Leftover Oatmeal Apple Sauce Muffins

I was traveling for just a few days this past week, but seemed to miss out on all sorts of important events at home: a valiant loss in an OBOB battle, a dramatic playground fall that required a trip to the nurse's office, and an ambitious, last minute project fair presentation. Even after a short trip, it takes a couple of days to get caught up on the latest jokes, bedtime book story lines, and the status of food supplies.

So after a leisurely Sunday morning breakfast of teff and flaxseed oatmeal, it felt satisfying to roast up a couple of aging apples and use the apple sauce, along with the leftover oatmeal, in a batch of mini muffins to pack as snacks for the week.

I adapted a recipe for banana cereal muffins from Kim Boyce's Good to the Grain, described by Molly Wizenberg of Orangette as "a garbage disposal-style recipe" in the best sort of way. In went our leftover oatmeal, the roasted apple sauce, and even the end of a tub of sour cream. Out came some very tasty muffins, pictured here with my daughter's spelling list from last week, including the words "anxious", "whether", "succeed", "business", and "companion", which seemed to form an accidental poem about the mixed emotions of traveling away from home.

Leftover Oatmeal Apple Sauce Muffins

adapted from Kim Boyce Good to the Grain, described here

makes about 28 mini muffins

roasted apples sauce
2 apples, cored and peeled 
1 tsp butter
pinch of salt

muffin batter
4 Tbsp butter
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup sour cream
1 egg
1/2 cup cooked oatmeal
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 cup rye flour
1/2 cup soft white flour
1/2 cup red fife flour
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cinnamon

1. To prepare a small scale, accelerated version of this apple sauce, preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Peel and core two apples and cut each into about 24 pieces. Arrange in a small baking dish, sprinkle with a pinch of salt and dot with about a tsp of butter. Roast for about 25 minutes until the apples are soft and just a bit charred. Mash with a potato masher, leaving it a little chunky. This should make about a cup of sauce. You could also substitute a cup of store bought apples sauce or two to three very ripe bananas, mashed.

2. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease muffins tins (enough for 28 mini muffins or 12 regular muffins).

3. In a large bowl or a standing mixer, cream together the butter and the brown sugar until very creamy. Mix in the sour cream (or use 2 more Tbsp of butter, as in the original recipe). Mix in the egg, then the cooked oatmeal, the apple sauce, and the vanilla extract.

4. In a separate bowl, mix together the dry ingredients. Mix the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients until just combined. Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin tins. Bake for about 24-28 minutes for mini muffins, or 35-40 minutes for regular muffins, rotating the pans halfway through, until they are nicely browned on top and a fork comes out clean. Best eaten warm or reheated for a few minutes in a toaster oven.