Healthy Muffins

Company is coming in February! There will be 7 of us gathering in our great room in the mornings for coffee, tea and something to satisfy their tummies after evenings of "many beverages". After reading Wendy's posts the past week and her appetizing muffins, I thought "muffins" would be an easy early morning treat. At the time I was thinking this, I was paging through one of mine and Valli's favorite magazines "Cooking Light". In the December issue, I saw a recipe by Deborah Madison for "Whole Wheat Oat Muffins". Checking the ingredients, I was surprised that I had all of them on hand. So off to the kitchen I went and made these terrific little muffins. Now granted, they are not your bakery-style muffins that look like small snow capped mountains. These little gems are just plain and healthy. I served them to myself with a bowl of fresh fruit and Sher's "Seasoned Eating's" gift to me, cinnamon spun honey. Oh what a breakfast party in my mouth!

Deborah Madison's Whole Wheat-Oat Muffins

1-1/2 cups fat free buttermilk

1 cup regular oats

3 tablespoons canola oil

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 large egg

1/2 cup oat flour (about 2 ounces)

1/2 cup whole wheat flour (about 2-1/2 ounces)

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

Cooking Spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Combine first 5 ingredients in a medium bowl, stir well.

Lightly spoon flours into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flours, sugar, soda, and salt in a large bowl; make a well in center of mixture. Add buttermilk mixture; stir just till moist. Spoon batter into 12 muffin cups coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove from pans and cool on a wire rack.

These are great breakfast muffins! They have just a hint of sweetness to them, so they pair well with a fruit salad. The only thing I would do different next time is add a bit of cinnamon to the batter, just because Sher has me on a cinnamon kick!

If any of you have an EASY breakfast dish that I could use while having a crowd at breakfast, please let me know!

Cheers!