Oatmeal Muffins can cause Disappointment

First, let me say, I have to figure out the lighting in my house. I don't consider myself a professional photographer at all, but even I can tell the lighting is horrible. I really do miss the floor to ceiling windows I had in Toronto and all the light.

So on to the cooking bit of this post - I made Oatmeal Muffins from the newer Five Roses Flour cookbook and from the start I knew I should of packed it in and just went to bed.

I guess they look okay and they taste alright, but that's on the low side of okay and alright :) The raisins add the only excitement to this muffin.  hahah, trying these I imagined these would be good 'safety' food to pack with you in case you get stranded.  Whole wheat flour and oats to fill you up, but not tasty enough to gobble up even before you've left the house :)

I gathered the ingredients and accidentally spilled some whole wheat flour on the shortening. Not a big deal really, so I tipped the dish over the flour bag and gently shook the dish to shake off the flour...and ever so nicely dumped the shortening in to the bag too!  You can see the sad looking shortening in the picture below. I even got a bit of flour in the egg :)

If the baking powder looks odd, it's because it is.  I thought I had enough. I even keep my spices and dried herbs in canning jars so I can see how much I have, and it looked like I had enough. I need my eyes checked! I had 2 teaspoons of baking powder and then visited Google to find a substitute for the other 2.

The recipe starts off with scalding milk. I've never scalded milk before, so once again off to visit my good friend Google. Scalding, is the process of heating the milk until it just starts to get bubbles around the outside. If it starts to bubble in the middle then you've gone to far.  This worked out well and I was happy with the outcome and cheerfully dumped the shortening and oats in to the pan, giving it a quick stir. At this point I was getting even more skeptical of a good outcome; it was pretty thick.

While the oat paste was thickening nicely in the pot, I mixed together the dry ingredients.

At this point I reread the recipe a dozen times wondering where the extra liquid was. My eyes must keep missing it somehow, perhaps I looked at the wrong recipe? Perhaps they forgot and it is actually written in the directions, please help.......haha, even now I want to double check again!

I forged ahead knowing without a doubt that this would not be a batter, but a sticky dough. I hoped that the milk that was soaked in the oatmeal would miraculously contain enough moisture to produce glorious muffins that I would proudly show off all dripping with butter. Ha!

I used two spoons to drop *cough SCRAPE cough* the oat paste into the greased muffin tins and put it in the oven for 15 minutes, and WALA! Let the hockey season start, I have 12 pucks! :)

Ok, I'm being horribly mean to these little heavy muffins, they are Ok in a desperate I have nothing to eat in the house type of way, but I'll never ever make them again. Ever. Well, unless someone else makes them and can tell me what the heck went wrong.  The powder situation might not make them rise, but it has no influence on the thick paste state of affairs :)

Oatmeal Muffins
Five Roses Flour cookbook - 1970? (pg 258)

INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup milk
• 1 cup Ogilvie Quick Oats
• 2 Tbsp shortening
• 1 cup Five Roses Whole Wheat Flour
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup seedless raisins
• 1 egg, beaten

DIRECTIONS

1. Preheat oven.
2. Scald milk; add oats and shortening and cool at room temperature.
3. Meanwhile, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt together.
4. Stir in raisins.
5. Add beaten egg to the oat mixture and pour in center of dry ingredients.
6. Stir quickly until ingredients are just mixed and batter is lumpy in appearance.
7. Fill greased muffin tins, 2/3 full.
8. Bake in a hot oven.

Temperature: 210 C ( 400 F )
Cooking Time: 15 to 20 minutes
Yield: 12 medium muffins