Everything but the Kitchen Sink Breakfast Muffins - AKA Baked Oatmeal

Since a box of Zucchini showed up at my house I've been shredding and baking.  It's so nice to have a loaf of Zucchini Bread to pull out of the freezer from time to time.  I just added some fresh blueberries to a batch and it is so yummy.  

This morning I went to the refrigerator to decide what I'd eat for my breakfast and saw the big bowl of shredded zucchini that I worked on yesterday.  Hmmmmm - could I include that in my breakfast?  YEP!!!!

Our family loves Baked Oatmeal.  It is a recipe that I got while at a church camp many years ago and I just keep playing with the recipe to make it healthier and handier to grab and run with.   It started out being baked in a casserole dish and now I bake it in muffin tins.  Today I decided that they should be called, "Everything but the Kitchen Sink Breakfast Muffins".   For the first time today they have zucchini in them and they are yummy.

Here is the basic recipe:

Mix together in a large bowl:

• 1 cup vegetable oil (I use unsweetened applesauce instead of the oil.  Buy the little individual 4 oz. cups of it to have on hand for baking and swap out when your baking recipes call for oil.)
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups milk ( I use low fat milk.)
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1 T. plus 1 tsp. baking powder
• 1 1/2 cups sugar  (I DON'T USE ANY SUGAR - I'VE FOUND YOU JUST DON'T NEED IT IF YOU'RE SWAPPING OUT THE APPLESAUCE FOR THE OIL AND PUTTING CHOPPED UP FRUIT IN THEM.)

Next add the "Everything but the Kitchen Sink":

• chopped apples ( I use a large apple or a couple small ones.)
• shredded zucchini  ( I probably used a couple of cups - nothing is exact here.)
• dried cherries ( I use about a cup - I chop through these, too, to make sure there are no pits and you also get little pieces of cherry throughout the muffins that way.)
• ground flax seed (I just sprinkle some in - maybe a tablespoon or two.  I do it differently just about every time I make these. You can actually use ground flax seed in the place of oil and eggs in some recipes.  Look into it.  I found it right on the bag that it came in - 1 T. ground flax seed plus 3 T. water mixed together and let sit for 2 minutes equals 1 egg.)
• cinnamon (to taste -  a lot of recipes call for a tsp. or two but I probably put more like 2 T. in it.  I like it and cinnamon is good for you.)
• nuts  (I use about a cup and use whatever I have - walnuts, pecans, almonds - today it was sliced almonds.)

Anything else that you think would go well in a breakfast muffin - just mix it in!

Stir in:

• 6 cups of uncooked oatmeal  ( I usually have Quick Oats, but have used the long-cook kind and even a multi grain before)

Spray your muffin tins with non-stick spray.  Fill the cups level - I got 22 muffins today.  It really depends on how much stuff you've loaded them up with.

Bake at 350 for about 20 - 25 minutes - you can do the toothpick test.  Store in the refrigerator or put in a Ziploc bag in the freezer and take out a couple at a time.  I have made jumbo ones before and you'd just have to bake them longer.   In a 9 x 13 pan in takes about 30 minutes.

As you can see, nothing is exact with this.  It's just a recipe that was good in the beginning and just keeps getting better and healthier.  If you still like your oatmeal with brown sugar, you can do that, too.   It is yummy warmed up with a little butter and a little sprinkle of brown sugar, but I like that they are good enough that I feel I can skip those extras.

So today the new ingredient was zucchini.  For those family members that say, "Yuck, I don't like zucchini," they'll never know - just slip it in there and feel good that you're adding a serving of vegetables to their breakfast.

I said "breakfast", but these are great for a snack when you start to feel that afternoon slump.  They are hearty enough to give you a boost and keep you going until supper time.

 Enjoy!

(I can't imagine a flop on these, but don't hold me responsible if something goes wrong.  I play with this recipe just about every time I make these.  I've never had them not turn out.  I did use pumpkin instead of applesauce one time and found that I should have added just a little sugar.  That time we added the little sprinkle of brown sugar on top.)