Applesauce Oatmeal Muffins

Blogging is now "one more thing" on my daily to-do list.

And you've probably figured out that I don't always do what's on my to-do list.

This morning I logged on and decided to check my stats; boy, was I surprised to see that despite my meager following of three, there have been over 500 hits since I started this blog five weeks ago.

I went a step further and decided to check the page views by country:  though 99% of the views were from the U.S., Indonesia, Germany and Pakistan were also listed.

Wow.  Guess I should move this to a higher priority on the to-do list, somewhere below the main priorities like vacuuming and laundry yet above lower priorities like organizing cabinets and making new window treatments.

I solemnly swear from this point on to care for and nurture my blog so that it does not wither and die.

And I'm oh-so-happy that we had lovely temps in the 60's yesterday, not the 80 degree heat that was initially predicted, so my flowers did not wither and die of heat exhaustion as I had feared they might.

Today's recipe comes from a page I tore out of a magazine many, many years ago.  How long ago?  Well the description of the recipe says it's by baker Patti Jackson from Mad. 61, "one of New York City's hottest new restaurants."  I googled Mad. 61, from 1993-1996 it was a restaurant located in Barney's flagship store on the corner of Madison and 61st St. 

The "hot" restaurant has been closed since 1996, so I've been baking these muffins for at least 15 years.  They are my favorite muffins!  Freeze them, then defrost them in your microwave as needed.  They're perfect when you're in a pinch and need to grab something quick!

Applesauce-Oatmeal Muffins (adapted from a recipe by Patti Jackson)
Printable Recipe

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sugar
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 cups applesauce
• 1/2 cup butter, melted
• 3 large eggs
• 1 1/2 cups oats
• 1 1/2 cups raisins

  
  

  Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease (or use paper baking cups to line) eighteen muffin-pan cups.

You will bake these muffins at 400 degrees for 10 minutes, then lower the temperature to 375 degrees (without opening the oven door) and bake them for an additional 9 to 12 minutes.

Place flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg in large bowl.

Whisk to combine.

Place applesauce, butter and eggs in a medium bowl.

Stir them up.....

............and add them to the dry ingredients.

Stir just until moistened.  That is the important part, don't over stir your muffins!  There are still more ingredients to be added and hence, more stirring to come.

Add the oats and raisins.  Buy the plumpest raisins you can find.  Skip the store brand or generic brand unless you are certain that they are plump and soft and not overly shriveled and dry.  If you can find baking raisins, buy them! It's nice to have soft, plump raisins when you take a bite of these muffins, not hard, pebbly ones.  

Stir the ingredients just long enough to incorporate the oats and raisins.

Time to fill your muffin cups.  I like to use my 1/3 cup measuring cup to fill the muffin tin.  It makes the muffins a bit larger than average (this recipe should make 18 muffins, but in my case it only made 16), and the measuring cup holds the batter nicely while you transfer it from the bowl to the baking tin.

After you've filled the muffin cups, you can sprinkle the tops of the muffins with some oats.  Or sugar.  Or both.

I just sprinkled them with sugar.

Specifically, sugar with extra-large crystals.

Bake the muffins in your preheated 400 degree oven for 10 minutes.  After 10 minutes, lower the temperature to 375 degrees (without opening the oven door) and bake for an additional 8 to 10 minutes.  Test with a toothpick to make sure they are done.

These muffins are sort of like Oatmeal Raisin cookies.

Except they're bigger, softer, and muffin-y (muffiny-er?).

And really good while they're still warm.

Enjoy!