Oatmeal Muffins (add your own fruit of choice) from Sally’s Baking Addiction

Oatmeal Muffins - made several times in November 2025 from Sally’s Baking Addiction

Blueberry

1 cup milk

1 cup whole oats

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter

1 large egg

1/2 cup maple syrup or honey

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 cup blueberries or other chopped fruit

1. In a small mixing bowl, combine oats and milk, covering oats completely. Let sit for 20 minutes.
2. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Line 12-capacity muffin tins with cupcake liners.
3. In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon; set aside.
4. In microwave-safe bowl or large glass measuring cup, melt butter and let cool slightly. Add maple syrup, egg and vanilla extract, whisking until combined.
5. Add wet ingredients to flour mixture, mixing with fork until combined. Do not over mix.
6. Add oats and milk, mixing gently until uniform thickness; do not overmix. Fold in blueberries or whatever chopped fruit you're using.
7. Evenly divide batter amongst all twelve cupcake liners, filling to top. Lightly sprinkle with oats and/or chopped nuts if desired.
8. Bake at 425 degrees F for 5 minutes then turn down the heat to 350 degrees F. Bake another 16-18 minutes for a total of 21-23 minutes in the oven or until a toothpick inserted in several muffins comes out clean. Remove from oven, let cool for a few minutes then remove from muffin tin.

The original title of these muffins was Blueberry Oatmeal Muffins but I ended up making 3 versions of this recipe since it was so versatile so I'm calling them more generically as oatmeal muffins. 

The first time I made them with blueberries as the original recipe directed. But I made the mistake of not reading the recipe ahead of time and didn't realize you were supposed to soak the oats in the milk for 20 minutes for the moisture the muffins need. 

Sure enough, they came out a little more heavy and dense than they probably should have. They still tasted good but were definitely better from a texture perspective when warm or warmed up. 

So I was determined to make them properly the second time as I know Sally's Baking Addiction has good recipes. Especially if you follow them correctly, ha.

Banana Pecan

To mix things up, I went with banana pecan for the second attempt. We had some rapidly ripening bananas so I took a couple, chopped them into chunks and folded them into the (properly made) batter. I didn't mash them like I would for banana bread but instead kept the banana as chunks. 

I had used agave for the blueberry version but that didn't add much flavor or sweetness. The second time around I used maple syrup and that seemed to work better to give it a tiny bit more flavor. The chopped banana chunks worked beautifully to add some soft texture and pockets of sweetness. Plus the toasted pecans on top added a nice crunch and flavor.

I'm trying not to make things so sweet nowadays so my grand nephew can partake without imbibing too much sugar. These turned out to be a fairly healthy snack for him.

We all enjoyed the base recipe of these muffins so much that I made them a third time when my niece and nephew in law invited neighbors over for an informal Sunday meet and greet. For the third version, I chopped a Fuji apple into chunks and also went with pecans on top.

I liked them but I think it would've been better from a texture perspective to use a Granny Smith apple which I didn't have at the time. The Fuji worked from a sweetness perspective as, again, these muffins aren't that sweet. A Granny Smith would've softened more in baking.

But these were still pretty good. Since these were for company, I fancied up a few slightly by drizzling warm salted caramel over the top. That turned out pretty well as the caramel added more sweetness and gooeyness. If you want to keep these on the healthy side, obviously you can skip the caramel.

Overall, I was impressed by the versatility of these muffins. They're easy to make, don't take that long to bake, and have good flavor and texture. Just don't forget to soak the oats in the milk first.

Lemon Sugar Crumb Cake from The View from Great Island

Lemon Sugar Crumb Cake - made October 29, 2025 from The View from Great Island 

All italicized adjustments are for high altitude only

Zest from 1 lemon

2 cups granulated sugar (reduce by 1 to 3 tablespoons per cup of sugar)

3 cups all-purpose flour (add 1 to 2 tablespoons per cup of flour)

1 tablespoon baking powder (reduce by 1/8-1/4 teaspoon per teaspoon of leavening)

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold

2/3 cup milk (add 2-4 tablespoons per cup of extra liquid)

2 large eggs

1/3 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (increase temp by 10-15 degrees in high altitude). Line 9 x 9-inch baking pan with foil and lightly spray with nonstick cooking spray.
2. Zest lemon over the granulated sugar in the mixing bowl of a stand mixer. Stir together and rub zest into sugar until fragrant.
3. Whisk in flour, baking powder and salt.
4. Cut cold butter into tablespoons and cut into dry ingredients until mixture resembles small pebbles and butter is evenly distributed. Measure out 1 cup of mixture, squeeze into large clumps and place in freezer while you prepare the rest of the batter.
5. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, eggs, sour cream and vanilla. Add to the remaining mixture and mix on low speed until just combined.
6. Spread batter in an even layer in prepared pan, smooth top then break topping into smaller clumps and sprinkle over top.
7. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.  

Since I was getting annoyed with my inconsistent baking results in my new high altitude environment, I finally succumbed and made a few tweaks recommended for high altitude baking. The general adjustments are in parentheses against some of the ingredients in the recipe. YMMV if you want to make similar tweaks, depending on the altitude in your location.

This turned out pretty well in that the cake didn't rise then collapse because of the altitude, hopefully due to my tweaks. The flavor was also good and I liked the texture as it was dense-fluffy-soft. Not quite a pound cake but not quite as fluffy as a cake mix cake. But better tasting.

The only thing I didn't like about this recipe is you're supposed to reserve a cup for the crumb mixture on top. In an ideal baking world, your butter crumbles would be perfectly uniform and evenly dispersed through the mixture so when you reserve a cup, it's exactly the same as the mixture that make up the actual cake.

Yeah, that ideal doesn't live in my kitchen. The cup I reserved was more dry flour than butter. So I ended up cutting a few extra tablespoons of butter into the reserve mixture until I was satisfied it was crumbly enough for a crumble and wasn’t just flour.

I'm glad I made that adjustment as the topping was just right with some large and medium streusel, not merely flour dust. So don't be afraid to do something similar if you don't like how your streusel crumble looks.