Raspberry Oatmeal Muffins

Raspberry Oatmeal Muffins give a hint of summer with fragrant raspberries nestled among moist toasted oatmeal muffin batter. Use fresh or frozen berries to make these delicious muffins for breakfast or a well deserved snack in the afternoon.

I've had this muffin recipe in my file for years and never made it until recently.  I don't know where or from whom this recipe hails. It is different from most oat muffins in that you toast the oats and add them at the end like you would nuts. The toasting of the oats gives them a nice nut-like flavour but without the expense of nuts. That's a real bonus for anyone with nut allergies.

The raspberries, of course, lend a wonderful summer flavour that only raspberries can impart. It's been a long, cold and snowy winter so these muffins are made to order for anyone longing for the promise of summer. Fresh raspberries would be marvelous in these muffins but they cost a king's ransom, especially if one was baking these on a regular basis, so I generally use frozen raspberries and the flavour is delicious.  But today I splurged, when I made them for this blog post, and bought fresh berries.  They were on sale at $3 for a 6-ounce container, which is about 1 cup.  I could devour a cup of raspberries in a few minutes if given the opportunity.  I had to keep my paws off that special cup of berries so I'd have enough for the recipe, ha, ha.

Fresh or frozen berries work equally as well in this recipe.

Printable recipe at end of post.

Raspberry Oatmeal Muffins

• ½ cup oatmeal, uncooked
• 2 cups flour
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 egg
• 1 cup milk
• ⅓ cup oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla, optional
• 1 cup fresh or frozen raspberries

How to make it:
In a frying pan over medium low heat, toast oats until lightly browned, stirring constantly.  This will take about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.  You can do this the night before if you want to make muffins for breakfast next morning.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Grease, pan spray or line a 12 cup muffin pan.

In large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.  In small bowl, beat egg, milk, oil and vanilla (if using) until blended.  Make a well in the flour and pour in the liquid ingredients; stir just until moistened (batter will be lumpy).  Gently fold raspberries and toasted oats into batter. If you are using frozen berries, stir them in frozen. 

Spoon batter into each muffin cup by ¼ cup measure. I use a #16 ice cream scoop which measures ¼ cup. Bake in preheated oven 20 minutes (22 minutes if using frozen berries) or until golden and toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.  Let muffins sit in pan for a minute or two and then remove them and cool on rack until cool enough to eat. Serve as is or with a little butter or cream cheese spread.

Left over muffins should be stored in a covered container and can be reheated in a microwave 10-15 seconds, if desired.  

Makes 12 muffins.

Toast the oats over medium low heat, stirring constantly.  This will take 5-10 minutes.  Be careful not to burn the oats.

The oats will turn a golden brown colour when they are toasted. The oats on the left have not been toasted.  The oats on the right were toasted in the frying pan.

Rinse and dry fresh berries.  If using frozen make sure they are separated and not all stuck together in large clumps.

Mix the dry ingredients together, excluding the toasted oats.  Make a well in the centre.

Beat the eggs, milk, oil and vanilla together.  

Pour the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and stir until just moistened.

Gently fold in the toasted oats and raspberries.  You don't want to crush the berries so "easy does it".

When the oats and raspberries have been mixed through the batter it should still look a bit lumpy and ragged.  Muffins should not be over mixed. 

Fill 12 muffin cups with about a ¼ cup of batter each.  I left out 12 raspberries to put on top of each muffin. Bake the muffins in a preheated 400 degree oven for 20-22 minutes or until golden brown.

A #16 scoop makes quick work when filling muffin or cupcake pans.  If you don't own a scoop, go buy one.  It's a dandy thing to have in the kitchen.

Let the muffins sit in the pan for a minute or two to cool enough to handle.  They will still be extremely hot so you may want to use a tea towel when taking them from the muffin cups.

Let the muffins cool to your preferred temperature.  Some like muffins warm and some like them completely cooled.  These are good either way but a warm muffin is something special.

When the muffins have cooled sufficiently, sit yourself down with your favourite hot or cold drink and have yourself a well deserved break.

You can see the specks of toasted oatmeal peaking through the muffin.

I'll have a little butter on my muffin, please!

Did I mention, I like butter on my muffin? The muffin is just warm enough to start melting the butter. What a great breakfast or snack!

Have a taste of summer all year long!

To print click on arrow upper right side.⇩