. This allows the oatmeal to meld into the batter, making the batter thick and smooth, and resulting in a crumble-free muffin that’s moist from the inside to out.
I was extremely pleased with these muffins. The oatmeal was very noticeable, but not chunky and overpowering. The one banana I used added to the moistness and added a mellow sweetness. The chocolate added an extra boost of flavor and complimented the banana and oatmeal flavors very nicely. The walnuts added just the right crunch and contributed that final touch to these muffin’s awesomeness.
Yes, I was very happy. They tasted amazing with cold milk and I can only imagine how great they would taste with a cup of coffee.
See? That wasn’t hard. Don’t let the long ingredient list scare you away. They’re not hard to make. Just a little extra time consuming. Well worth it in my opinion.
These are burning a hole in my mind, just typing this post. I believe I am going to have these for lunch as well 😉
Ultimate Oatmeal Muffins
Ingredients
Muffins
- 2 tablespoons plus 1/4 cup butter divided
- 2 cups old-fashioned rolled oats
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 2-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 large ripe banana--mashed
- 2/3 cup honey
- 2 large eggs
- 1-3/4 cups milk
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- 1-1/4 cups semi sweet chocolate chips
Topping
- 1/2 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
- 1/2 cup white whole-wheat flour
- 1/3 cup chopped walnuts
- 1-1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 tablespoon safflower oil
Instructions
For The Muffins
- 1. In a medium saucepan, melt 2 tablespoons butter over medium heat. Add oats and stir over heat until lightly browned and fragrant, about 6 minutes. Transfer oats to food processor. Grind into a fine meal. Add flour, baking powder, and salt. Pulse 3 times until combined. Set aside. In a large bowl, combine banana, remaining butter, honey, eggs, and milk until smooth.
- 2. Add half of oat-mixture to liquid mixture. Gently fold with a whisk until lumps disappear. Add remaining oat mixture and repeat folding. Fold in walnuts and chocolate chips. Let batter sit 20 minutes.
Streusel Topping
- 1. Combine all ingredients in a small bowl until crumbly. Set aside.
For Assembly
- 1. Preheat oven to 400 F. Grease a 12-cup muffin tin. Fill cups to brim with batter. Sprinkle with streusel topping and gently press to adhere topping. Bake at 400 F 5 minutes. Reduce heat to 375 F and continue baking 18-20 more minutes until golden. Cool in pan 5 minutes before removing to cooling rack. Repeat step 1 with remaining batter.
- Yield: 15 muffins.
- Store in an airtight container at room temperature up to 2 days.
Aimee @ ShugarySweets says
Love the big muffin tops on these!! Delish.
Sarah says
That was the best part, Aimee! Thank you.