Raspberry muffin bliss

I truly enjoy a good muffin for breakfast. But a homemade muffin, hot out of the oven, sends me into a state of bliss.  I'm pretty sure my eyes glaze over and I can't answer any questions in a coherent manner as I savor each bite.

I know. I am a dramatic foodie.  But why fight it? I choose to embrace it!

I am that person who plies the muffin gently from the pan when they are literally seconds out of the oven. This usually results in a crumbly mess of deliciousness on my plate.

Perhaps people with more willpower than me would let the muffins sit and set so that when they come out of the pan they are the perfect shape.

I don't care about the perfectly shaped muffin. I care about savoring every single hot, delicious bite.

Earlier this week I wrote about the raspberry oatmeal pancakes I made recently.  Continuing on the raspberry bandwagon, I bring you the most delicious raspberry muffins I've ever eaten.

I've been making these at least once a week for my family this summer.  No joke. They are THAT. GOOD.

These muffins are great hot out of the pan that first morning but they are also a nice snack in the following days and stay quite fresh when stored in an airtight container for a couple days.

However, these muffins have never lasted more than 24 hours in this house because, like I said, they are THAT. GOOD.

But even more beautiful might be that it takes minutes to whip up the batter and about 17-20 minutes until you are enjoying some raspberry muffin goodness.  I even threw in a handful of rolled oats each time I've made these to make the muffins a bit more hearty.

And believe me, there is no time to waste when you know the absolute perfect raspberry muffin is involved.

Raspberry Oat Muffin

Raspberry Oat Muffins
Makes 12 muffins

Ingredients
*2 cups all-purpose flour
*1/2 cup sugar
*2 teaspoons baking powder
*1/4 teaspoon salt
*1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
*3/4 cup whole milk
*1 large egg
*1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract
*1 1/2 cups frozen raspberries
*Handful of rolled oats

Details
*Heat oven to 400° F. Line a 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners or coat it with cooking spray, vegetable oil, or butter.

*In a medium bowl, combine 1 3/4 cups of the flour, 1/2 cup of the sugar, the baking powder, and salt. Add the butter and combine. In a second bowl, whisk together the milk, egg, and vanilla. Gradually add the milk mixture to the flour mixture and stir until just combined; the batter will be lumpy. Throw in a handful of rolled oats if you wish.  Toss the berries with the remaining flour in a bowl. Gently fold the berry mixture into the batter.

*Fill each muffin cup 3/4 full. Bake for 17 to 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean.

Recipe adapted from Real Simple

A whole lot of pancake goodness

I've always found taking time to make a 'real' breakfast to be luxurious.

Some people like to sink into a bathtub filled with warm water with bubbles up to their neck while some of us (ahem, me) find the same decadent experience in concocting a breakfast not consisting of cereal and milk.

In the past, weekends were the only time I could truly make something a bit more involved like from scratch pancakes or homemade muffins.  I've been inclined to experiment a bit more with breakfast recipes lately as I am trying to encourage my son to eat more for breakfast.  I'm aiming for hearty and healthy yet still pleasing to the 3-year-old (and 33 year-old) palate.

Which leads me to today's breakfast experiment: homemade raspberry oatmeal pancakes.

Do yourself a favor and make these next weekend.  Even the little man ate these up. I served them with the traditional maple syrup, but next time, I will also make a simple raspbery sauce to drizzle on the pancakes, too.

There is a small amount of sugar in the recipe (given how many pancakes the recipe produces) but the sweetness of the raspberries makes up for the low sugar.  You'll notice in the recipe that you need to mix the oats with the yogurt concoction and let it sit for 15-30 minutes.  This seems an annoying extra step but what it does is soften the oats so they blend more easily into the actual pancake batter.  It's worth the extra time and the oats lead to a much more substantive and yet healthy pancake.

Besides, think of what you can do with an 15-30 minutes on a Sunday morning while your oats soften.

Perhaps read the New York Times Sunday Style Section?

Blissful.

Oh wait.  In my case, you take a walk to buy the eggs you realized you were out of that you will need to complete your pancakes.

A last piece of advice: although these pancakes are really good, unless you are feeding a family of 6+ or are on a real carb binge (been there, done that), I strongly suggest cutting the below recipe in half.  There was just more pancake goodness than we needed.

But I suppose there are worse problems.



Raspberry Oatmeal Pancakes

Raspberry Oatmeal Pancakes
Ingredients
*1 1/2 cups rolled oats
*3/4 cup plain yogurt mixed with 1/4 cup milk (this creates a buttermilk-like mixture)
*1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
*1/4 cup sugar
*1 teaspoon baking soda
*1 teaspoon baking powder
*1/2 teaspoon salt
*4 large eggs
*1 1/2 cups milk
*1 teaspoon vanilla
*1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries

Details
*In a bowl, mix oats and yogurt/milk mixture; let stand at least 15 minutes or up to 30 minutes.

*Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.

*In a large bowl, beat eggs, milk, and vanilla to blend. Stir in flour and oat mixtures just until evenly moistened, then gently stir in raspberries.

*Place a nonstick griddle over medium heat; when hot, coat lightly with butter and adjust heat to maintain temperature. Pour batter in 1/4-cup portions onto griddle and cook until pancakes are browned on the bottom and edges begin to look dry, about 2 minutes; turn with a wide spatula and brown other sides, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes longer. Coat pan with more butter as necessary to cook remaining pancakes.

*Recipe adapted from La Note in Berkeley, CA