Nest and Sparkle

Apricot and oatmeal muffins

September 1, 2009 at 5:02 pm 2 comments

I’ve been on a muffin kick lately, which is not uncommon. Most Saturday mornings, you’ll find me in the kitchen making a batch of muffins and a batch of scones. I love this routine. It’s a perfect ritual to start the weekend – deciding which recipe to make, measuring and mixing, and making coffee in the 15 to 20 minutes it takes for baking. I always feel like I’ve accomplished something when I pull the trays out of the oven. The short time that it takes to stir together this batch of baked goods provides us with a tasty weekend breakfast to enjoy while we’re sipping coffee, and, perhaps more importantly given our hectic work lives, enough leftovers for an on-the-go breakfast during the week.

Here is a recipe for apricot muffins. Regular readers know that I’ve been cooking my way through the Four Sisters Inns Cookbook, which is a gem of a book, filled with bed and breakfast-type recipes – baked goods for morning, treats for tea and savory appetizers. I usually change the recipes a bit to lean more on the healthy side – less sugar and fat, more fruit, nuts and seeds.

The muffins pictured here are served on a plate that belonged to my grandmother. When she gave it to me, she said, “It’s nothing fancy, but I used to use it all the time for setting out squares and snacks. It’s good for bridge parties.” She was right, it’s nothing fancy, and I also use it all the time. This, of course, makes it even more of a treasure.

Apricot oatmeal muffins
2 cups diced, fresh apricots
1/4 cup butter, melted
1/3 cup sugar
1 egg
1/2 cup plain yogurt or milk
1 cup unbleached flour
1 cup rolled oats
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans
1/2 cup flax seeds

Mix melted butter, sugar, yogurt and egg. Stir in diced apricots. Combine dry ingredients. Fold butter / apricot mixture into dry ingredients along with nuts and flax seeds. Spoon into greased or nonstick muffin tins. Bake at 350F for about 20 minutes.

Entry filed under: Cooking, Home, Life. Tags: apricots, baking, cookbooks, flax seeds, Four Sisters Inns, muffins, oatmeal, vintage treasures.