Apple Oatmeal Muffins

Moving to a new place always requires some settling-in time. Unpacking and hanging up my clothes, figuring out a new commute and where the closest grocery stores are, making friends (luckily I already have those here!), and stocking my fridge and pantry with all the requisite snacks and staples and baking supplies.

So finally this week, two weeks after moving to DC, I lugged bags of flour and sugar, a cylinder of oatmeal, and a box of butter and one of baking soda home from the store (in a hundred million degrees humidity) to bake!

Enter Apple Oatmeal Muffins. Oatmeal, non-fat yogurt, apples, whole wheat flour -- these muffins are breakfast treats that are altogether acceptable and probably preferable to eat every day.

I'm kicking off this summer with something healthy because after finals and post-finals celebrations and the fried things and meat orgy that was my southern road trip, healthy is probably a good idea. And I'm starting with muffins because now that I'm back to work, I need an easy breakfast to take with me to the office.

If you're looking for cakey muffins (i.e. crumbly and buttery) then go for a more decadent recipe. These are definitely more muffin-y and not too sweet -- though they taste delicious, they are not a dessert equivalent.

So without further ado, here's the recipe. I made 6 muffins and one small loaf.

Apple Oatmeal Muffins

Ingredients:

• 1 cup old fashioned oats
• 3/4 cup unbleached all purpose flour
• 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 1 1/2 cups (12 oz) plain yogurt
• 2 large eggs, whisked
• 1 medium-sized apple, finely chopped
• 1 cup chopped pecans for sprinkling on top (optional)

Directions: 

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter or spray your pans -- I used one 6-cup muffin pan and one loaf pan. 
2. In a medium bowl combine the oats, flours, baking soda, and sea salt. Set aside.
3. Melt the butter in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and stir in the sugar. Whisk in the yogurt, and then the eggs. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry, add chopped apple, and stir just until combined. Try not to over-mix. 
4. Pour the batter into the muffin tins, filling each 3/4 full. If you're using pecans, sprinkle those on top.
5. Bake 25-30 minutes (depends on your oven) or until tops are golden. Let cool in the pans for 10 minutes, then turn onto a cooling rack. 
6. Makes about 1 1/2 dozen muffins.

Pumpkin Oatmeal

I'm a little bit sad because this hurricane we appear to be having means that I did not go backpacking in West Virginia this weekend as planned. However, I did get today off of work, so I suppose it's not a total loss! (Disclaimer: As off now this storm is pretty minimal. I hope everyone has a happy hurricane, and if something terrible does happen I am sincerely sorry for the flippant tone of this post. Peace, love, and rainstorms.)

So here I am at home on a Monday, nothing major to accomplish, and nowhere to go (the Metro is closed). It's just like snopocolypse/snomageddon/snoverkill of 2010!

What happens when you're stuck at home? TV! Reading! FOOD!!! It recently came to my attention that SpeedyKate has never experienced Pumpkin Oatmeal. Which means there are probably a lot of people out there who have not experienced the hot and flavorful pumpkin-y goodness that is this breakfast (/lunch/anytime) meal. 

It's like a hot satisfying bowl of pumpkin pie. Oh wait, that sounds weird...but trust me it's good! And adding pumpkin is SO HEALHY! It's a vegetable, with a billion times your recommended vitamin A (that's an exaggeration, but close enough), vitamin C, potassium, and antioxidants. Basically, this is SUPER OATMEAL! 

SpeedyKate just made what can best be described as a vat of pumpkin oatmeal. We ate some, and the rest is now tupper-wared and frozen, ready as an easy to-go breakfast for those days that a morning run goes too long/picking out clothing takes too much time/oversleeping that necessitate bringing breakfast to work.

 

We have decided that oatmeal is like eggs but more extreme -- as in, everyone is very particular about how they like it. Thick or soupy or chewy or mushy? For this reason, I am not going to tell you how to cook your oats (I like mine on the mushy well-cooked side, a bit soupy but definitely not watery). But I will tell you what to put in them!

The first time I made pumpkin oatmeal I didn't like it at all -- turns out I didn't add enough sugar, so it just tasted squash-y. If something seems not so delish, I recommend adding more sweetness. 

Pumpkin Oatmeal

Serves: 2 (multiply times however many servings you want)

Ingredients: 

• 1 cup Trader Joe's Multigrain Hot Cereal (a mix of rye, barley, oats, and wheat), or old-fashioned oats
• 2 cups water (approximately)
• 4 tablespoons pumpkin puree
• 2-3 teaspoons sugar (brown or white)
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon ginger
• dash of cloves
• dash of allspice
• dash of salt
• 1/4 cup raisins (optional)

Directions:

1. Prepare your oatmeal as you normally would, either on the stovetop or in the microwave.
2. When your oatmeal is almost done, add in pumpkin, spices, and salt. 
3. Add in sugar and taste -- you may need to add more sugar, depending on your preference.
4. Add in raisins and enjoy with a hot cup of coffee!

 See? SO EASY!

Cake of the Week: Salted Coconut Maple Oatmeal Cookies

This weekend I learned a new term from my very smart finance friends: Alpha. 

For funds and investments and other money things that are far over my head, it means, “The excess return of the fund relative to the return of the benchmark index for a fund,” and/or, “a measure of an investment’s performance over and above the performance of investments of the same risk.” 

In normal person (super-duper simplified) terms it could be described as extra value added or something performing above expectations. 

So what does this have to do with cookies? Well an oatmeal cookie is good. But an alpha oatmeal cookie performs above and beyond, taking the expected result and making it better. This weekend, in the context of these Salted Maple Coconut Oatmeal Cookies, Jess and I combined our alphas. 

She added the maple, and I added the knowledge that you can half the butter (leading to “healthier” cookies…or you can just eat twice as many). And her boyfriend Zac added the kosher salt component, taking these cookies to a whole new level of awesomeness. And the resulting cookies were aaammmaaazzziiinnnggg. 

Lesson conclusion: Alpha + alpha + alpha = yum. 

Salted Maple Coconut Oatmeal Cookies

This is a half recipe that makes about 24 normal-sized cookies. You can easily double it for a full batch. (Printable recipe.)

Ingredients:

• 1/4 cup (1/2 stick or 2 ounces) butter, softened
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar, packed
• 1 egg
• 1/8 cup water
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt 
• 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
• ½ cup shredded coconut
• 1 cup milk chocolate chips
• Kosher or sea salt for sprinkling on top

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°F.
2. In a large bowl, cream together the butter, brown sugar, egg, maple syrup, and vanilla until smooth. Mix in the water. 
3. In a separate bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt together. Stir this into the butter/sugar mixture. Stir in the oats, coconut, and chocolate chips. 
4. Chill the dough for 15-30 minutes (if you have the patience. It won’t be the end of the world if you don’t chill, but chilling softens the oats a bit which is definitely a good thing). 
5. On a silpat of greased or parchment-lined baking sheet, scoop out cookie dough in 1-2 tablespoonful sized balls. Using your hand, flatten the balls just a little (since this recipe has less butter, they won’t spread very much). Sprinkle with kosher or sea salt. 
6. Bake them for 10 to 12 minutes, taking them out when golden at the edges but still a little undercooked-looking on top. 
7. Let them sit on the hot baking sheet for five minutes before transferring them to a rack to cool.

(Printable recipe.)

Cake of the Week: Caramel Oatmeal Bars

I had to wear a retainer for a year when I was in first grade. It wasn't the keep-your-teeth-straight-after-braces kind, but the permanent kind that no one can really see unless you open your mouth yawning-monkey style and lean back. 

So anyway, the major downside was that I was forbidden from eating super-sticky things like gum and caramel for a year (which felt like forever to my six-year-old candy-loving self).

On Halloween I could eat the chocolate, but the Sugar Daddys, caramels, Sugar Babies, etc. were strictly off-limits. Sister1 (the savvy businesswoman) set up trades for these coveted confections to ensure that my teeth remained retained and she secured the sugar. 

But I was a conniving child too, and one day when she was at swim practice I snuck in to raid her stash. 

Caramel! Mine! I popped the chewy goodness into my mouth, and a few chews later  - “POP!” - my retainer popped out. 

Uhoh. I looked left, looked right, and quickly slid the offending mouth metal under the bathroom soap dish. Problem solved, I grinned with glee. I was free to consume all the caramel I could! 

Fast-forward one month:

Mama: Mollie! Is this your retainer? What’s it doing here???

Mini-Mollie: Ummmmmmm, it came out?

Caught. And that was the end of my caramel fun for the rest of the year…it was sweet while it lasted.

My retainer is long-gone, and I still love caramel. I made these bars for a Super Bowl party this weekend (you need something sweet to temper the saltiness of all other Super Bowl snacks). And these are SWEET. 

They’re Caramel Oatmeal Bars with Chocolate, Walnuts, and Coconut. Pretty intense and pretty awesome. 

Caramel Oatmeal Bars (recipe adapted from these Turtle Bars on The Curvy Carrot)

Go here for the printable recipe. 

Servings: 24-40 bars (depending on how big you want them)

Ingredients

For the bar topping and base:

• 1 and 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar
• 1 and 3/4 cups rolled oats
• 3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, melted
• 1 cup toasted walnuts, chopped into large pieces
• 1/2 cup mini chocolate chips
• 1/2 cup toasted coconut

For the caramel filling:

• 1/2 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
• 10 tablespoons ( 1 and 1/4 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into cubes
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream

Instructions

• For the bar topping and base: Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• Butter the sides and bottom of a 9-by-13-inch glass or light colored metal baking pan.
• Line the pan with parchment paper or tin foil so that the paper overhangs the pan on two sides.
• Butter the parchment/foil.
• In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, and baking soda.
• Use your hands to rub in the brown sugar.
• Add the oats and stir until the ingredients are evenly combined.
• Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, then pour in the melted butter and stir until the entire mixture is wet and combined.

• Spread two-thirds of the mixture across the bottom of the prepared pan and bake for 12 minutes.
• Remove the pan from the oven to cool (but leave the oven on).
• Sprinkle the walnuts, chocolate chips, and coconut across the cooled crust.

For the caramel filling: 

• In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, melt the sugar and butter together.
• Bring the mixture to a boil and boil for 1 minute, stirring constantly (the caramel will begin to darken at this point).
• Remove the pan from the heat, stir in the cream, and pour the caramel directly over the chocolate pecan layer.

• Use an offset spatula to evenly distribute the caramel.
• Sprinkle the remaining oatmeal mixture onto the caramel and bake for 10 to 12 minutes, or until the top is golden brown.

• Let the bars cool in the pan for about 15 minutes, then place the pan in the refrigerator and chill for 1 hour to firm up.
• Cut and serve. The longer you wait, the better they cut. 

Go here for the printable recipe. 

Cookie Week Day 2: Lacey Oatmeal Cookies

I have made the executive decision that this is officially COOKIE WEEK! This occurs as a reflection of my recent diet, the number of cookie pictures on my camera, and the annual mid-December world-wide obsession with all things cookie. 

Today’s recipe comes from 6x6. Or, more specifically, 6x6’s Aunt Michelle. 


The recipe is super-simple and these cookies are insanely addictive. For our weekend Cookie Exchange, 6x6 made them with chocolate chips.

My only concern about these cookies is that they’re very fragile. My mama has this life rule that broken cookies don’t count. If that is the case, then I may or may not have recently consumed a whole lot of nothing...


Lacey Oatmeal Cookies
(Go here for the printable recipe.)

• 1 c butter (if you like non-lacy cookies, do 1/2 c butter and 1/2 c shortening)
• 1 1/2 c light brown sugar
• 2 1/2 c quick oats
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 egg
• 1 c flour
• 1 1/4 tsp vanilla
• Optional: 3/4 c nuts and/or 1 c choc chips and/or ½ cup raisins

Directions:

1. Beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy.  
2. Add egg, vanilla, oats, flour and remaining ingredients.
3. Drop tablespoon-sized cookies on a greased cookie sheet.
4. Bake at 350 degrees for 8 – 10 mins.

Easy!!!


(Go here for the printable recipe.)

Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies

I use the term “breakfast cookies” liberally. I mean, who says breakfast has to be healthy? Why are cookies shunned as inappropriate breakfast food, while cinnamon rolls and muffins are embraced? What’s really the health difference between a cookie and a pancake?  They’re both round…I might even argue that cookies are better. They’re smaller, and denser, and give you that satisfying something extra when your yogurt just doesn’t quite cut it.  

I feel no guilt eating a cookie for breakfast (I was trained by the best). Sometimes a brownie-filled chocolate chip cookie qualifies, but in the case of these chunks of banana-y awesomeness, the more traditional healthy breakfast cookie implication applies.

They have fruit. They have oatmeal and whole wheat flour. They have nuts (aka protein - work with me here!). They go well with coffee. And most importantly, they are delicious!

I found this recipe on For the Love of Cooking, and I’m a huge fan. It tastes like banana bread, but in cookie form. Mine don’t have chocolate chips (I didn’t have any), but I think you should add them. I won’t judge, who doesn’t need some chocolate chunks in their breakfast?

Banana Oatmeal Breakfast Cookies

1 very ripe banana

3/4 white sugar (brown sugar if you have it)

1/4 cup unsalted butter, softened

1 large egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 1/4 cups of whole wheat flour

2 cups quick cooking oats

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

3/4 cup milk chocolate chips (optional)

3/4 toasted walnut or pecan pieces

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place a silpat mat on a baking sheet.

Combine the banana, sugar, butter, egg, and vanilla in a large bowl; beat with a mixer at medium speed until mixed thoroughly.

Mix the salt, baking soda, flour and oats together. Add the oat mixture, chocolate chips, and pecan pieces to the banana mixture and mix well with a spoon.

Drop cookie dough on the baking sheet covered with a silpat mat 2 inches apart. Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden brown. Cool on racks then serve. Enjoy.

Cake of the Week: Salty Oatmeal Cookies

The salty sweetness of these cookies has earned them a cultish following. 

When those in the know hear that I bake and live in Dupont Circle they get this crazy glint in their eyes and ask in hushed tones, Oooohhh, have you tried the salty oatmeal cookies at Teaism??? like they are God’s gift to humanity. And maybe they are (who am I to say?).

I have tried them, and I though I wouldn’t consider myself a salty oatmeal cult-member, I do think they are pretty uniquely delicious. This isn’t your standard oatmeal cookie sprinkled in rock salt. No no. The Teasim cookies are bigger, simultaneously dense and flaky, kinda dry but also chewy…difficult to describe but definitely an experience worth having!

The problem is, Teasim keeps their cookie recipe top secret. “Ok, so there's this snooty little high-priced Asian-esque eatery in Washington, DC, where they serve a lot of tea. Some folks love it. I hate it,” says Melissa Gray (author of All Cakes Considered). But luckily she loves the Salty Oatmeal Cookies, and put her baking expertise to work to develop an almost perfect imitation recipe.

[Sidenote: Dear NPR, I love you for three reasons: 1) the Moth, 2) Wait, Wait, Don’t Tell Me, 3) the All Cakes Considered cookbook. Love, Mollie]

Don’t expect traditional oatmeal cookies out of this recipe. They actually use butter flavored shortening instead of butter – this creates the light and slightly crumbly texture. And you will need rice flour (I found it at Harris Teeter), which is used in the Teasim cookies (it says so on the wrapper’s ingredient list).

Boss #3 is the Teasim devotee who first introduced me to the Salty Oatmeal Cookies, and she says that mine are better. Wow. I attribute that to my addition of allspice – it wasn’t in the recipe, but I feel that this spice is an absolute must in all oatmeal cookies.

Salty Oatmeal Cookies

3 tablespoons unsalted butter

3 cups old-fashioned rolled oats (NOT quick-cooking)

3/4 cup butter flavored Crisco shortening

1 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup sugar
2 large eggs

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

¼ teaspoon allspice

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/2 teaspoon coconut extract

1 3/4 cup rice flour

1 cup raisins

Kosher or Sea Salt for sprinkling

1/2 cup water

1. In a medium saucepan, melt the butter. Remove from the heat and stir in oats. Set aside.

2. With a mixer, beat shortening on medium or high speed until light and fluffy. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and add the sugars gradually, beating until mixed.

3. Add in the baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and allspice and beat until incorporated.

4. Add the eggs, vanilla, coconut, beating until blended.

5. Add in the oatmeal and rice flour (you may need to hand-stir at this point) and beat until just incorporated. Add the raisins. My dough was really dry, so I added water as needed (about 1/2 cup). Cover and refrigerate at least 1 hour. 

6. Preheat your oven to 375* and spray your cookie sheets (or cover them in parchment paper).

7. Form dough into balls the size of golf balls and place on the baking sheets about 2 inches apart. Flatten the balls slightly and sprinkle generously with Kosher or Sea Salt. 

8. Bake one sheet of cookie at a time for 15 minutes, or until they are puffed and starting to brown.

9. With a spatula carefully remove cookies (mine were a little crumbly) and transfer cookies to a cooling rack.

These cookies are so oaty and actually not too sweet. In my mind this fully justifies them as a “healthy breakfast cookie” (for self-delusion purposes we’re disregarding the shortening here…).

Make them. Enjoy them. Bring them to work. Photograph them on your roof. It’s what all the cool kids do with plates of cookies.

Cake of the Week: Pumpkin Oatmeal Cupcakes with Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting

Some days I’m really ambitious. I make things like cheesecake, or pie, or 6-layer cakes with butterscotch filling. But then some days I’m only a little ambitious. So I make little things. Like these mini cupcakes!

They combine three of my favorite ingredients: pumpkin, oatmeal, and peanut butter. But instead of being in the form of a brimming bowl of oats, they’re in the mini muffin mode.

I modeled these babies on the Oatmeal Cake I made back in May, and then swirled peanut butter cream cheese frosting on top. The cupcakes are much more muffin-y than a normal cake, which I think goes well with the sweet frosting. And at two-bites a cake, they’re the perfect snacking size!

Pumpkin Oatmeal Cake Ingredients:


1 cup quick-cooking oats (see note)


3/4 cup water, room temperature


3/4 cup unbleached all-purpose flour


1/2 teaspoon baking soda


1/2 teaspoon baking powder


1/2 teaspoon salt


1 ½ teaspoon pumpkin pie spice

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) unsalted butter, softened


½ cup canned pumpkin

1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar


1/2 cup packed (3 1/2 ounces) light brown sugar


1 large egg, room temperature


1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

Directions:


1. FOR THE CAKE: Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare your muffin tins with paper liners or cooking spray.


2. Combine oats and water in medium bowl and let sit until water is absorbed, about 5 minutes.

3. In another medium bowl, whisk flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and pumpkin pie spice together.


4. In bowl of standing mixer, beat butter and sugars on medium speed until combined and mixture has consistency of damp sand, 2 to 4 minutes, scraping down bowl with rubber spatula halfway through mixing. Add egg and vanilla and pumpkin; beat until combined, about 30 seconds. Add flour mixture in 2 additions and mix until just incorporated, about 30 seconds. Add soaked oats and mix until combined, about 15 seconds.



5. Give batter final stir with rubber spatula to make sure thoroughly combined. Spoon batter into muffin cups. Bake until toothpick inserted into center comes out with few crumbs attached, 15-25 minutes (it really depends on the size of your muffin tins so check on them!). Let cakes cool slightly in pan, at least 10 minutes.

*ATK notes: Do not use old-fashioned or instant oats for this recipe. Be sure to use a metal baking dish; glass pans are not recommended when broiling. If you have a drawer-style broiler (underneath the oven), position the rack as far as possible from the broiler element and monitor the icing carefully as it cooks in step 5. A vertical sawing motion with a serrated knife works best for cutting through the crunchy icing and tender crumb.

For Peanut Butter Cream Cheese Frosting Recipe, go to this post.

Make a half-recipe of frosting for one batch of cupcakes (you’ll probably have leftovers). Or make a whole recipe and keep the extra for another mini-baking-adventure!

Cake of the Week: Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies/Oatmeal Cream Pies

I rarely eat sandwiches. Occasionally a PB&J English muffin is quite delish, but I never have bread, and I’m not a big meat and cheese person. Unless of course a cookie is my crust and frosting is the filling!

Here’s how these cookies happened:

After the Pumpkin Peanut Butter Whoopie Pies, I had leftover frosting in my fridge. What’s a girl to do? Eat it with graham crackers, with apple slices, with a spoon. But after a while even I have to stop the sugar coma, so I searched “Sandwich Cookies” and found a fabulous recipe.

But my late-night frosting forays had drastically depleted my frosting store…so there was only one thing to do…make more!

(I’m so sorry – alliteration and rhyming – I can’t control it!)

So I made some vanilla frosting to fill the rest of the sandwiches. They are SO GOOD. Very sweet but very delicious. The oatmeal cookies have a teaspoon of chocolate in them, which adds some depth of flavor. Be careful though, I sprayed my pan but they still kind of stuck. I was able to scrape them off with a knife, but maybe do parchment or wax paper to prevent that problem.

Creamy vanilla plus chewy cookie – these are my sort of sandwiches!

Homemade Oatmeal Cream Pies (from A Spicy Perspective)

1 cup brown sugar

½ cup melted butter

1 egg

1 tsp. vanilla

1 cup flour

½ tsp. cinnamon

1 ½ tsp. cocoa powder

½ tsp. baking soda

½ tsp. baking powder

¼ tsp. salt

1 cup rolled oats

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cookie sheets with parchment paper. Sift the dry ingredients into a medium bowl and set aside.

Use an electric mixer to cream the brown sugar, butter, egg and vanilla. Once smooth, slowly add the dry mixture to the wet until well combined. Stir in the oats.

Use a tablespoon-sized scoop to form equal dough balls. Allow them plenty of space to spread. Bake for 7-9 minutes. Allow the cookies to cool completely before moving off the parchment paper.

Vanilla Frosting

3/4 stick butter, softened

3 cups powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

1-3 tablespoons milk or water

Using an electric mixer, mix vanilla and butter. Add in sugar and mix as much as possible. Add in milk or water one tablespoon at a time until you reach the desired frosting consistency.

To Assemble Cookies:

Match similar sized/shaped cookies. Scoop frosting into a piping bag, and pipe onto completely cooled cookies.

And then enjoy! :)