Oatmeal Muffins with Dates, Cranberries, and Pecans

Go figure - posting for two days in a row. :)

So, I found this recipe on a blog that I follow called The Brown Eyed Baker, and I had to try it. I LOVE anything with oatmeal, and I'm trying to develop that in my kids, too. Plus, I thought this would be a quick, easy, and healthy breakfast for school mornings. Dillon, 6, really liked them - he ate 3. :)

I made one adjustment. I used half while flour and half whole wheat flour, and I did not pack the brown sugar (the original recipe did not specify either way). Also, I think next time I may chop up some dark chocolate and mix it in there, too. Mmmmmmm . . . .

Oatmeal Muffins with Dates, Cranberries, and Pecans

1 cup traditional rolled oats

1 cup all-purpose flour ( I used half all-purpose and half whole wheat)

½ cup light brown sugar (I did not pack it, but since it didn't specify - your choice)

1 teaspoon baking powder

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

½ teaspoon cinnamon

¼ cup finely chopped pecans (or walnuts)

1/3 cup chopped dates

1/3 cup dried cranberries (or raisins)

4 ounces (½ cup) unsalted butter, melted and cooled

1 cup buttermilk

1 large egg, lightly beaten

½ teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Grease a standard 12-cup muffin pan or line with paper baking cups.
2. In a large bowl whisk together the oats, flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Stir in the pecans, dates and dried cranberries. In a separate medium bowl whisk together the butter, buttermilk, egg and vanilla.
3. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Use a rubber spatula to gently stir together just until the ingredients are mixed and moistened.
4. Divide the batter evenly between the 12 muffin cups. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean. Cool in the muffin pan for a few minutes and then remove to a cooling rack to cool completely. Store in an airtight container at room temperature.

Animal Crackers

Oay, so I'm going to play a little catch up today. I've got about 4 or 5 different things to post PLUS 4th of July stuff. SO, there will be several posts for today. :)

The first one is animal crackers. We were actually looking for a graham cracker recipe, and we came upon this one (by "we" I mean Zane and I). I had some circus animal cutters, but I think they were a little too big for what we wanted. Also, I think next time I'm going to roll them out a bit thinner.

They didn't turn out very sweet, but Dillon and I like them. The other boys are kind of on the fence. Oh, and it didn't make very many, but, like I said, we were using large cutters.

Animal Crackers

Ingredients
1/2 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup butter
2 teaspoons honey
1/4 cup buttermilk

Directions
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Grind oats until fine using a blender or food processor.
In a medium bowl, stir together the blended oats, flour, baking soda and salt. Cut in the butter using a pastry blender or your fingers until the butter lumps are smaller than peas. Stir in the buttermilk and honey to form a stiff dough. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough out to 1/8 inch in thickness. Cut into desired shapes with cookie cutters. Place cookies 1 inch apart onto cookie sheets.
Bake for 5 to 7 minutes in the preheated oven, until edges are lightly browned. Remove from cookie sheets to cool on wire racks.

Nutritional Information
Amount Per Serving Calories: 40 Total Fat: 2.1g Cholesterol: 5mg
Nutritional Information
Animal Crackers
Servings Per Recipe: 24
Amount Per Serving
Calories: 40
Total Fat: 2.1g
Cholesterol: 5mg
Sodium: 54mg
Total Carbs: 4.8g
Dietary Fiber: 0.3g
Protein: 0.7g

The nutrition stats are the ones that were on the website, so I don't know if they are correct.