Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins

Have you ever had the perfect oatmeal chocolate chip muffin? I'm talking about a muffin that isn't dry but has a crisp muffin top. It has a perfect ratio of chocolate chips to dough. It doesn't leave you feeling like you just ate a mini cake - but at the same time, it's not really the type of muffin you'd want to eat for breakfast. If you haven't had this perfect muffin yet, then yes you're missing out - but I have the solution for you, right here:

Just look at those beautiful chocolate chips! I've already covered the most important reasons for why we would choose the combination of oatmeal chocolate over oatmeal raisin in our recipe for Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Cookies. But maybe now you're wondering why I would post about a muffin that is quite similar to a cookie we made not that long ago? Well, these muffins are - dare I say it, easier to make than cookies.

The best bakery oatmeal chocolate chip muffins I've ever had came from Card's Bakery in Kingston, Ontario. We served these muffins at Common Ground at Queen's, and they were always a popular choice. I was reminiscing about how I haven't had such a good oatmeal chocolate chip muffin since leaving Queen's - and that's what inspired me to bake my own! I'm not promising that these taste exactly like the Card's muffins, but they are definitely worth a try!

The Recipe:

1 1/4 cups quick cooking oats

1 1/4 cups milk

1 egg

1/3-1/2 cup vegetable oil*

1/2 cup brown sugar

3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

1 1/4 cups flour (I used 1/2 cup whole wheat and 3/4 cup all-purpose)

1/2 tsp cinnamon
4 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1. Combine oats and milk and allow to stand for 15 minutes. I combined my oats and milk in our 4-cup Pyrex measuring cup and then added the other wet ingredients to this measuring cup later, rather than using an additional bowl. So if you have a giant measuring cup too, I recommend taking this route as well - if not, combine oats and milk into a medium sized bowl and let stand 15 minutes.

2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line standard muffin tray with 12 papers. 

3. In a large bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking powder and salt. 

4. Stir egg, oil, brown sugar and chocolate chips into the oat and milk mixture.

5. Pour oat mixture over flour mixture and stir until all the flour mixture is incorporated, but like always with muffins, avoid over-mixing. 

6. Fill each cup of the muffin tray about 3/4 full. Bake at 400 degrees for 20 to 22 minutes, or until cake tester comes out clean. Allow to cool 10 minutes before transferring from muffin tray to wire rack to cool completely. 

*The recipe I used calls for 1/2 cup of oil - which is how much I used. I found that the muffins are too oily though - so I recommend starting with 1/3 cup and then if when you are stirring the oat and flour mixtures together, you find the batter is too dry, you can always add a bit more oil. 

This is my 4-cup measuring cup that served as my second bowl for this
recipe - I'm all for cutting down on dishes for the clean up after!

And see how nicely you can pour your oat mixture into the flour mixture
when you're pouring from a giant measuring cup?

Here is your perfect chance to make the perfect oatmeal chocolate chip muffin. Trust me, these muffins taste just as good as they look. Actually, you may want to double this recipe, because realistically, how long will 12 muffins even last? I baked these muffins on Saturday (because weekend baking is the best kind of baking) and they're already disappearing quickly! I'm going to share my exciting news with your right now dear readers (if you've made it this far): I baked these muffins right after I booked my flight to London! I'm not leaving for a few weeks, but I'll be away for nearly a month - so maybe start to look forward to a post on tea and crumpets? Or some other British delicacies? 

Happy Eating!

Caroline