Maple Oatmeal Mustard Muffins

I really wanted these maple oatmeal mustard muffins to be cupcakes. I even thought about calling them cupcakes, but in the interest of blog integrity, I must admit that they were muffins. The problem, you see, was the white whole wheat flour. I'd never used white whole wheat flour before, but I'd heard rumors that it tasted just like white flour while retaining the health value of whole wheat. Not true. Even though only half of the flour I used was white whole wheat flour (the other half was all-purpose), these wannabe cupcakes tasted like whole wheat muffins.

Despite the fact that muffins are the geeky friend of the hipster cupcake, these muffins have nothing to be ashamed of. They have the tender sweetness of maple, the in-your-face texture of oatmeal, and a surprise sassy kick from the mustard. They were a huge hit with my moms' group (winning out over a chocolate cupcake that I made for a Scharffen Berger contest and Panettone Cupcakes).

The Maple Oatmeal Mustard Muffin Recipe


Makes 16 muffins

First, make an oatmeal mixture:

• 1 1/2 C rolled oats
• 1/2 C maple sugar
• 1 t cinnamon
• 2 T whole mustard seeds
• 6 T unsalted butter, melted

1. Mix together oats, maple sugar, cinnamon, and mustard seed.
2. Mix in melted butter and stir well.
3. Set aside.

Then, make the cake batter, combine with the oatmeal mixture, and bake:

• 1 C white whole wheat flour (you could use regular whole wheat or simply all-purpose)
• 1 C all-purpose flour
• 1 t baking powder
• 1 t baking soda
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/2 C maple syrup
• 1/2 C sunflower oil (you could use canola oil)
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 1 C Greek yogurt (you could use plain yogurt)
• 1 t vanilla bean paste (you could use vanilla extract)
• 4 t whole grain mustard

1. In a large bowl, combine flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
2. In a separate bowl, beat maple syrup, oil, and eggs until well blended.
3. Stir in yogurt, vanilla, and mustard.
4. Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients all at once, and mix by hand until evenly combined.
5. Stir in oatmeal mixture.
6. Fill cupcake liners 3/4 full.
7. Bake at 350 F for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in a muffin comes out dry.

Last, top with a maple glaze:

• 1/3 C powdered sugar
• 3 T maple syrup
  

1. Mix powdered sugar and maple syrup and spread on cooled muffins.
   

Credits

• I got the idea of a maple oatmeal mustard cupcake from a salad dressing recipe that I found on A Bolder Table.
• I based the cake recipe on a maple pecan cake from Kitchen Sketches.
• Kitchen Sketches adapted the cake recipe from The Natural Health Cookbook.