Oatmeal Chocolate Chip Muffins

Even before I became a food blogger and got in the habit of posting recipes for you lovely people a couple or three times a week, when I went on holidays, my favorite ones included accommodation with a kitchen:  Vacation rentals from VRBO or most recently from airbnb which allow you to choose the number of beds and bathrooms and well-equipped kitchens.  Right after hanging out on a beach, my favorite holiday activity is poking through foreign markets and grocery stores and cooking up my discoveries.  I know this is contrary to many folks’ idea of a get-away.  In fact, I’ve been told it’s abnormal and eating out and not having to cook is the whole idea of a holiday.  What can I say?  At least my hobby is useful. :)  What’s your favorite thing to do on holiday?  Ever bought a weird ingredient?

What I bought on this trip to Ecuador: plantain flour, quince paste and rib stock cubes.

This week’s Muffin Monday ingredient is oatmeal.  Since I was visiting my father and his wife and I had no idea what their kitchen was like, I brought along some of those little foil cups.  They work pretty good, if you don’t mind that they spread out a little, your muffins end up flattish on top and sometimes a little batter oozes over the sides while baking. 

Ingredients

For the muffin batter:

1 1/2 cups or 190g all purpose flour

1/2 cup or 45g oatmeal

3/4 cup or 170g dark brown sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 cup or 240ml milk

1/2 cup or 115g unsalted butter, melted and cooled

2 large eggs

1/2 cup chocolate chips (plus extra for sprinkling on after the crumble)

For the crumble:

1/4 cup or about 30g plain flour

1/4 cup or 50g dark brown sugar

2 rounded tablespoons or 30g soft unsalted butter

1/4 cup or 22g oatmeal

1/4 teaspoon salt

Method

Preheat oven 350°F or 180°C and prepare muffin pan by greasing or lining with paper muffin cups or putting those little foil muffin cups on a bigger baking pan.

In a large bowl mix together your flour, oatmeal, dark brown sugar, baking powder and salt.

In a smaller bowl, whisk your milk, melted butter and eggs.

Prepare your topping by mixing together the crumble ingredients with a fork.  Set aside.

Pour your wet ingredients into your dry ingredients and stir until just combined. 

Now fold in the chocolate chips, keeping a few back for topping, if desired.

Evenly distribute the batter among the muffin cups. 

Top with the crumble and scatter a couple of reserved chocolate chips.

Gently press down into the batter.

Bake for 20-25 minutes or until golden.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool for a few minutes.  Remove the muffins from the muffin pan. 

Enjoy!

Muffin Monday is an initiative by Baker Street, a culinary journey of sharing a wickedly delicious muffin recipe every week.  Drop Anuradha a quick line to join her on this journey to make the world smile and beat glum Monday mornings week after week.  Make sure to go and check out what my fellow bloggers have come up with this week!

Plus learn all you ever need to know about muffins, right here at Muffin 101.