Oatmeal Muffins

By mariannefeldman

http://www.cooksillustrated.com/recipes/7275-oatmeal-muffins?extcode=NPI0Z00CZ
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OATMEAL MUFFINS
Published January 1, 2013. From Cook's Illustrated.

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WHY THIS RECIPE WORKS:
For an oatmeal muffin that is packed with oats but also has a fine, tender texture, we processed old-fashioned rolled oats into a flour in the food processor. To boost oat flavor, we first toasted the oats in a couple of tablespoons of butter and eliminated extraneous spices from the batter. To ensure a lump-free batter, we used a whisk to fold the wet and dry ingredients together and allow the batter to sit and hydrate for 20 minutes before baking. Finally, we made an apple crisp–inspired topping of crunchy oats, nuts, and brown sugar.

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Oatmeal Muffins What should be a satisfying breakfast treat is often a dry, chewy regret. The key to a moist, tender crumb turned out to be choosing the proper oats and treating them right. Watch the Video
MAKES 12 MUFFINS

Do not use quick or instant oats in this recipe. Walnuts may be substituted for the pecans. The easiest way to grease and flour the muffin tin is with a baking spray with flour.

Ingredients

• INGREDIENTS
• TOPPING
• 1/2 cup (1 1/2 ounces) old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1/3 cup (1 2/3 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 1/3 cup pecans, chopped fine
• 1/3 cup packed (2 1/3 ounces) light brown sugar
• 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/8 teaspoon salt
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
• MUFFINS
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus 6 tablespoons melted
• 2 cups (6 ounces) old-fashioned rolled oats
• 1 3/4 cups (8 3/4 ounces) all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 1/3 cups packed (9 1/3 ounces) light brown sugar
• 1 3/4 cups milk
• 2 large eggs, beaten

Preparation

Step 1

INSTRUCTIONS
1. FOR THE TOPPING: Combine oats, flour, pecans, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in medium bowl. Drizzle melted butter over mixture and stir to ­thoroughly combine; set aside.

2. FOR THE MUFFINS: Grease and flour 12-cup muffin tin. Melt 2 tablespoons butter in 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Add oats and cook, stirring frequently, until oats turn golden brown and smell of cooking popcorn, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer oats to food processor and process into fine meal, about 30 seconds. Add flour, salt, baking powder, and baking soda to oats and pulse until combined, about 3 pulses.

3. Stir 6 tablespoons melted butter and sugar together in large bowl until smooth. Add milk and eggs and whisk until smooth. Using whisk, gently fold half of oat mixture into wet ingredients, tapping whisk against side of bowl to release clumps. Add remaining oat mixture and continue to fold with whisk until no streaks of flour remain. Set aside batter for 20 minutes to thicken. Meanwhile, adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees.

4. Using ice cream scoop or large spoon, divide batter equally among prepared muffin cups (about ½ cup batter per cup; cups will be filled to rim). Evenly sprinkle topping over muffins (about 2 tablespoons per muffin). Bake until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, 18 to 25 minutes, rotating muffin tin halfway through baking.

5. Let muffins cool in muffin tin on wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove muffins from muffin tin and serve or let cool completely before serving.

MUFFIN MISHAPS

Developing a great oatmeal muffin required a lot of trial and error, particularly when it came to deciding which type of oats to use and how to incorporate them. Here are a few of our not-so-successful attempts.


PRETTY BUT BLAND: Highly processed quick oats produced an attractive muffin—with dull flavor.


DRY AND CRUMBLY: Raw rolled oats never fully hydrated, leading to a dry, chewy crumb.


SQUAT AND GUMMY: Cooked rolled oats were too wet, yielding a muffin with gummy patches.

GETTING ROLLED OATS TO BAKE INTO MOIST, FLAVORFUL MUFFINS

Old-fashioned rolled oats have a subtle taste and don’t easily absorb the liquid in a batter. Here are the steps we took to transform their flavor and texture.


TOAST IN BUTTER: Browning the oats in butter develops rich, complex flavor and aroma.


GRIND INTO FLOUR: Processing the oats into a fine meal ensures that they will absorb liquid.


MIX INTO BATTER; LET SIT: A 20-minute rest gives the oat flour time to hydrate in the batter.

A GENTLE WAY TO CUT DOWN ON LUMPS


Even finely ground oats create lumps. To minimize lump size without overworking the oat starch and gluten—and thus toughening the crumb—draw a whisk gently down and then up through the batter. Tap the whisk against the bowl to release clumps.