Mixed Berry Muffins

These are really delicious muffins. I think it probably has something to do with the half cup of melted butter that is in them. I found the original recipe at Under the Highchair and her photos of the muffins looked so delicious that I had to try them. I changed the recipe slightly, but mostly it is just the way she wrote it. They really are just as good as they look.  And of course I like the fact that they have oats in them so I can pretend they are good for you.

Ingredients:

1 cup rolled oats

1 cup buttermilk

1 large egg

½ cup brown sugar

½ cup melted butter, cooled

1 cup flour

¼ tsp salt

1 tsp baking powder

½ tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup mixed berries, fresh or frozen

Topping:

additional buttermilk

large grain sugar (Turbinado sugar crystals)

 Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine oats and buttermilk and let stand for one hour.
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Prepare a 12-cup muffin pans with nonstick spray or liners.
3. Stir the egg and the sugar into the oat mixture, followed by the melted butter.
4. Add remaining ingredients (except berries) to the oat mixture and stir the batter until just combined.
5. Fold in the berries carefully without over mixing.
6. Spoon the batter into t he muffin tins, brush with buttermilk and sprinkle with sugar.  Place in the oven and bake about 10 minutes if using fresh berries, longer if using frozen berries.

Peanut Butter Oatmeal Cookies

Pretty tasty cookies and they have that “veneer of health” from the peanut butter and oats.  Makes 3 dozen cookies.

1 cup flour

½ tsp baking soda

½ cup butter

½ cup peanut butter (natural kind)

2/3 cup packed brown sugar

2 eggs

½ tsp vanilla

1 cup rolled oats

In a bowl stir together flour and baking soda. Set flour mixture aside. In a large mixing bowl beat butter with electric mixer on medium to high speed about 30 seconds until softened.

Add peanut butter and brown sugar to butter. Beat until combined, scraping sides of bowl. Add eggs and vanilla. Beat until well combined. Add flour mixture then beat on low speed until combined. Stir in oats.

Drop dough from a rounded teaspoon 2 inches apart on an ungreased cookie sheet. Bake in a  375 degree oven for 8-10 minutes or until edges are golden. Remove cookies from cookie sheet and cool on a wire rack.