Wouldn’t be me without a food post

So I made steel-cut oats in the crockpot for this morning, complete with raisins, and they were delicious. Even Sam enjoyed a bowl, which he topped with more dried fruit and a banana. But there were a ton leftover, since I apparently lack the ability to figure out the quantity of dry oats necessary to feed one adult and one child (or, for that matter, any other number of diners of any age; I’m really winging it over here, folks). Last time I did this, I made bread. This time, my freezer stash of muffins happened to be dwindling, so I decided to replenish that.

I opted not to follow any particular recipe this time, as an eventual goal of mine is to be able to bake “off-book.” I perused a few muffin recipes and came up with my own strategy:

Dry ingredients:

• Flours – half whole-wheat and half cake. I used 1 cup of each.
• Sweetener – Splenda Baking Mix. Half a cup.
• Things to make it rise. 2 teaspoons each of baking soda and baking powder.
• Salt. 1 teaspoon.

Wet ingredients:

• The oatmeal. I had about 2.5 cups.
• Oil – applesauce. I used 1 cup of unsweetened.
• Fat – Egg Beaters. Two eggs worth (6 tablespoons) of the whites-only version.
• Extra flavoring – maple syrup. Sugar-free, 2 teaspoons.

Extras:

• Raisins. About 3/4 cup, what was in the oatmeal.
• Dark Chocolate chunks. I had a 3-ounce bar that included espresso beans.

Stir together dry ingredients; mix together (separately) the wets. Add wet to dry, mix just until moistened. Throw in chocolate last. Bake at 350 degrees for about 18 minutes. My amounts made 24 of the most absolutely moist muffins I’ve had in my life. Seriously, were they any more moist, I’d say I needed to add more flour, but as they are, they’re just perfect! The applesauce just shines through, and the chocolate isn’t overpowering, but provides a nice contrast. And, to boot, they’re less than 120 calories each. Win!

(Gabe won’t even try them. Pbbbbbt. More for me! )