Claire's Dad's Muffins

Yet another weekend has passed us by, and yet another Monday morning finds me reluctant to leave the warm confines of my nighttime oasis to begin another week of work.  Good thing that I had a personal day I had to use in the next 3 weeks, because playing hooky never feels better than on a Monday in the wintertime.

But staying home from work also means that my drawer full of oatmeal packets and honey nut cheerios, what I keep stashed in my desk for at-work breakfasts, are far from my belly.  Good thing I spent the weekend cooking - making samosas for a dinner party, testing Christmas cookie recipes, whipping up a batch of dough for weekday pizza/calzone making, and baking a batch of fruity oatmeal muffins as a small thank-you for the hostess with the mostess.  And, since they were her dad's recipe, it was one homemade gift I knew would be well received!

I do have to shout out C's generosity (not to mention the AMAZING peppery arugula pasta with shrimp and scallops and chopped greek salad upon which we feasted on Saturday!) for sharing this special recipe with me.  It's her dad's muffin recipe, special in itself for the many memories they are sure to contain, but even more special for its location in a family heirloom recipe book.  If I have my facts right, C's sister assembled many of their family's traditional recipes into one custom cookbook so that everybody would always remember how to make the meaningful dishes that fed their family's bellies and souls.

Do me a favor and ignore the dirty stove.  We cleaned after this photo was taken...

So very lucky am I indeed that this recipe was shared with me.  As I'm not a baker, I loved the casual an almost improvisational tone of the recipe. It's also healthy, loaded with whole oats, fruit and yogurt, with hardly any oil or egg in the batter. The resulting muffins are deliciously moist, subtly spiced, and naturally sweet.  Toasted and topped with a smidgen of butter, one of these muffins warmed up this very cold winter day and made Monday seem not so bad after all.



Claire's Dad's Muffins
According to the recipe card, you can use any type of fruit - dried, fresh, or a variety.  I used one apple, one banana, and a handful of raisins.  More fruit is never a bad thing, either.   The recipe card also notes not to mix the final batter until totally combined - just until it comes together.  Yield - one dozen small muffins.

1 cup low-fat vanilla yogurt
1 cup whole rolled oats
3 Tbsp canola oil
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg, beaten
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 cup flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
pinch salt
1 1/2 cups chopped fruit - apples, bananas, raisins, berries, etc.

Preheat oven to 375 and grease a 12-cup muffin pan.

In a small bowl, mix yogurt with oatmeal together until evenly combined; let stand.  In a second small bowl, mix the canola oil, vanilla, egg and brown sugar.  In a large bowl, sift or whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.

Mix the yogurt mixture with the egg mixture and the fruit; stir until well combined.  Dump this whole mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until just combined - not totally mixed.

Fill each muffin cup almost to the top with batter.  Sprinkle tops with granulate sugar, if desired (I forgot this step).  Bake for 18-20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick comes out with just a few crumbs attached.