Friday Recipe

These muffins were a cinch to make and a huge hit this morning around these parts. Perfect for this time of year with the abundance of local apples. From yesterday's 24 Hours (and courtesy of the Dairy Farmers of Canada):

You will need:

1 1/4 cups quick-cooking rolled oats
1 1/2 cups milk (I used 1 cup almond milk, 1/2 cup regular milk and it worked great)
1 tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup granulated sugar (I replaced w/ 1/4 cup brown sugar, not too packed and it was plenty sweet)
1/2 cup maple syrup
1 egg
1/4 butter, melted
1 tsp vanilla (in the throes of breaking up conflict between my two boys and thus avoiding an all out mutiny, I forgot to add this - oops!)
2 cups finely diced apples (peeled or unpeeled - I did peeled)

Topping: 2 tbsp pure maple syrup

Preheat oven to 400F. Lightly butter nonstick muffin pans or line with paper liners (I have a major aversion to cooking with nonstick, so I did paper liners in the spirit of saving time, and my muffins).

In bowl, combine oats and milk; let stand for 5 minutes. In separate large bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Whisk sugar, maple syrup, egg, butter and vanilla (don't forget) into milk mixture. Pour over dry ingredients and sprinkle with apples. Stir until just moistened.

Spoon into prepared muffin pan. Bake for about 25 minutes or until tops are firm to the touch. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes. Transfer to rack.

Topping: Brush warm muffin tops with maple syrup. Let cool completely. Makes 12 muffins.

Enjoy!