Apple Cinnamon Oatmeal Muffins

This recipe was adapted from an old edition of the The Joy of Cooking. This is one of my favorite cookbooks, despite its utter lack of photographs. Every section is prefaced with a lesson, and the recipe collection is vast and thorough.

These muffins are light and puffy, almost like a popover rather than a muffin. The insides are not very sweet all by themselves, so I don't suggest skipping the roll in cinnamon-sugar at the end.

Ingredients

• 2 eggs, divided
• 1 cup cooked oatmeal*
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/8 tsp nutmeg
• 3/4 cup chopped apple (abut 1 small)
• 3 tablespoons melted butter (for dipping baked muffins)
• 1/2 cup cinnamon sugar (for dipping)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400. Spray 18 muffin cups with non-stick spray. (I usually skip the paper liners with a heavier, wetter muffin like these. The paper sticks).
2. Stir egg yolks, milk, butter, and oatmeal in a small bowl. (Note becareful that both the oatmeal and butter are cooled or you will make scrambled-egg apple oatmeal muffins).
3. In another bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, cinnamon and nutmeg.
4. With an electric mixer, whisk the egg whites until they are at stiff peaks (still shiny white, not dry).
5. Stir the egg/milk/oatmeal mixture into the dry ingredients. Stir in the chopped apple. Gently fold in the egg whites.
6. Bake 22-25 minutes until they are golden brown on top and cooked through.
7. Dip the tops of each cooked muffin in the melted butter and then into cinnamon sugar.

Notes: To make 1 cup cooked oatmeal, microwave 1/2 cup quick-cooking oats with about 1/4-1/3 cup water on high about 1 minute. If you use packets, I think you'd need about two.

I've made muffins with oatmeal before, but the technique of pre-cooking the oats was new to me (usually I soak the uncooked oats in the liquids). This would be a good way to use up leftover oatmeal.

Separating the eggs and whippping the whites was also a different twist. I think these would turn out well (but denser) if you just whisk the whole eggs into the milk in step 2 above.