Honey Oat Cinnamon Muffins

I think I've mentioned it before but my little guy LOVES mini muffins.  he will literally sit and eat 9 of them for a snack if I let him.  He is picky about what they look like, just like his regular food.  I can't put blueberries, nuts, any kind of dried fruit, any chunky fruit for that matter, no streusel or cinnamon/sugar topping, or pretty  much anything he can see and pick out.  If he sees anything in the muffin it's an automatic, "that's yucky mama" and they are left for me to finish off.

So not just any muffin recipe will do and of course it has to have plenty of flavor so I'm always on the lookout for new recipes so he doesn't get bored and I don't get tired of making them every other day or so.

I found this recipe for Honey Oat Cinnamon Muffins while I was searching for something a little healthier.  I figure if he's eating them that quickly I need to start sneaking in some good stuff.  I was a little hesitant about what they would look like having oats in them, because I knew they would look a little different and that could mean Grant wouldn't even try them.  To my surprise he didn't take a second look and was just excited I was making him more muffins.  They turned out really moist and pretty tasty.  I think I will add a shake or 2 of cloves and maybe even 1/2t more cinnamon the next time I make them though, they needed just a little extra umph if you ask me, but that's just my opinion.

I changed a couple things about the recipe.  First I halved it because I don't like to make more than 1 pan of 24 mini muffins (I'm impatient and at times lazy so I want all my muffins to go in once to the oven so I can clean and be done), I actually got 23 mini muffins out of a half batch.  I also added a couple shakes of nutmeg and still used the full 1t vanilla that was in the original recipe.  I bake mine at 350 degrees instead of 375 degrees but this is only because my oven is really weird and once I start trying to put it above 350 it tends to just keep going up and before I know it my oven is at nearly 500 degrees and whatever I'm cooking/baking is burnt to a crisp.  Needless to say after this happening a couple times I quit baking anything above 350 and just adjust the time for the recipes.
For the mini muffins I made I baked them at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes and they were perfect.

Honey Oat Muffins 

(full recipe with my changes added in)

1 3/4c oats

1c flour

2 1/2t baking powder

1/2t baking soda

1/4t salt

1/2 c brown sugar lightly packed

2 eggs at room temp

3/4c buttermilk

1/4c veggie oil

2t vanilla

1t cinnamon

3T honey

4 shakes of nutmeg

In a large bowl whisk eggs and brown sugar until combined.  Add buttermilk, oil, vanilla, and honey.  Whisk until combined and lump free.  Stir in oats.

 In a separate bowl sift flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  Add the flour mixture to the wet ingredients.  Stir just until combined.

Fill muffin pan (make sure you spray it with non stick spray if you aren't using paper muffin cups), each about 2/3 full of batter.  Bake at 350 degrees for about 10 minutes (this is for mini muffins, timing will be different if you are making regular size muffins).