Old Fashioned Oatmeal Raisin Muffins

  Ok here's a quick and easy one for you. It's so simple, you don't even need a mixer! You just stir it all together and you're ready to go! I made them for my sister, Patty, as she was planning to host a big party. When I asked her if she needed anything, she said "I wouldn't be mad if you threw something together for the kitchen crew, maybe something easy and quick to go with coffee", so this is what I made! It's from Apriljharris.com, adapted from her mom's recipe, and it's perfect! It's just exactly what you want in an oatmeal raisin muffin. Perfect with a cup of coffee or tea, you could add a little glaze to it if you'd like to sweeten things up a bit. It's also the perfect thing to whip up on a cold day, just to warm up the whole house with the heavenly aroma of cinnamon and nutmeg.
If you like oatmeal raisin cookies, then you'll LOVE these muffins!



1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 large egg, beaten
1 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup mild olive oil (not extra virgin)
1 cup juicy raisins or sultanas


 Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a 12 cup muffin pan with paper baking cups.
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, oats, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. In a medium bowl, mix together the egg, buttermilk, vanilla, and oil. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir just until mixed. Gently stir in the raisins or sultanas. Scoop the batter into muffin cups. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until a skewer inserted into the center of a muffin comes out clean. Cool in the tray for 5 minutes before transferring to a wire rack.



Tips:
I doubled the recipe, because more is more!
For extra plump juicy raisins, I soaked mine in apple cider for a few minutes before adding them to the batter. Just place them in a small bowl, pour enough cider to cover, microwave them for a minute or two, then drain them well before adding to the batter. I also gave them a quick toss in a tbs of flour. Perfect plump juicy raisins!!
 Oh, also, I used regular vegetable oil because I didn't have any olive oil on hand, just sayin'!
To make homemade buttermilk, add a tbs of lemon juice or vinegar to a 1-cup measure. Add milk to fill. Microwave it for about a minute. The milk will immediately curdle, which is exactly what you want. Works perfectly in any baking recipe calling for buttermilk!

Buttered Rum Raisin Pie

 I was recently watching Martha Stewart's cooking show called Martha Bakes, and she was making a rum raisin pie. My first thought was "ooo that sounds good!" but then I realized that what she was making and what I had pictured in my head were two different things. When I think of a rum raisin pie, I immediately think of something that's sticky and gooey and buttery, kind of like a pecan pie with raisins and rum instead of pecans. But Martha was making a CUSTARD pie with raisins in it. Hmmm..  that's not what I wanted. So then I figured, "well, I'm gonna find one that's sticky and gooey." I did something googling and I found one! This is my version of a recipe I found on a website called mypiary.com, and it's just what I wanted. It's sweet and mildly spicy, but more importantly it's buttery and sticky and gooey and chewy and EXACTLY what I had in mind all along! It kind of has a similar vibe to the Mince Pie that my Mom used to make, since it has dried fruit and spirits in it, but it's not as strong. It's just sweet enough, just spicy enough, just rummy enough (rummy?), and the raisins are definitely the star of the show. I brought a piece to my boss and asked her if it's good enough to have as a Thanksgiving dessert and she said "Absolutely!"
 So if you're looking for something new and a little different to add to your Thanksgiving dessert table, give this one a try. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!

4 cups raisins
1/2 cup Bacardi gold rum
1 1/2 cups water
2 tbs cornstarch
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
4 tbs butter
1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp allspice
1 tbs cider vinegar
1 tsp pure vanilla extract
2 9-inch prepared pie crusts


 Preheat oven to 425°.
 Place raisins and rum in a small bowl. Give it a stir, and let it sit until the raisins absorb the rum, about 20-30 minutes. In the meantime, prepare the pie pastry and prep the other ingredients.
Line a 9" pyrex deep pie dish with one pie crust.  Set aside.
 In a medium saucepan, before turning on the heat, whisk together water, cornstarch, and salt. Now turn on the heat and bring to boil. Stir in brown sugar, butter, and spices until combined. Add the rum soaked raisins and any remaining rum. Return to boil and let simmer over medium heat for 5-7 minutes, until syrup thickens. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Add cider vinegar and vanilla. Pour filling into prepared pie pastry. Top with second crust. Crimp edges and vent as desired. Place pie on bottom rack and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 375° and move pie to middle rack. Bake for 30 minutes, or until filling is bubbling and crust is golden. Use a pie crust shield or foil tent to keep the edges of the crust from becoming too brown. Cool on wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature with vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream.


Tips:
If you'd like to serve it in a regular 9" pie dish instead of the deeper pyrex dish, just use 2 cups of raisins instead of 4 cups. The rest of the amounts stay the same.
I used a store bought ready made pie crust, but feel free to make my Easy Pie Crust or your own if you so choose.
When I first served this, it was chilled (which is usually how I like to enjoy a piece of pie). But in this case, you definitely don't want it to be chilled because it sets up rather tightly which makes it much more dense. It's much more buttery and gooey when you serve it warm or at room temperature. SO much better!

Apple Raisin Muffins

Ok, so go with me on this one...
I was originally gonna write about how much I love apples and how great the fall weather is for baking apple desserts, and how this is a tweaked version of a Paula Deen recipe, and blah blah blah, but here's the thing... after the first attempt at making these, I figured I'd write about something MUCH more important than having a great recipe. And that is FOLLOWING a really great recipe. Seriously, what good is having a great recipe if you don't do what it says???  So basically, when it says to add 2 tsps of baking soda, it's really not a great idea to add baking POWDER.
I'm not sayin', I'm just sayin..... btw... these muffins are slammin'....

1 cup water
2 cups sugar
2 cups grated Granny Smith apples
2 cups raisins
1 cup (2 sticks) butter
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoons freshly grated nutmeg
1 tbs lemon juice
1/2 tsp kosher salt
2 teaspoons baking soda
3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
Combine the water, sugar, apples, raisins, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, lemon juice, and salt in a saucepan; bring to a boil. Remove the pan from the heat and cool completely.
In a large bowl, stir baking soda into the flour. Add the cooled mixture to the bowl, and stir until blended. Fill greased miniature muffin tins with batter to the top. Bake for 20 minutes or until an inserted toothpick come out clean. Makes 5 dozen mini muffins.

Tips:
If you're not a fan of raisins, try a different kind of dried fruit, such as dried raisins, dried apricots, or dried blueberries.
To grease the muffin pans, I usually just use non stick spray for baking (the one that has flour in it). It's just so much easier!