Healthy Oatmeal Raisin Muffins

Now that I'm working 5 days a week, Jake is going to school 5 days a week.  This means 5 days where my two slow-pokes have to get out the door on their own in a timely fashion (I usually leave before the boys get up).  To help them make it to work and school on time I try to have breakfast ready to go for Jake.  I know this is a struggle for a lot of families and we are no exception. 

Luckily, Jake likes to eat the same things over and over for breakfast so I don't have to mix it up day after day.  Muffins are great for this because you can bake a batch and pop them in the freezer.  A few seconds in the microwave and a homemade breakfast is served.  Add a glass of milk on the side for protein and you are ready to go.  Today Jake wanted to make blueberry muffins but we didn't have any blueberries so we decided to make raisin muffins instead.

I started out with Quaker's best oatmeal muffin recipe and then made some tweaks to healthify them.  Jake actually prefers healthier foods most of the time, he's not that big of a fan of sugary muffins.   True story: Once I made Jake these muffins with bran buds soaked in milk, chia seeds, and no sugar.  He absolutely loved them.  Then I made yummy, sugary, apple muffins with demerara sugar sprinkled on top.  He seriously tried one and was like, "I don't care for these Mommy."  He's a total weirdo, but in an awesome way.

Back to today's muffins.  These are super simple to make.  I don't recommend using your mixer though, just a bowl and a wooden spoon will serve you perfectly.

Start out by combining some whole wheat pastry flour with quick oats, brown sugar, baking powder, and pumpkin pie spice.  I love this stuff, it's not just for pies you know.  It has such a warm, comforting, fall flavor and goes perfectly with the flavors of the oatmeal and raisins in these muffins.

In a large glass measuring cup measure out your milk, then add in your egg, applesauce, and vanilla.  Mix this well and then pour it into the dry ingredients.  I like to just do this in the measuring cup because it is one less bowl to clean and it pours easily into the dry ingredients.

Stir the wet and dry ingredients together until just combined, don't overmix them.  Or in my case, don't let your 4 year old assistant overmix them while you wash the glass measuring cup.  If that happens, they will still taste good, but they'll be a little denser.

Fold in your raisins.  You can use just 1/2 a cup but my sous chef LOVES raisins and requested "A LOT OF RAISINS MOMMY, LIKE A LOT, A LOT!" so we added a full cup.

Use your ice cream scoop to scoop your batter into your muffin tin lined with paper liners sprayed with cooking spray and bake at 400 for about 13-15 minutes.

You can eat these room temperature, but I highly recommend eating them warm with a little butter spread on top.  Mmmmmm!  Keep out what you will eat in the next couple of days.  Then freeze the rest.  To reheat, microwave for about 20 seconds.

 Oatmeal Raisin Muffins
Adapted from Quaker's Best Oatmeal Muffins

Makes 12 Muffins

• 1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
• 1 cup quick oats
• 1/3 cup packed brown sugar
• 1 tbls. baking powder
• 1 tsp. pumpkin pie spice
• 1 cup skim milk
• 1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1/2 to 1 cup raisins

1.  Preheat oven to 400 and line 12 cups of a muffin tin with paper liners.  Then spray the liners with cooking spray.
2. In a medium bowl combine flour, oats, sugar, baking powder and pumpkin pie spice. 
3. In a liquid measuring cup, measure the milk.  Then add applesauce, egg, and vanilla and mix well.
4. Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and stir just until combined.  Then fold in raisins.
5. Bake for about 13-15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

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